Program 2018

John Rossant personally leads the LA CoMotion team. He is the Founder and Chairman of the NewCities Foundation, a major global non-profit institution dedicated to improving the quality of life and work in cities. He previously led the team producing the famous World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland every January and has been been the producer of major World Economic Forum conferences in China, Latin America, Southeast Asia and Africa. He has also played key roles in Monaco, with the Monaco Media Forum and the ongoing Prince’s Roundtable on Philanthropy. In 2010, French President Nicolas Sarkozy asked John to organize the first global summit on the future of the Internet, the e-G8. John has worked with heads of state and government and leading CEOs from around the world.

Eric Garcetti is the 42nd Mayor of Los Angeles. His “back to basics” agenda is focused on job creation and solving everyday problems for L.A. residents. Garcetti was elected four times by his peers to serve as President of the Los Angeles City Council from 2006 to 2012. From 2001 until taking office as Mayor, he served as the Councilmember representing the 13th District which includes Hollywood, Echo Park, Silver Lake, and Atwater Village — all of which were dramatically revitalized under Garcetti’s leadership. Garcetti was raised in the San Fernando Valley and earned his B.A. and M.A. from Columbia University. He studied as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford and the London School of Economics and taught at Occidental College and USC. A fourth generation Angeleno, he and his wife, Amy Elaine Wakeland, have a young daughter. He is a Lieutenant in the U.S. Navy reserve and is an avid jazz pianist and photographer.

Mohamed Mezghani has been serving as Secretary General for the International Association of Public Transport (UITP) since January 2018, and has worked in public transport and urban mobility related fields for the last 25 years. He was UITP’s Senior Manager from 1999 to 2001 and Knowledge Director from 2001 to 2006, chairing the department developing knowledge-related services for UITP members. From 2006 till 2013, he worked as an independent consultant and adviser to UITP on several technical assistance and training projects in Africa and the Middle East and managed a number of projects involving numerous experts and multidisciplinary teams.  His main fields of expertise include urban mobility policies and travel demand management, trends and innovation, institutional organization, regulatory framework and energy efficiency in public transport, as well as relationships between public transport stakeholders.  Before joining UITP, M. Mezghani worked as a consultant for the French group  BCEOM from 1990 to 1999. He has managed and carried out projects including policy definition, technical assistance and research activities in several countries in Europe, sub-Saharan Africa and Arab countries. During his collaboration with the French Agency for Environment and Energy Management, ADEME, from 1988-1990, M. Mezghani carried out actions aimed at identifying and evaluating transport energy efficiency projects likely to be financed by the Agency in France. M. Mezghani is a Franco-Tunisian citizen. He graduated with a degree in Industrial Engineering from the Ecole Nationale d’Ingénieurs de Tunis, Tunisia and holds a Masters’ Degree in Transport from the Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées in Paris, France.

Valérie Plante settled in Montreal 20 years ago while studying for her Bachelor’s degree in Anthropology, and decided to make it her hometown while she completed a Master’s in Museology and a Certificate in Multiethnic Intervention. The passionate cyclist went on to work in the cultural, community and unionized sectors. She has worked within various communities, notably in Latin America where her interest in social justice, fight against poverty and citizen participation greatly increased. Back in Montréal, she accompanied immigrant women victims of conjugal violence through the judicial process and organized training programs for young immigrant and indigenous women throughout the country. The mother of two boys joined Projet Montréal to build a greener, more vibrant, more prosperous and more open city for future generations. For her, citizens need to be able to rely on a team that aims to fulfill the full economic and social potential of their city. After being elected to Montreal City Council in 2013, Valérie Plante was elected, on December 4th 2016, leader of the party by Projet Montréal and thus became leader of the Official opposition. On November 5th, 2017, she was elected the first female mayor of Montreal.

Kadri Simson is the Minister of Economic Affairs and Infrastructure of the Republic of Estonia from 23 November 2016. She is a member of the Estonian Centre Party. From 2007–2016, Kadri Simson was a member of the 11th, 12th, and 13th Riigikogu. From 2009–2016, she was the Chairman of the Estonian Centre Party faction, and from 2007–2009, the Deputy Chairman of the National Defence Committee. In 2013, Kadri Simson was elected in Pärnu City Council and in 2009, she was elected as a member of Tallinn City Council. From 2003–2007, Kadri Simson was the Secretary-General of the Estonian Centre Party. In 2003, Kadri Simson served as the Research Assistant of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly. From 2001–2002, Kadri Simson was the Advisor to the Mayor of Tallinn and in 1999, the Advisor of Tallinn City Council. From 1998–1999, Kadri Simson served as the Consultant of the European Documentation Centre of the University of Tartu. Born on 22 January 1977 in Tartu, Kadri Simson has graduated from Tartu Secondary School No. 10, acquired a degree in History at the University of Tartu and a Master’s degree in Political Science from University College London.

