WTS-Boston held the annual Leadership Forum on Thursday, November 13, 2025 at the Boston Courtyard Marriott Downtown. The Leadership Forum brings together the chapter’s sponsors, chapter leaders, and invited public officials to celebrate the presentation of the Leadership Award. The WTS-Boston Leadership Award is given each year to a woman who has made significant contributions to the transportation industry and whose work reflects the mission and values of WTS. In 2025, the award was presented to Abbie Goodman, the Executive Director of ACEC/MA.

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Sarah Bergman, WTS-Boston President, opened the event by welcoming all attendees and thanking our corporate sponsors and chapter leadership.

Abbie took the stage, thanking the chapter for honoring her with the award.  Abbie then took time to thank those who have supported her throughout her career, including her husband, Larry Shind, a local jazz DJ on GBH.  With humor and grace, Abbie also took time to call the industry to action, emphasizing the importance of appropriate contracting mechanisms, and sharing the work she has done with others, such as contributing to the book "Climate Change and the Built Environment" with Patricia B. Gary and Lisa L. Churchill.

In keeping with Abbie’s personal request, she was recognized with a printed certificate instead of the traditional glass award. Abbie shared in advance that she preferred a simple certificate so the chapter could avoid the cost of a plaque or direct those funds to the WTS-Boston scholarship program. We honored her wishes, and we appreciate her thoughtfulness toward supporting future scholarship recipients.

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Special thanks to our Special Projects Committee for planning this event, especially co-chairs Katherine Patch (Fuss & O'Neill, Inc.) and Judith Gibson-Okunieff (VTrans), and their board liaison, Ali Mattson (HNTB).

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