To say I’m excited to begin my journey as ITE’s next Executive Director would be an understatement. The opportunity to lead this storied institution after having been a member for so many years has me chomping at the bit, ready to come out of the gate at full speed. I look forward to meeting many of you in the coming weeks, months, and years—and making sure your expectations and vision for ITE are being met.
I’m fortunate to be entering this race with a new ITE Strategic Plan being released (see article on page 40). And I would be remiss if I didn’t start my tenure as Executive Director without first thanking the previous holder of this title—Jeff Paniati, P.E. (F). Jeff has put this institute on a great trajectory. His industry knowledge and wisdom will forever be appreciated by ITE members, and the energy and commitment he put into his time has left us in a good place. He, along with a fantastic staff and leadership team—including Kathi Driggs and Colleen Agan, and former CTO Jeff Lindley, P.E. (F)—have handed over a prize-winning racehorse with a strong record of wins. I’m excited to take the reins!
I’m also taking over at a time with extremely capable volunteer leadership in place: the energy and thoughtful guidance from International President Rosana Correa,
P.O., PTOE (F), the experienced leadership of International Vice President John Davis, P.E., RSP1, PTOE (F), the visionary enthusiasm of incoming International Vice President Karen Aspelin, P.E., PTOE (F), and the industry leadership from our Past International President Beverly Kuhn, Ph.D, P.E., PMP (F). I am so incredibly blessed to be taking on this position with such great principals in place.
So what’s my vision as the next Executive Director? It’s really quite simple: for ITE to be a gathering place that transportation professionals want to be a part of, so they can advance their individual career goals, all while working collaboratively with others to advance industry goals. We have an incredible breadth and depth of intellectual knowledge across our nearly 18,000 members. Through our Districts and Sections, Councils and Committees, Student Chapters and Young Professionals—there are so many different ways that ITE members can engage, and I’m confident that we’re going to continue having an impact on each other and the industry. And the Strategic Plan has something in there for everyone, a testament to the terrific volunteer leadership of our many organizational champions.
As we unveil our new Strategic Plan, we are also proudly unveiling an update to one of our signature products, the Parking Generation Manual (PGM), 6th Edition. The PGM includes a complete set of searchable electronic files and a database that includes land use descriptions and data plots for all available combinations of land uses, time periods, independent variables and settings. But with this newly updated 6th Edition, it also recognizes post-COVID parking demands have evolved based on numerous societal trends such as increased virtual communication, increased levels of e-commerce, and continued evolution of Transportation Network Companies (TNCs). It will be available in both digital and hard copy formats. Turn to page 22 for more information.
So thank you in advance for supporting me in this new position. And please join me as we take this journey together—I hope you have as much fun as I plan to in making this vision happen!