Larry D. De Shon is chief executive officer and chief operating officer of Avis Budget Group, Inc., a leading global provider of vehicle rental services. Prior to this position, he served as president and chief operating officer. Mr. De Shon was previously president, International, Avis Budget Group. In this role, he was responsible for overseeing the Company’s Avis, Budget, Zipcar, Payless, Maggiore and Apex businesses in Europe, the Middle East, Africa (EMEA), Asia, Australia and New Zealand. Mr. De Shon joined Avis Budget Group in 2006 and has previously overseen the Company’s operations in Europe, the Middle East and Africa as president, EMEA and operations in the United States as executive vice president, domestic operations. Before joining Avis Budget Group, Mr. De Shon was senior vice president of airport operations at United Airlines, Inc. As the head of United’s worldwide airport operations, he oversaw ground operations, logistics, safety, security, customer processing and service, product development and internal communications, leading an organization of 23,000 employees in 29 countries. He began his 28-year career with the airline carrier as a customer service representative and advanced to hold numerous positions of increasing responsibility during his tenure. He received bachelor degrees in both communications and sociology from the University of Missouri, Kansas City.

Greg Lindsay joined NewCities in June 2015 as Senior Fellow to lead our Connected Mobility Initiative. Greg is a journalist, urbanist, futurist, and speaker. He is a non-resident senior fellow of The Atlantic Council in their Strategic Foresight Initiative. He is also a contributing writer for Fast Company, co-author of Aerotropolis: The Way We’ll Live Next, a visiting scholar at New York University’s Rudin Center for Transportation Policy & Management, and a research affiliate of the New England Complex Systems Institute (NECSI). His writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg BusinessWeek, and Fortune, among many other publications. He graduated from the University of Illinois with a degree in journalism.

John Rossant personally leads the LA CoMotion team. He is the Founder and Chairman of the NewCities Foundation, a major global non-profit institution dedicated to improving the quality of life and work in cities. He previously led the team producing the famous World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland every January and has been been the producer of major World Economic Forum conferences in China, Latin America, Southeast Asia and Africa. He has also played key roles in Monaco, with the Monaco Media Forum and the ongoing Prince’s Roundtable on Philanthropy. In 2010, French President Nicolas Sarkozy asked John to organize the first global summit on the future of the Internet, the e-G8. John has worked with heads of state and government and leading CEOs from around the world.

RJ Scaringe founded Rivian in 2009 and led the company through a tough economic climate to secure substantial financing, recruit and scale an exceptional team, and establish the company’s product and technology platform. Mr. Scaringe excels in analyzing highly complex systems, combining deep analytical capabilities with a system-based development methodology. Mr. Scaringe earned his MS and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he was a member of the research team in the Sloan Automotive Laboratory. In leading Rivian, Mr. Scaringe works to maintain a highly collaborative environment, and his hands-on approach drives innovative thinking into all aspects of the business and company culture.

Christophe Arnaud is the Managing Director of Bolloré BlueSolutions UK and USA. He is responsible for the development of electric mobility and renewable energy storage solutions since July 2014. In this role, Christophe developed and implemented the 'London' projects whose objectives are the deployment of a charging infrastructure for the use of all types of users of electric vehicles and the launch of a 100% electric car sharing service. He is responsible for a USD100 million budget to deliver this unprecedented infrastructure and leads complex negotiations with private partners, local authorities and political influencers in London. In addition to that, he is in charge of the BlueLA Electric Car Sharing Program that aims to provide low-income neighborhoods in the city of Los Angeles with ultra-low emission transportation. Previously, Christophe Arnaud worked for another part of the Group Bolloré, BlueSolutions in France and IER (2007-2014), which designs and sells solutions to manage the flow of passengers and baggage in airports and railway stations. Christophe Arnaud began his career in the automotive industry as a product manager at Valeo and then joined Faurecia as sales manager in the “Automotive Seating” division (2004-2006). Between 2006 and 2007, Christophe Arnaud was a financial consultant firm for Deloitte. He graduated from Ecole Centrale Paris engineering school and Skema Business School. Christophe enjoys mountaineering activities and climbed several peaks over 5000 m of altitude. He also practices paragliding, cycling and running.

Jen De Melo is the Director of Programs and Operations at KaBOOM! and has been committed to prioritizing play and serving the kids who need it most since 2005. KaBOOM! is the national non-profit dedicated to ensuring that all kids get a childhood filled with the balanced and active play needed to thrive. Jen has worked on over 150 playground projects across North America and Mexico and oversees the Play Everywhere Program, Build it Yourself Grant Program, and other Special Programs at KaBOOM!. In her current role, Jen works with innovative and inclusive playspace designs and leads efforts to integrate these into cities and communities around the country. Additionally, Jen and her team work directly with communities and designers on developing innovative play ideas such as Play Everywhere, which brings play to everyday, unexpected places, including bus stops, sidewalks, grocery stores, and laundromats.   Jen has a laser focus on equity, infrastructure and community and is focused on using play as a driving catalyst. Prior to joining KaBOOM!, Jen worked at the Boys and Girls Club in her hometown of Redwood City, CA after graduating from the University of California, Santa Barbara where she obtained a degree in Cultural Anthropology.

