BART Hosts Inaugural Girls in Motion Fall 2023 Summit

A photo of the attendees who participated in the Girls in Motion Fall 2023 Summit, hosted at BART Headquarters on Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023. Photo courtesy of Conner L’Hommedieu of Kimley-Horn.

Transportation leaders from across the Bay Area came together recently to share their passion for transit and inspire young people to explore the industry as a potential career.

On Thursday, Oct. 19, BART hosted the inaugural Girls in Motion Fall 2023 Summit, organized by the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC), California, Bay Bridge Chapter, and WTS San Fransico Bay Area Chapter, an international organization for women in transportation.  

“The summit was a great opportunity to collaborate with our external partners and provide a platform of exposure for high school girls and specifically those from marginalized communities,” said Cynthia Fields, Supervisor of Workforce Development at BART and a member of the summit planning committee. “We want Gen Z to have this level of awareness as they consider their futures. It’s important for our girls to see people who look like them in the workplace, especially powerful women.”

Dozens of young women, mostly high school students, attended the rousing summit in BART’s boardroom. Many attendees are participants of Girls Inc of Alameda County, located just a few blocks down the street from BART HQ. Girls Inc. previously visited BART in March of this year to learn about engineering on International Women’s Day.  

The focus for this event was even broader in scope, and many of the transportation leaders who spoke noted the expansiveness of the transit industry and how its workers come from a surprising diversity of professional backgrounds.  

“There are so many different fields in transportation,” said Tess Lengyel, Executive Director of the Alameda County Transportation Commission. “Transportation is not just one thing; there are attorneys, communications professionals, planners. The list goes on.”  

Lengyel spoke during the opening session, a panel with fellow transit executives Bob Powers, the General Manager of BART, and Beverly Greene, Executive Director of External Affairs, Marketing and Communications at AC Transit. Michele DiFrancia, President of ACEC-CA, Bay Bridge Chapter, moderated the inspiring conversation. 

Each executive espoused their passion for transit and some of the surprising delights of working in the industry.  

At the opening of the session, Powers cited some data points to get the girls fired up. Thirty-four percent of BART staff are eligible to retire, he said, stressing the need for more young people with fresh perspectives and ideas to join the industry. He also noted that 25% of the BART workforce are women or nonbinary.  

“We have to do better as an agency to get that number up,” he said. “A job in transit pays well, has good benefits, and means something to the community. There’s so much opportunity in transit.” 

He also stressed the stability of the industry, which is often insulated from fluctuations in the economy. Layoffs, he pointed out, are rare in transportation compared to many other industries.  

Greene said she wasn’t even aware of transit as a career when she was in high school. Her advice to aspiring transit professionals was practical: Meet with your college counselor at least every other week and get involved with extracurriculars. She also shouted out the many women she’s had the opportunity to work with and learn from throughout her career. “And these women are running the agencies!” she said.  

A career tracks panel followed the discussion, featuring transportation professionals from a mix of fields, including, from BART, Alicia Trost (Chief Communications Officer), Sadie Graham (Director of Link21), Phoebe Cheng (Group Manager for Civil, Structural, and Track Engineering), and Ni Lee (Group Manager for Integration Engineering). Sarah Hersom, Vice President of HNTB and Jon Porterfield, Executive Vice President of Anser Advisory, also joined the discussion.  

“Working at BART is so exciting,” said Cheng. “You see it all, and it takes all kind of skillsets.  

Graham shared her unique background – she studied landscape architecture in college – and how her diverse experiences have served her in career. She also pointed out that after ten years of public service, your college loans are taken away. Graham herself said her loans were recently erased.  

At the end of the discussion, the young women engaged in a team STEM bridge-building activity with popsicle sticks that put their science, technology, engineering, and math skills to the test. 

Arden Sorensen-Waod, a tenth grader at Piedmont High School, said she learned a lot of surprising facts at the summit.  

“I’m interested in urban planning and community service. Maybe transit, too?” she said. Her biggest takeaway was realizing that “you can start in one field and end up in another one.” She was also excited that so many efforts were being made in the industry to connect with a younger audience.  

As Powers noted during the panel: “Youth are the future of public transit. We want to hear your ideas – and we are listening and implementing them.”