25 women in Mobility to Follow on Twitter and Linkedin
A quick tour through women leading change in smart mobility and smart cities
Women aren’t passengers in the smart mobility movement — we are actively driving change. CEOs, founders, academics, planners, advocates, educators, technologists, coders, managers and members of the public service — many women have found the MaaS frontier as their personal professional calling.
I’m curating a new tradition on Twitter, and that is #Women in #MaaS #Wednesday. Appropriately, Crissy Ditmore responded with a play on words, because, just like iomob.net advisor Susan Shaheen, it’s women who are definitely putting the “smart” into smart mobility:
Fast Forward
Skip ahead to part 2 here:
First mile
It’s utterly inspiring to me that the politicians in charge of the transport portfolio where I live are both women.
The Hon. Melissa Horne MP is Minister for Public Transport and Minister for Ports and Freight in the Victorian State Government. She was recently Guest of Honour at the MaaS 2019 Welcome Reception. (Sadly, and unlike the rest of the women here, she isn’t on Twitter or Linkedin as far as I can see.) Her colleague, also Minister for Public Transport in the Andrews government, and Minister for Major Projects, is Jacinta Allen, which makes two women in government leading mobility in Victoria, Australia.
Jobs
If you want to find out about jobs in mobility, a great twitter account to follow is @womeninmobility. Women helping each other get jobs is a great thing! Kudos to the Women in Mobility team for dedicating time to the cause.
It’s a collaboration between three women founders, @eisfraeulein, @cocomobility, and @multi_mobility.
Women leading change
Let’s branch out now to showcase some of the Twitter and Linkedin accounts of other urban transport thought leaders who are regarded as influencers in their field.
I’ve considered myself a woman in mobility almost as long as I’ve been a woman in tech/blockchain (I’m known in blockchain for the 600 strong group of women I founded, WIBI), and it definitely pays to have a strong community you rely on for support.
When CEO Boyd Cohen interviewed me for the role here at Iomob, he noted that not only did I put my best foot forward, I recommended other women from my network who may be suitable for the position if they thought I wasn’t. This was something that stood out for him. I think that’s a key benefit for women who cooperate together in any field — we act positively for the collective good. It’s not about the “me”, it’s about the “we”.
So here’s a top level list that has been collaboratively created on Twitter, in no particular order — if you think there are more who should be added, please share this article and tag them, and comment below. We can definitely grow this list beyond 25 in a short period of time. [UPDATE: This list now has a Part 2 with 40 additional women.]
CTO, Metropolitan Transport Authority of Barcelona and lecturer in “Smart Mobility” at UPC School of Professional and Executive Development. “My role as tech responsible at ATM is to lead the transport technology advancements for ATM and thus paving the path for the operators in the region to ensure not only the smooth operations of our current system, but also to look at future interoperability and scalability.”
Regina Clewlow: @ReginaClewlow
CEO & Co-Founder of @populus_ai | @MIT PhD | Former @Stanford @ITS_UCDavis scientist | Building a platform for #cities to manage the future of #mobility.
Johannah Randall: @thecakeprincess
Head of Station Operations at High Speed 2 and in the travel industry for the past 20 years. Specialising in project and bid management primarily in the rail industry for train operators.
Sandra has almost two decades of marketing experience, with a major focus on technology-based, disruptive and fast growing businesses. She is now focused entirely on mobility, as the Head of Marketing for SkedGo, a Mobility-as-a-Service tech enabler.
COO and VP of Business Development at @iomob.net, IoMob combines open source and blockchain technology to decentralize mobility and to lead the revolution of Internet of Mobility in smart and sustainable cities.
Future mobility research, writing and thought leadership at Beate Kubitz. “Innovation in transport which enables people to share cars, journeys, bikes and taxis can change the way we travel, linking people with public transport without the need to own a car.”
Transportation Planning | Policy | Strategy | Stanford University. “After more than 15 years in consulting, I recently joined Stanford University as an internal and external liaison on transportation policy matters. Prior to joining Stanford, I was a sustainable transportation planner at Nelson\Nygaard Consulting Associates and Trivector Traffic.” Jessica Alba
Renee Autumn Ray @reneeautumnray
With a master’s degree in urban planning, Renee started her career with a brief spell in land development before moving into public health working with vulnerable populations including older adults and people with disabilities. As a member of the Transportation Research Board, she works tirelessly to advise on how multi-modal transport and MaaS technology can help to improve accessibility, with the aim of creating spaces where people want to live, work and have a high quality of life. Renee Autumn Ray
Dr. Anita Sengupta: @Doctor_Astro
Aerospace Engineer, Pilot, CPO and Co-founder @AirspaceXP, Prof @USC, fmr @NASA Rocket Scientist, Motorcyclist, @TEDx Speaker, Life after Landing @marscuriosity
Technology and Sustainability Professional who describes herself as “transit geek, sustainability advocate, technology, public transportation, APTA board member”, and working with Cubic Transportation.