Alexandra Dublanche is Vice President of Paris Region, in charge of Economic Development, Agriculture and Rural Affairs. She is also deputy mayor of Sartrouville (population of 53,000) in the wester suburbs of Paris where she is responsible for Transportation and the “Politique de la ville”, the French urban policy designed to tackle the problems occurring in deprived neighborhoods and aiming at reducing territorial inequalities within urban areas. After graduating from ESCP EUROPE, one of France’s first-ranked business schools, and earning three European Master Degrees in international management from France (Paris), England (Oxford), and Germany (Berlin), Alexandra Dublanche started her career at the top consulting firm McKinsey & Company in Germany. Three years later she worked for the French Government as an advisor on economic affairs and public finances to the French Minister of Education and Government Spokesman in 2008-2010. She then left for the United States where she studied at the Harvard Kennedy School and graduated in 2012 with a Master of Public Administration from Harvard University. She came back to France in 2012 to work for Valerie Pécresse.

Meg Merritt is a Principal at Nelson\Nygaard where she leads the firm’s Emerging Mobility Sector. Meg specializes in integrating new technology trends with traditional mobility planning to help cities and transit authorities work with the private sector more smoothly. Meg spent her early career in New York working in real estate and economic development and in Austin as a transit oriented development Planner. She spent several years with Deloitte Consulting working on USDOT’s high speed rail program and has experience in the tech sector where she lead mobility partnerships for the app RideScout/moovel. Meg led one of the first app-based transit/TNC/carshare pilots in the country with TriMet’s RideTap program. She is currently co-authoring a TCRP report on transit/TNC partnerships as well as serving as Principal-in-Charge on LA Metro’s microtransit pilot for one of the three services being proposed.

Gabe is a co-founder of CityFi, an advisory services firm, as well as is the former Commissioner of the Chicago and Washington D.C Departments of Transportation. In both cities he revamped technology platforms and government processes while focusing on putting people first vs. automobiles on city streets. This included launching two of the first and largest bike share systems in the U.S. and building protected bike lanes and better pedestrian infrastructure for vulnerable citizens citywide, as well as facilitating private services like carshare and rideshare that could help each cities mobility goals. Gabe honed his creativity and leadership skills working in business, including Zipcar, where he served as Vice President, Bikes USA as national Director of Stores and his own electric powered, organic food truck chain, On The Fly.   Post-government, and after an enriching fellowship with the Urban Land Institute in 2014, Gabe joined Fontinalis Partners as a Special Venture Partner on their $100 million 2nd fund. Gabe also advises governments and companies worldwide on innovation in cities including Singapore where Gabe has been a visiting fellow for the Centre For Livable Cities, working on creating a “car-lite” city-state.  In 2015, Gabe also published Start-Up City with David Vega-Barachowitz on Island Press, a manifesto on revamping how (and how fast) we innovate in cities and rethinking public-private partnerships with a triple-bottom line approach as technology shapes a dramatically different future.   Gabe sits on the boards of Streetsblog, Carma, and advisory boards of NACTO, Sensity Systems, Zendrive, and advises next-gen start-ups including Phone2Action and Transit Screen. As Commissioner, he has worked to bring a new Riverwalk to Chicago as well as the breathtaking Bloomingdale Trail, 100's of miles of bike lanes, new policies combined with technology solutions to revamp parking, permitting, and many other arcane government processes.

Neal Gorenflo is the co-founder and Executive Director of Shareable, an award-winning nonprofit news outlet and global action network that reports on the latest innovations resource sharing, solidarity economy, sharing cities, and the blockchain. He’s a speaker, author, and consultant on Shareable’s coverage areas. He’s the editor of multiple books including Shareable’s latest, “Sharing Cities: Activating the Urban Commons.” As a recognized sharing movement pioneer, he advises leaders around the world on how to meet their goals through sharing. This has included work with Seoul Metropolitan Government, the city of San Francisco, and the Sharing Economy Association of Japan. Not surprisingly, Neal is an avid sharer whose year of sharing life experiment was covered by FastCompany, Sunset, and 7x7 magazines. As a social entrepreneur, Neal’s timely call to action is simple and systemic: let’s share!

