WTS-DC Member Spotlight: Alanna McKeeman, AICP
Member Spotlight: Alanna McKeeman, AICP
Vice President & Senior Project Manager, Foursquare ITP
If you ask Alanna McKeeman how she found her way into transportation planning, she’ll tell you it wasn’t a straight line—but it was absolutely the right one. Raised in Minnesota, Alanna moved east for college in New York City, where she studied economics before relocating to Washington, DC for her first job as a paralegal. It was during that role, working on a brownfield redevelopment case, that she first encountered the world of urban planning. The connection between law, land use, and healthier communities sparked something. Before long, she enrolled at Virginia Tech’s Northern Virginia campus to pursue a planning degree, and her interest in transportation grew from there.
Alanna first heard about Foursquare Integrated Transportation Planning (Foursquare ITP) through an unexpected connection: an attorney with whom she previously worked had a son who joined Foursquare ITP a few years after Alanna became a planner. She joined the firm in 2017, when the team had around 20 staff. Since then, the company has nearly quadrupled in size, and Alanna is now a shareholder. Her portfolio includes leading public and stakeholder engagement for major regional initiatives such as WMATA’s Better Bus Network Redesign and moveDC, developing strategic plans for transit agencies, and leading microtransit and fare studies. In addition to her client-facing work, she also serves as Foursquare ITP’s Vice President of People and Culture, overseeing HR and company events among other activities—work that taps into her passion for supporting professional growth.
Her WTS-DC story began in 2017, when she first joined Foursquare ITP and was invited to the chapter’s holiday party. “Our CEO, Lora Byala, happened to have an extra ticket.” By January, she found herself volunteering for the Program Logistics Committee—and the next year, serving on the Scholarship & Fundraising Committee. Having been a scholarship recipient herself in college, Alanna knew firsthand how much financial support can mean to a student. During her time as Chair, the Scholarship & Fundraising Committee expanded outreach to universities and companies, expanded named scholarships, and significantly increased fundraising. Over the last five years, the WTS‑DC Chapter awarded over $141,000 to 37 women pursuing transportation studies.
“Scholarships are a gateway to get people involved in WTS. Our CEO, Lora, still happily tells people the impact receiving a WTS Scholarship in undergrad had for her, and she remains active in WTS to this day,” Alanna explains, by example.
For Alanna, WTS‑DC is more than a professional association. It’s a community. Through board meetings, casual conversations, and shared goals, she has built lasting friendships and deepened her confidence and network, both professionally and personally. And she remains motivated by seeing impacts firsthand—whether it’s better transit for the region or new opportunities for the next generation of transportation leaders.