Katie Turnbull

Texas A&M Transportation Insitute (TTI) Executive Associate Director Katie Turnbull participated in a Special Forum on Women in Transportation sponsored by the White House Office of Public Engagement and the U.S. Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT) on April 4, 2013. Turnbull was one of approximately 60 women leaders from industry, public agencies, professional organizations, universities and other groups gathering at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building with top-ranking personnel from the White House and the U.S. DOT to discuss increasing opportunities for women in transportation.

“It was a privilege to participate in the forum and to interact with the dynamic group of women,” notes Turnbull. “The combination of presentations and small-group discussions provided an excellent method for sharing information, experiences, ideas and follow-up activities.”

The opening session featured Valerie Jarrett, senior advisor to the president and chair of the White House Council on Women and Girls, U.S. DOT Secretary Ray LaHood, Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, and Susan Kurland, U.S. DOT assistant secretary for aviation and internal affairs. Speakers in the second session highlighted the diverse jobs women hold throughout the transportation industry, the business case for women in transportation and recent research on retaining women in the workforce and developing women leaders.

“We broke into small groups focusing on educating, recruiting, retaining and developing leadership among women throughout all facets of transportation,” states Turnbull. “We discussed issues and opportunities, and identified action steps to move the objectives forward. We also identified two individual action steps to pursue over the next six months.”

The forum results will assist with the U.S. DOT’s participation in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Women in Transportation initiative. “I look forward to assisting with the action steps,” says Turnbull. “We are going to develop a short video on women in TTI as part of the effort.”

Members of the WLTDCC, including TTI’s Melissa Tooley (top left) met with the White House Office of Public Engagement recently to discuss collaborative efforts in reaching out to women.

Thanks to a recent meeting with a newly formed group designed to attract women (and raise awareness of women’s contributions) to the transportation industry, White House staff members have become familiar with the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI).

Chaired by TTI Director of External Initiatives Melissa Tooley, the Women Leaders in Transportation Design and Construction Council (WLTDCC) — formed last year by the American Road and Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) — was invited to the White House to discuss the council’s current efforts to reach out to women.

“The White House Office of Public Engagement had heard about the council and the things we were doing to increase awareness of the contributions that women are making in the transportation industry and encourage women to consider careers in the transportation construction fields,” Tooley, the inaugural chair of WLTDCC, said of the May 30 meeting. “The White House staff members are interested in collaborating on some of those efforts. As a result of that meeting, I think we found out that some of our individual efforts can complement each other.”

According to its website, the White House Office of Public Engagement facilitates a “two-way dialogue, ensuring that the issues impacting our nation’s proud and diverse communities have a receptive team dedicated to making their voices heard within the Administration, and even more importantly helping their concerns be translated into action by the appropriate bodies of the Federal Government.” During the meeting, a member of the White House Office of Public Engagement discussed its efforts in promoting science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) to young women.

Since its inception, WLTDCC has created several initiatives to increase awareness and address the low percentage of women employed in the construction industry, including:

• an annual awards program to recognize and honor extraordinary efforts of individuals, companies and public agencies that have demonstrated leadership and dedication to innovation in the transportation design construction fields, as well as the promotion of women leaders within the industry;
• a “spotlight on women” webinar series conducted by women in transportation fields (one of the webinars was presented by TTI’s Ginger Goodin in March);
• a guest speakers program highlighting women leaders in transportation-related fields; and
• the future creation of a workforce development and mentoring program.

“During the White House meeting, I was able to share some of the things we have accomplished on the council,” Tooley said. “Of course, in sharing some of those initiatives, I couldn’t help but brag a bit about TTI and some of the accomplishments we’ve had regarding female leadership.” (The Institute was the first winner of WLTDCC’s Glass Hammer Award, honoring innovative diversity activities that have resulted in dramatic increases in the TTI’s female workforce during the last decade. See related story.)

Tooley and other members of WLTDCC say they are grateful for the opportunity to work with the White House.

“Promoting careers for WLTDCC is extremely important in order to let the younger generations know about all of the wonderful opportunities for them in this industry,” Allison Klein of ARTBA says. “Getting this career information out to industry partners and working with folks at the U.S. Department of Transportation and the White House Office of Public Engagement are essential to expanding this message around the country.”