In 2018, Sam was re-elected to a second term as mayor of San Jose, California, with 76% of the vote. In Sam’s prior public service, he prosecuted a range of felony cases as a federal and local criminal prosecutor, from sexual assault and child exploitation to international narcotrafficking.  In 2006, voters elected Sam to the first of his two terms on the City Council, where he led efforts to revitalize its downtown, preserve San José’s hillsides and open space, boost funding for affordable housing, and open a world-class soccer stadium for the San José Earthquakes.  He served as a founding board member of Cristo Rey San Jose High School, an innovative Jesuit school that propels students from low-income immigrant families to college and beyond. Sam serves on a number of boards, including the Metropolitan Transportation Commission and the Valley Transit Authority (twice as Chairperson), and serves as co-chair for Joint Venture Silicon Valley.   He is a senior fellow for the American Leadership Forum-Silicon Valley, and is a Rodel Fellow at the Aspen Institute. Sam graduated from San José’s Bellarmine College Prep and from Georgetown University, where he was captain of the heavyweight Crew.  He received a law degree from Harvard Law School, and a master’s degree from Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. Sam and his wife, Jessica, live in the Northside neighborhood, north of Downtown, within blocks of Jessica’s childhood home, where Sam’s father also grew up, and where Sam’s grandparents operated a neighborhood grocery store.  Sam descended from Sicilian and Irish immigrants, as well as from the first Mexican settlers in the Bay Area.

Jill Anderson is vice president of Customer Programs and Services at Southern California Edison (SCE), one of the nation’s largest electric utilities. She is responsible for leading SCE's energy efficiency, demand response and clean self-generation program portfolios as well as customer strategy, marketing, ecommerce and strategic alliance functions. Previously, Anderson was executive vice president and chief commercial officer at the New York Power Authority (NYPA), the country’s largest state power organization. She directed all wholesale and retail operations. She was responsible for sales, marketing, new products and technology, and energy efficiency programs. In this role, Anderson also oversaw the marketing of NYPA’s generation assets, trading, fuel operations, hedging and business development for new transmission and generation activities. Prior to serving in this position at NYPA, she led energy policy, sustainability, corporate communications, regulatory affairs and government relations departments at the organization. Before joining NYPA, Anderson worked for Hess Corporation, leading global process improvement projects focused on revenue enhancement, cost reduction and environmental excellence, including greenhouse gas emissions reduction efforts. Anderson has also worked for Consolidated Edison Company of New York, leading teams responsible for natural gas and electric substation construction and operation, redesign of the distribution system to improve efficiency and integrate new technologies, and electricity and natural gas procurement. Anderson received a Master of Business Administration degree from New York University and a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering degree from Boston University.

Richard was appointed Director of Energy, Technology and Innovation at the UK’s Department for Transport in August 2016. He leads on policy to move the nation’s road transport onto a more sustainable footing, and maximising the economic opportunities for the UK from the move to future mobility. He is the lead Director for the UK Government’s Future of Mobility Grand Challenge, part of the UK’s Industrial Strategy. His teams direct and deliver UK-wide policies and programmes worth around £1bn on low and ultra-low emission vehicles, low carbon fuels, air quality, putting innovative new technology on the roads, overseeing related Government R&D expenditure and international negotiation of regulations on vehicle safety and emissions. There is a particular current focus on creating an attractive regulatory and R&D environment for connected and automated vehicle technology in the UK and on making the UK the best place in the world to do transport digitally. Prior to this role Richard spent four years as head of the UK’s Office of Low Emissions Vehicles (OLEV), delivering Government support for the early market for ultra-low emission vehicles and overseeing a period of unprecedented growth in plug-in vehicle uptake. Richard has also held various roles in the UK Senior Civil Service including DfT's head of Corporate Governance, leading on smart and integrated ticketing; and as Director of Regional Resilience. Before joining the civil service he worked at Unilever and at Andersen Consulting. Richard has BA in Industrial Economics and MPhil in the economics of motor vehicle pollution from the University Of Nottingham. Richard is married with two children and lives in London. He gets around by bicycle, Nissan Leaf and campervan.

Dr. Chernicoff is currently the Senior Manager of Global Research and Innovation for the Toyota Mobility Foundation. He defines and coordinates the foundation’s research agenda, providing technology guidance to projects.  With both near- and long-term perspectives, Dr. Chernicoff helps conceive new technology approaches that enable and improve the solutions implemented by the foundation and its partners.  He brings a strong background across energy, technology, mobility, and climate policy from his prior work as a Manager and Principle Researcher with Toyota North America’s Energy & Environmental Research Group and his eight years with the US DOT’s Research Administration. Dr. Chernicoff earned a Bachelor of Science in Materials Science and Engineering at M.I.T., a Master of Science in Manufacturing Engineering from Boston University, and a Ph.D. in Systems Engineering and Engineering Management at the George Washington University.

