The first Eno Future Leaders Development Conference (LDC) was held in 1993 as a means of bringing some of the best and brightest graduate students in transportation to the nation’s capital to gain a better understanding of how U.S. transportation policy is crafted. The response to that program was overwhelming—the students and their universities thought it a highly valuable “inside the Beltway” look at the policy development process. The speakers, prominent individuals from across the transportation sector, enjoyed the opportunity to address the enthusiastic future leaders.
Since then, the Eno Center for Transportation has conducted the conference on an annual basis. Each university and college with a transportation program is invited to nominate one student each year; the Center’s Board of Regents review the nominations and select the participants for the program. Upon completion of the conference, participants become known as Eno Fellows and become members of an alumni network of more than 400 former fellows.
(Click a date to jump down to different parts of the week)
To view additional photos of the LDC Awards Dinner click here.
Stephanie Amoaning-Yankson, Georgia Institute of Technology (Lillian Borrone Alumni Award Designee)
Anne Brown, University of California, Los Angeles (GAR Foundation Award Designee)
Leslie Brown, University of Florida
Cat Callaghan, University of California, Los Angeles (Diane Woodend Jones, WTS Scholarship Designee)
Trilce Encarnación, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (Conference of Minority Transportation Officials Award Designee)
Nick Ferenchak, University of Colorado Denver (Tom Larson Fellowship Designee)
Marc Fialkoff, Virginia Tech (Charles Koch Award Designee)
Edward Forscher, University of California, Berkeley
Masoud Ghodrat Abadi, Oregon State University
Karina Hermawan, University of California, Irvine (Rodney Slater Award Designee)
Kyle Holland, San Jose State University: Mineta Transportation Institute
Samaneh Khazraeian, Florida International University
Elease McLaurin, University of Wisconsin-Madison (COMTO William Coleman Jr. Award Designee)
Anusha Musunuru, University of Utah
David Proffitt, University of Utah
Tariq Usman Saeed, Purdue University
Jarrell Smith, University of Florida (Council of University Transportation Centers Award Designee)
Parker Sorenson, University of Connecticut
Andrew Stuntz, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Francis Tainter, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
In the morning, Robert Puentes, Eno Center for Transportation, provided a state of the transportation union.
Then the fellows were able to hear how lobbying really works from panel Chuck Baker, President, National Railroad Construction & Maintenance Association, Pete Ruane, President & CEO, American Road & Transportation Builders Association, Martin Whitmer, Partner, Whitmer and Worral, and Elaine Nessle, Executive Director, Coalition for America’s Gateways and Trade Corridors (CAGTC).
In the afternoon the fellows met with Jeff Davis, Senior Fellow & Editor, Eno Transportation Weekly, Eno Center for Transportation, Jim Tymon, Chief Operating Officer/Director of Policy Management, American Association of StateHighway Transportation Officials, Beth Osborne, Senior Transportation Advisor & Director of Technical Assistance Program, Transportation for America, and Emily Goff, Senior Policy Advisor, Committee on the Budget, House of Representatives to talk about sustainable transportation funding.
Immediately following this the fellows were given a Capitol Hill briefing by Jennifer Deci, Professional Staff Member (Mass Transit), Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, Devon Barnhart, Professional Staff Member, U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, Patrick Fuchs, Professional Staff Member, U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, and Rebecca Higgins, Professional Staff Member, Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW).
At the beginning of the day the fellows were given a glimpse inside the U.S. Department of Transportation by Rob Ritter, Managing Director, Office of Innovative Finance Support, Federal Highway Administration & 1998 Eno Fellow, Matt Welbes Executive Director, Federal Transit Administration, Joel Szabat, Executive Director, Maritime Administration, Barbara McCann, Director, Office of Policy Development, Strategic Planning and Performance, Office of the Secretary, U.S. DOT, Paul Nissenbaum, Associate Administrator for Railroad Policy and Development, Federal Railroad Administration, and Danielle Rinser, Office of Outreach and Project Development, Build America Bureau, U.S. DOT.
In the afternoon the fellows were given a presentation on local and state level transportation by Nick Donohue, Deputy Secretary, Virginia Department of Transportation, Shyam Kannan, Managing Director of Planning, Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, and Emeka Moneme, Deputy Executive Director, Federal City Council.
After the presentation on local and state transportation, the fellows listened to Mitch Warren, Executive Director, Northeast Corridor Commission, Doug Allen, CEO, Virginia Railway Express, and Ed Courtemanche, Director, Operations and Service Planning, Amtrak.
In the evening, the fellows participated in a Trivia Night, sponsored by Transurban, and co-hosted with the Young Professionals in Transportation, for a great night of networking and transportation-related trivia.
The fellows started out their morning with a presentation on transportation technologies by Samrat Valani, Director of Technology, Transurban, Kim Lucas, Bicycle and Pedestrian Program Specialist, District Department of Transportation, Jessica Nigro, Manager, Outreach and Innovation Policy, Daimler North America Corp., and Gregory Rodriquez, Of Counsel, Best Best & Krieger LLP.
The fellows then had the opportunity to hear from Michael P. Jackson, Former Deputy Secretary for the U.S. DOT (2001-2003) and Department of Homeland Security (2005-2007), Paul Kledzik, Acting Director, Office of Safety Recommendations and Communications, National Transportation Safety Board, Ian M. Grossman, Vice President of Member Services & Public Affairs, American association of Motor Vehicle Administrators.
In the afternoon the fellows heard a presentation on the aviation industry and federal policy by Rob Britton, Principal, AirLearn, Dorothy Robyn, Independent Consultant and Former Special Assistant to the President for Economic Policy, Bradley Mims, President, Conference of Minority Transportation Officials & Board of Directors, Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, and John J. Fearnsides, CEO, MJF Strategies.
On the last day of the conference the fellows heard from Emil Frankel,
Senior Fellow, Eno Center for Transportation, Vicky Arroyo, Executive Director, Georgetown Climate Center, Georgetown Law, and Michael Grant, Vice President, ICF International on sustainability and climate change in transportation.
The fellows then took part in a presentation on performance measures of sustainability and transportation that was led by Jeff Paniati, Executive Director & CEO, Institute of Transportation Engineers, and Kanti Srikanth, Director of Planning, Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments.
In the afternoon the fellows participated in a roundtable discussion with transportation leaders that included Jane Garvey, former Federal
Aviation Administration Administrator and Deputy Administrator of the Federal Highway Administration, Bob Prince, former Vice President of AECOM, Martin Wachs, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Urban Planning at the Luskin School of Public Affairs, UCLA, Tom O’Brien, Executive Director, Center for International Trade and Transportation, California State University Long Beach, and Diane Woodend Jones, Chair, WTS International and Lea+Elliot, Inc.
Members of the Eno Board of Directors then discussed career development with the fellows. The conference came to a close with a reception and banquet. The fellows received their certificates and officially joined an alumni network of over 4oo Eno fellows. Additionally, the Eno Center for Transportation honored Martin Wachs, the recipient of the Thought Leader Award, Bob Prince, the winner of the Wilbur S. Smith Friend of Eno Award and Jane Garvey, the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award. Garvey was the keynote speaker at the banquet.
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Capitol Hill Events – Week of June 19, 2017
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