Emily Castor Warren: @emilycwarren_
Urban transportation wonk. Venture Partner @Fontinalis_FP. OG policy architect @lyft @limebike. #YIMBY. Biased toward action, grounded in humane values. “Urbanist and shared mobility expert focused on leveraging new transportation technologies to advance the public interest.”
@UCBerkeley professor. Researching sustainable transportation, #innovation & disruption. Pioneer in #sharingeconomy, #carsharing, #bikesharing, #ridesharing. Iomob.net advisor. “Susan Shaheen is a pioneer and thought leader in future mobility strategies.”
Katharine Eagan Kelleman, AICP : @ms_eagan
Chief Executive Officer at Port Authority of Allegheny County, @PGHTransit CEO. Previously lead a 250+ revenue vehicle transit system serving the Greater Tampa Bay area with an annual operating budget of approximately $65 million.
Iwona Skowronek: @Iwona_Skowronek
PhD, CXO @NaviParking. Smart growth advocate with a focus on new mobility services enabling the transition to sustainable and low-carbon transport. “Supporting the Development of Sustainable Urban Mobility and Smart Cities Innovations That Make a Positive Impact.”
Crissy Ditmore: @FabCityCrissy
MaaS and Smart Cities Strategist: Working to improve mobility before it was a buzzword. “I work with the best team in the business to maximize the awesomeness of mobility. My secret sauce is a combination of Business Development, Project Management, and Government Relations to develop unique mobility solutions for public and private partners.”
Senior Manager at MaaS Alliance. Piia has more than 15 years’ experience in the transport industry including Finland’s Ministry of Transport and Communications and as a policy advisor to the European Parliament. A post-graduate of economics, she first worked for the Finnish Road Administration and fell in love with the sector.
Seasoned transportation journalist. Covered transportation and infrastructure for CQ Roll Call, an Economist Group company. Focused largely on producing daily news content for CQ News, covering a range of topics including surface transportation (roads, bridges, rail, public transit) as well as aviation, pipeline infrastructure, ports, and inland waterway infrastructure.
Virginia Lingham: @vridesbikes
Transportation professional specializing in ITS, connected & automated vehicles, & innovation |BMX racer & cycling advocate. “Experienced transportation professional specializing in intelligent transportation systems, connected and automated vehicles, and innovation.”
Chief Executive Officer at Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada. @RTCSNV Chief Executive Officer. Mom. Cyclist. Travel nut. A licensed pilot and former manager at McCarran International Airport, Tina Quigley is passionate and driven when it comes to improving transportation options with innovative technologies for Southern Nevadans.
Seleta Reynolds: @seletajewel
General Manager at @LADOTOfficial, “We move LA forward by delivering safe, livable, well-run transportation.” Seleta Reynolds has over 20 years of transportation experience throughout the United States in both the public and private sectors. Prior to her current position, Seleta was a leader in the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency’s Livable Streets section, coordinating streets projects citywide.
Sandra Phillips: @SPhillipsLuethi
Founder @shared_mobility | Women of Influence 2018 Nominee | NextVisionary2017 TED/BMWi | Advisor @ecomobix @velometro @reveltransit | #mobility #carsharing. “Innovation, technology and startups are my career; shared mobility my industry.”
CEO of Plug’n Drive, a not for profit devoted to electric vehicles. Sustainability advocate and EV enthusiast. A seasoned environmental professional with 20 years of experience in the environmental/sustainability fields in both the public and private sectors.
Melissa Bruntlett; @mbruntlett
International Communications Specialist at Mobycon, her is focused on promoting and sharing the projects, collaborations and knowledge sharing for Mobycon’s international team through digital and traditional media platforms.
Last mile
This list is fairly exclusive to North America and some parts of Europe. I would definitely love to expand this list to include leading women in mobility from Latin America, Africa, also Asia and other places as well as be more culturally diverse. If you can add your insights here, or think you should be on the list please leave a comment. [Update: a more inclusive list was collectively made and has been published as part 2 to this article. Thanks for your patience and forbearance!]
And, drum roll, the team behind @womeninmobility are hosting the first ever Women in Mobility Conference this November. Click here to register as a speaker or book a ticket:
Read Part 2 of our Women in Mobility series here:
Akasha is Engagement Director for iomob.net and looks after membership for Business in Heels the global network of business women. Join us at http://bit.ly/2IEF5kW
Connect on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/akashaindream/
About us: Iomob revolutionises how people get around. We are a technology platform for mobility. We enable seamless, multimodal journeys across an open network where any participant can interact and connect with any other. It is an open, neutral system where large transit organizations, major service providers, startups, and independent operators can be integrated into a single user’s journey. In short, the Internet of Mobility.
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