ABB is at the forefront of developing state-of-the-art EV Charging Infrastructure. Knowing the challenges on the chargers itself, on complete site-level or on grid-level, ABB is perfectly positioned to provide the solution and contribute in running the world without consuming the earth. Let’s talk about the technology and challenges of high-power charging on site level and beyond

Cathy Zoi is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of EVgo.  Zoi is a distinguished executive with decades of experience in the clean energy, investing, and policy worlds. She is committed to working closely with automotive OEM & new mobility partners, utilities, and other industry stakeholders to deliver a first-in-class charging experience and fast-charging network for EV drivers in the United States and across the world. Zoi has held a number of senior executive positions in the energy industry, government, academia and non-profit sectors. Most recently, she was President and co-founder of Odyssey Energy, a distributed generation software company she continues to chair. She was founding CEO of Frontier Power, a rural electrification company incubated by SunEdison. She served in the Obama Administration as Assistant Secretary and Acting Under Secretary at the Department of Energy, where she oversaw more than $30 billion in energy investments. Zoi was also the founding CEO of both the Alliance for Climate Protection, established and chaired by U.S. Vice President Al Gore; and the Sustainable Energy Development Authority, a $50m fund to commercialize clean energy technologies in Australia. In the private sector, she has been an energy investor at Silver Lake and Bayard Capital, a board member for Ice Energy, SES, and Pacific Solar, and a management consultant at ICF and Next Energy. In the early 1990s, Zoi was Chief of Staff for Environmental Policy in the Clinton White House and she pioneered the Energy Star program while at the US EPA. Cathy is also an adjunct professor and Precourt Energy Scholar at Stanford University, where she has been teaching and doing research since 2012. Zoi has a B.S. in Geology from Duke University and an M.S. in Engineering from Dartmouth.

Prior to joining LACI, he was appointed by Mayor Eric Garcetti as the first ever Chief Sustainability Officer for the City of Los Angeles. Serving as CSO for four years, Petersen was the chief architect of the groundbreaking Sustainable City pLAn, led efforts to make LA a global leader in EVs, and helped create the Climate Mayors. Petersen co-founded Global Green USA and led the organization for 19 years as President and CEO. The organization was a pioneer in greening of affordable housing, schools, and cities as well as helping grow the solar sector. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Petersen put forth a vision and mobilized resources to green the rebuilding of New Orleans, including schools, the Lower 9th Ward, and more. Petersen is chair of the Climate Mayors board, and a board member of Global Green USA, Habitat for Humanity of Greater Los Angeles, Center for Environmental Health, and the Sir Edmund Hilary Institute for International Leadership. Petersen is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the LA Sustainability Leadership Council, and served as an advisor to the Clinton Global Initiative on energy and the environment while a CGI member for 10 years. He has a son, and is a retired AYSO coach.

Jeff Marootian is the Director of the District Department of Transportation where he has served since March 2017. Jeff leads the agency in its mission to create a safe and sustainable transportation system for the District of Columbia and is responsible for delivering on Mayor Muriel Bowser's priorities to rebuild and modernize the city's public infrastructure; embrace innovation and technology to generate mobility options; and reduce traffic fatalities and serious injuries through a concerted Vision Zero strategy. Prior to joining DDOT he served as the White House Liaison and Assistant Secretary for Administration at the United States Department of Transportation. Jeff was a member of the leadership team whose achievements include launching the nationwide Smart Cities Challenge; advocating for and helping to secure passage of the FAST Act; and creating economic opportunity through transit and mobility initiatives in communities across the country. Jeff oversaw the 55,000-employee agency’s business and management operations, including workforce development and human resources, diversity, facilities, procurement and security. He was also the Department’s Chief Sustainability Officer and directed the implementation of President Obama’s Executive Order on Climate Change and Sustainability and contributed to the Department’s strategy on electric and autonomous vehicles. He also played a key role in standing up the Build America Bureau to advance the use of public-private partnerships for infrastructure projects across the country. Jeff is an alumnus of the George Washington University where he also serves as an Adjunct Faculty member in the Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Administration.

Jeff Russakow, CEO Jeff Russakow is CEO of Boosted, a leading provider of lightweight, portable, high-performance electric vehicles, and an innovator in fast, fun, simple “last-mile” transportation. The company is well-known for its first commercial product, the Boosted Board, a premier electric longboard used by riders worldwide to speed their commutes and daily trips about town. The company is now navigating the dual challenges of extraordinary hyper-growth and international expansion, while continuing to explore new and innovative ways to get folks where they need to be. Jeff began his career as a PhD in robotics and autonomous systems; spent many formative years as a management consultant and then senior executive in large-scale tech companies including SAP, Adobe, Symantec, and Yahoo!; and in the last several years has been the CEO of three high-growth companies.

Claudia Wasko is Vice President and General Manager of Bosch eBike Systems Americas, a business unit of Robert Bosch LLC. In her position, she is responsible for all operational activities in eBike Systems within North and South America. She is based in Irvine, CA. Since joining Bosch in 1994 Wasko has held numerous positions with increasing responsibility in the areas of key account sales, original equipment sales and marketing. In 2009 she was the co-founder of the business unit Bosch eBike Systems in Germany. In her position as the head of department for sales and service she was strongly involved Bosch made achieved a market-leading position globally. Wasko earned her bachelor’s degree in business administration from Berufsakademie, Stuttgart (Germany).

Rudy Salo is a Los Angeles-based public finance partner at Nixon Peabody LLP, a global law firm. Rudy has served as counsel on a broad range of community impact financings involving governmental entities, transportation systems, educational institutions, cultural institutions, and entertainment venues. His practice includes advising lenders in providing credit facilities, direct lending and lines of credit throughout California and the United States, often involving commercial real estate or other asset backed collateral. Some of the significant transportation projects Rudy has worked on include the financing of the SR237 Express Lanes expansion in Silicon Valley, Project Neon in Las Vegas, the New Tappan Zee Bridge, the extension of the SR91 Express Lanes into Riverside County, DART's Orange Line extension to DFW Airport, the financial restructuring and sale of SR125 in San Diego, and the renovation of the City of Denver’s Union Station. He has also worked on the financing of several sports stadiums, including the Giants/Jets, Yankees, Padres, and Patriots' stadiums.

Chris Teale is associate editor at Smart Cities Dive, a trade publication based in Washington, D.C. covering the latest news and trends in urban mobility, sustainability, resilience, governance and tech. He has been with the publication since February 2018 after several years in local journalism.

A lawyer by education, Pras pursued his Masters in International Relations in Japan and the United States. He spent his initial career as an in-house legal advisor, and thereafter as a management consultant. For the last 15 years he has been in Toyota Motor Corporation in Japan and Europe, with experience in Human Resources, Accounting & Finance, and External Affairs. During his time in HR he was responsible for Global Employee and Industrial Relations, HR Resource Management and HR Development. In Finance he led teams on Tax & Audit and Profit Planning for Europe. Currently he is responsible for Global Strategic Planning in the External Affairs Function. Pras is concurrently Program Director for the Toyota Mobility Foundation, responsible for the Asia-Pacific Region. In this role he is overseeing three projects in Thailand, Vietnam and India on issues related to multi-modal mobility. In a world with mounting mobility challenges, Toyota believes that enabling people to move freely is essential to unleashing human potential; that’s why the Toyota Mobility Foundation was set up to use Toyota’s know-how in partnership with universities, governments and non-profit organizations to address the mobility issues of tomorrow today

Gina N. Fiandaca was appointed Commissioner of the Boston Transportation Department (BTD) in January of 2015 by Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh.  Utilizing a combination of planning, engineering, operations and enforcement, Gina and her team of over 400 strive to ensure safe, efficient and equitable access to Boston’s streets for people using all transportation modes Gina is committed to employing advanced design techniques, equipment and technology to refine and enhance the City of Boston’s transportation network. Under her management, BTD partnered with the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) to establish one of Boston’s first dedicated bus lanes. BTD is also focused on advancing the city’s strategic bike network by building out high quality bike infrastructure. Boston is proud to be a notable walking city and Gina has ensured that pedestrian amenities are prioritized by BTD.  Neighborhood Slow Streets tailors the implementation of traffic calming measures to reduce speeds in residential zones and improve the walking and biking experience. Gina is responsible for launching ParkBoston, the City of Boston’s first meter payment app which accounts for 33% of all meter transactions, and 42% of the $10.8 million collected in meter revenue in fiscal year 2018. In October of 2016, Mayor Walsh signed an executive order that assigned Gina to lead oversight of autonomous vehicles in Boston, and called for BTD and the Mayor’s Office of New Urban Mechanics to develop guidelines for the testing of this technology. As Commissioner of the Boston Transportation Department, Gina is the Chairperson of the City of Boston Air Pollution Control Commission, as well as a member of the City of Boston Public Improvement Commission and the Boston Emergency Management Agency, the National Association of Transportation Officials and the Massachusetts Area Planning Council.  She is also on the Board of Directors of Women in Transportation (WTS), and past president of the New England Parking Council. Gina received a bachelor’s degree from Suffolk University and an MBA from Boston University.  She is a lifelong resident of East Boston where her family has been involved in public service and community affairs for generations.  An avid runner, Gina represents South Boston’s L Street Running Club and has completed over forty marathons including nine ultra marathons.

Lilija Rudis is a Principal at Via, the leading developer and operator of on-demand transit systems. Lilija joined Via in 2015 as a member of the Chicago launch team and spent two years optimizing on-demand transit in her hometown. As a Principal on the Business Development team, she now works with cities, public transit agencies, and private transit operators to identify opportunities for on-demand transit to improve mobility in communities of all shapes and sizes. Prior to Via, Lilija worked as a researcher at the Institute of Urban and Regional Development while studying city planning at UC Berkeley. She has also worked as a corporate social responsibility consultant and as the Director of Sustainability and Operations at a Chicago-based technology consultancy. Lilija holds an MCP from UC Berkeley and a BS in Environmental Engineering from Yale University.

Aarjav is the founder and CEO of Ridecell and has set the vision and direction for the company since 2009. He also remains actively involved with the engineering, design, marketing and product teams within the organization. Prior to Ridecell, Aarjav worked in engineering at SpiDynamics (acquired by HP) and as a research engineer at CipherTrust and Secure Computing (acquired by McAfee) where he helped invent and ship security systems used by over 40% of the Fortune 500, as well as the Pentagon. He holds a Master’s Degree in Computer Science from Georgia Tech and a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science from the University of Mumbai.

Harry Campbell is CEO and founder of The Rideshare Guy, a media business that covers the rideshare industry and is one of the top content destinations for Uber and Lyft drivers, and gig workers around the world. Harry has quickly established himself as a rideshare and mobility expert with appearances in hundreds of media publications and his site is trafficked by close to a million visitors every single month. His latest book, The Rideshare Guide teaches drivers everything they need to know about driving for Uber, Lyft and other ridesharing companies.

Beijing-born architect Ma Yansong is recognized as an important voice in the new generation of architects. He is the first Chinese architect to win an overseas landmark-building project. As the founder and principal of MAD Architects, Ma leads design across various scales. In recent years, many of Ma’s designs follow his conception of the “Shanshui City”, which is his vision to create a new balance among society, the city and the environment through architecture. Since designing the “Floating Island” in 2002, Ma has been exploring this idea through an international practice.  At MAD, Ma has created a series of imaginative works, including Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, Absolute Towers, Harbin Opera House, Hutong Bubble 32, Ordos Museum, Chaoyang Park Plaza, Huangshan Mountain Village, etc. In 2014, Ma was selected as the principal designer for Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, which made him the first Chinese architect to design overseas culture landmark. Parallel to his design practice, he has also been exploring with the public the cultural values of cities and architecture through domestic and international solo exhibitions, publications and art works. In 2006, Ma was awarded the “Young Architects Award” by the Architectural League of New York. In 2008 he was selected as one of the “20 Most Influential Young Architects” by ICON magazine. Fast Company respectively named him one of the “10 Most Creative People in Architecture in 2009” and one of the “100 Most Creative People in Business in 2014.” In 2010 he became the first architect from China to receive a RIBA fellowship. In 2014 he was awarded “Young Global Leaders (YGL)” by World Economic Forum. In 2012, his iconic project “Absolute Towers,” two residential towers in Mississauga, Canada was named the “Best Tall Building in the Americas” by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH). Ma graduated from the Beijing Institute of Civil Engineering and Architecture, and holds a Master’s Degree in Architecture from Yale University. He is currently a professor in Beijing University of Civil Engineering and Architecture, as well as an adjunct professor in University of Southern California, and Tsinghua University.

Rob Lloyd was named the CEO of Virgin Hyperloop One and member of the Board of Directors in September 2015. As CEO, Rob is leveraging his experience with Internet infrastructure, technology ecosystems, and global partnerships to reimagine the transportation industry. Under Rob’s leadership, Virgin Hyperloop One has developed the world’s first hyperloop business model and Virgin Hyperloop One’s open innovation strategy, raised $295 million in funding, expanded to four locations, and helped scale to 300+ employees by recruiting engineering and business leaders from the world’s top companies. The company has had numerous successful test runs at its full-scale, full system test track in the Nevada desert. Rob and his team have engaged with a dozen countries around the world, working with government officials to develop the world’s first commercial hyperloop agreements. Prior to Virgin Hyperloop One, Rob spent over 20 years at Cisco Systems where he managed the majority of the company’s worldwide business. As President, he led engineering, sales, and the Internet of Everything and was responsible for 40,000 employees globally. Rob's organizations managed the alignment and acceleration of Cisco’s technology innovation to enable a faster response to market transitions, increased customer relevance, and growth. He held several leadership positions at the company including Executive Vice President of Worldwide Operations, Senior Vice President of the United States, Canada, and Japan, and also served as President of Cisco’s Europe, Middle East, and Africa region for more than four years.

Bastian is CEO of Postmates, the on-demand delivery company he co-founded in 2011. The idea for Postmates was originally conceived in 2005 when Bastian was relocating from Munich to London and he struggled with finding a simple solution for moving goods around a city. He later pursued this notion of “ride-sharing for stuff” through AngelPad in San Francisco, where he met his co-founders Sean Plaice and Sam Street. Postmates now operates in over 550 US cities and Mexico and has a fleet of 170,000+ Postmates making deliveries on the platform. Prior to Postmates, Bastian co-founded Curated.by, a real-time tweet curation platform based in London. Before that, at 12snap, he managed marketing budgets for Adidas and Lufthansa and helped many European startups in product related roles. A native of Germany, Bastian now lives in San Francisco.

Tom Madrecki is the director of urban innovation and mobility at UPS. In his role, Madrecki leads partnerships between UPS and cities around the world, spearheading the deployment of innovative pilot projects and advancing mobility policy solutions to reduce congestion, deliver sustainably and enhance quality of life. He is a recognized urban mobility expert, with a focus on alternative delivery models, progressive transportation policies, curbside management and the potential for e-commerce to reduce personal automobile use. Prior to his current position, Madrecki led transportation and sustainability policy communications for UPS. He has also served as the spokesman and press manager for Smart Growth America, a non-profit advocacy organization dedicated to sustainable urban planning and development. Madrecki lives on Capitol Hill in Washington DC with his wife Priya and their 2-year-old Siberian husky, Ava.

Raj Kapoor is the Chief Strategy Officer for Lyft, as well as the Head of Business for Lyft’s self-driving division. He also serves as a Venture Advisor at Mayfield Fund. Prior to Lyft, he was a co-founder and CEO of both Snapfish (acquired by HP for $300M in 2005) and Fitmob (acquired by ClassPass in 2015), as well as a managing director at Mayfield Fund where he led the first VC investment in Lyft. Raj holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering with an emphasis on Robotics from Carnegie Mellon University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Yann Leriche joined Transdev in 2008, beginning as CEO of Group subsidiary Transamo, which provides counseling and assistance in the planning, implementation and operation of large public transportation projects, until 2010. He then took responsibility for Transdev SZ (bus operations) and EurailCo (rail) at Transdev Germany. He was appointed Deputy Director of Transdev North America in 2012. In 2013, he was named Group Chief Performance Officer and joined the Excom. In July 2017, he became CEO Transdev North America in charge of the B2C Business Line and development of the Autonomous Vehicles Activities. Prior to joining Transdev, he served as Director of the Services Division in Europe for Bombardier Transportation guided light transit systems. He began his career in public service, first as Transportation Infrastructure manager in the Calvados region, then as Director of Public Transport in Greater Reims where he was project manager of the line 1 light rail. A graduate of Ecole Polytechnique (1997) and the Ecole nationale des Ponts et Chaussées (1999) and a member of the College of Engineers, Yann Leriche also holds an Executive Specialized Masters in Tax and Financial Engineering from ESCP-Europe.

Since July 2016, Martin has led the Transport Agency’s approach to innovation and new technology. He is passionate about using data to provide smart solutions that connect people, services and infrastructure. Martin joined the Transport Agency in 2014 as Zero Harm manager. Working with industry partners, Martin led the introduction of new technology and data analytics to support the government’s objective to reduce workplace fatalities and serious harm by 25 percent. Martin has more than 15 years’ experience in the engineering and construction industry.  He has also established two technology start-up businesses.  He sits on the Construction Safety Council Board of Directors and holds an executive role with the Australian Driverless Vehicle Initiative. Martin is also a registered member of the Institute of Directors in New Zealand.

Emily is a shared mobility expert focused on leveraging new transportation technologies to reduce reliance on car ownership and build more sustainable cities. After starting her career in the traditional spheres of Capitol Hill and infrastructure finance, Emily made the leap to Silicon Valley as one of the earliest employees at Lyft, where she helped pioneer the ridesharing industry. The creator and longtime leader of Lyft’s Transportation Policy team, she spent the last half-decade working with cities to incorporate shared mobility and understand its impacts on travel behavior, infrastructure, public transit, and the environment. Emily now leads Policy and Public Affairs at Lime, the free-floating bike and e-scooter platform which has grown to over 100 cities in the last 18 months. She holds an M.P.A. in Public Finance from the University of Pennsylvania and a B.A. in Political Science from the University of California, San Diego.

Shailen P. Bhatt is President and CEO of the Intelligent Transportation Society of America (ITS America), where he promotes policies that advance the development and deployment of intelligent transportation technologies throughout the United States. Previously, Bhatt served as Executive Director for the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT), where he led the department in planning for and addressing Colorado’s transportation needs. Bhatt oversaw 3,300 employees statewide and an annual budget of approximately $1.4 billion, guiding an organization committed to becoming the best DOT in the country. During his tenure, CDOT launched the Road X program which is focused on deploying innovative technology solutions such as connected vehicles and teaming with the private sector to shape the future of transportation. Prior to CDOT, he was Cabinet Secretary for the Delaware Department of Transportation, where he managed nearly a billion-dollar budget and 2,800 employees. During his tenure, he led the agency response to two hurricanes, introduced performance management to the agency, and reduced agency debt by 30% while delivering $2 billion in infrastructure improvements. He was also responsible for the Delaware Transit Corporation and the DMV.  Bhatt also served as an Associate Administrator at the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). Bhatt is a respected leader in the transportation field. He previously served on the American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Board of Directors and chaired the AASHTO Subcommittee on Transportation Systems Management and Operations (STSMO). He served as the Chair of the Board of Directors for the National Operations Center of Excellence (NOCoE). In addition, Bhatt is a member of the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Global Agenda Council on the Future of Automotive and Personal Transport. He also served as the Chair of the Executive Committee of the I-95 Corridor Coalition, Diamond State Port Corporation, Board of Directors, and is a former Commissioner for the Northeast Corridor Commission. Bhatt graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Western Kentucky University. He is married with a wife and two daughters.