WTSEXPRESS

November/December 2016

In this issue...
President's Column
Corporate Partner Spotlight
Recognition Awards
Holiday Party Recap
WTSI Leadership Training Recap
November Event Recap
Members on the Move
January 2017 Program
New Members
  
WTS Minnesota welcomes the following new and returning members:

 

Melissa Barnes

MnDOT

 

Jacob Knight

SRF Consulting Group, Inc.

 

Samantha Markman

SRF Consulting Group, Inc.

 

Allison Ribachonek

Stantec Consulting

 

Siri Simons

MnDOT

 

Brad Utecht

MnDOT

Save the Dates for Upcoming Programs!
 
Master the Art and Science of ADA Document Accessibility
Tuesday, January 31st, 2017
8:30 - 10:30 AM
Toole Design Group
212 3rd Ave N, Minneapolis


Sunday, February 26th, 2017
2:00 PM with HH gathering before the production
History Theater
30 10th St E, St. Paul
WTS attendees will be eligible for a special $20 rate!


Visit our Events page for more information including registration soon.
Job Postings
  
WTS Minnesota posts job and internship opportunities on our website. Visit our Employment Opportunities page to view all current postings.  
 Help us spread the word about available positions by sending new posting information to Laura Eash.
 Corporate Partners   


Thank you to our 2016 corporate partners: 
AECOM




HDR, Inc.


   
Kimley-Horn & Associates, Inc.


   Stantec
 


WSB & Associates, Inc.
 
American Engineering Testing, Inc.
 
Bolton & Menk, Inc.
 
Braun Intertec
 
HR Green


KLJ


SEH, Inc.

 
SRF Consulting Group
 
TKDA
 
WSP-Parsons Brinckerhoff 
 
Isthmus Engineering
  
Pierce Pini & Associates, Inc.
 
Professional Engineering Services, Ltd.
 
Rani Engineering
 
Stonebrooke
 
The MN Transportation Alliance
 
Zan Associates
 
See your name here, and support the advancement of women in transportation! For more information about becoming a corporate partner, visit our website.
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Like us on Facebook


View our profile on LinkedIn
Has your email address changed?



Please email Kathleen Mayell with your new address and don't forget to update your email address with WTS International as well.
 
Join Our Mailing List
2016 WTS Minnesota

Board of Directors



President



Vice President



Secretary

Treasurer

Kelly Agosto
  
Past President


Scholarships & Recognitions Director

 Programs Co-Director

 Chelsey Hendrickson

 
Programs Co-Director


 Membership Director

Kathleen Mayell



 Marketing Director

Laura Eash



 Transportation YOU
Co-Director


Transportation YOU
Co-Director
Anna Potter


Development Director


Special Events Director
2016 WTS Minnesota

Advisory Board




Donna Allan

WTS Past President
 
 
Laura Amundson 
Parsons Brinckerhoff 
 
Kristin Asher

City of Richfield
 
Gina Baas

Center for Transportation Studies



Debra Brisk


Biz Colburn

WTS Past President



Sandy Cullen
University of Minnesota



Margaret Donahoe
Minnesota Transportation Alliance
  
Ann Johnson
University of MN



Wanda Kirkpatrick 
Metropolitan Council



Connie Kozlak

Metropolitan Council




Jessica Laabs


Kimley-Horn & Associates
 


Scott McBride
MnDOT
 
Dan Meyers

AECOM



Amber Nord 
Isthmus Engineering


Lisa Raduenz 
University of MN Parking and Transportation Services


Katie Roth 
Metro Transit
 
Dawn Spanhake

Center for Transportation Studies




Kristin Thompson
Metro Transit
 
Amy Vennewitz

Metropolitan Council


Charleen Zimmer


Zan Associates
President's Column
 
Happy holidays, WTS Minnesota members and friends!


It was wonderful to kick off the season with many of you at the WTS MN Holiday Party. It's was so great to see so many WTS members and friends together at the Theodore Wirth Chalet. The party went wonderfully (thanks to Morgan Abbott and Hannah Pritchard!) and is perhaps my favorite WTS event of the year. Thanks to all of you who attended and supported our silent auction fundraiser for our scholarship program (and thanks to Morgan Hoxsie for putting that all together!).


As I look back on 2016, it has been a really rewarding year to lead WTS MN. Support for our work continues to grow - our membership has more than doubled in the last four years, our corporate partnership program keeps expanding, and we have been at capacity at many of our programs. Thank you all for being a part of it!


Now is my chance to thank everyone who contributed to our success this year. It's a long list, starting with the 2016 board. The accomplishments of 2016 are truly a team effort led by this long list of amazing women. Thank you to HunWen Westman, Morgan Abbott, Chelsey Hendrickson, Kelly Agosto, Adele Hall, Kristina Nesse, Kathleen Mayell, Tara McBride, Hannah Pritchard, Michelle Julius, Laura Eash, and Anna Potter. Morgan Abbott, the 2017 WTS President, is lucky that so many of them are sticking around!


I was fortunate enough to attend the WTS Chapter Leadership Training in November. As part of a panel of Central Region chapter presidents, I was asked what I was most proud of. It was an easy question: I am so proud of how engaged our members are in the work of our chapter. We could not have accomplished our work this year without such a strong base of volunteers. Over one quarter of our members are active volunteers in the chapter, including:


Amy Vennewitz, Andrea Arnoldi, Angela Christo, Ann Wallenmeyer, Ashley VerBurg, Biz Colburn, Bre Grand, BrieAnna Simon, Caroline Miller,, Chelsey Oosterhuis, Ciara Schlichting, Connor Cox, David Davies, Dawn Spanhake, Erik Sowers, Fay Simer, Gina Baas, Greta Alquist, Janet Gronert, Jared Fette, Jessica Laabs, Jessica Treat, Juana Sandoval, Karen Allen, Katie Caskey, Katie Roth, Kelley Yemen, Kristin Thompson, Leila Bunge, Lisa Elliott, Lisa Rasmussen, Lyssa Leitner, Molly Stewart, Morgan Hoxsie, Natalie Westberg, Pamela Fincher, Rhonda Pierce, Scott McBride, and Yingling Fan


Finally, I would like to extend a special thanks to our corporate partners. Our corporate partners have really accelerated our work over the last few years. Thank you so much to our 2016 corporate partners for your financial support.


Thank you again for all you do to support the WTS MN mission of transforming the transportation industry through the advancement of women. We look forward to seeing you in 2017!


Wishing you a very happy holiday season,


Rose Ryan
President, WTS Minnesota
Corporate Partner Spotlight



WTS Minnesota would like to thank ALL of our 2016 Corporate Partners!  It was another record year working with our corporate partners: 


Corporate partner companies
o   2015 = 15 companies
o   2016 = 21 companies
o   2017 = 27 companies


Corporate partner funding
o   2015 = $19,000
o   2016 = $25,000
o   2017 = $32,500


Corporate partnerships make our mission possible - with funding provided for programs, professional development, TYOU, and regional and national conference participation.


We truly appreciate the commitment by our Corporate Partners to make this all possible!


Recognition Awards


Each year, WTS Minnesota honors the achievements of members of the Minnesota transportation community through our recognition awards. You are encouraged to nominate a deserving person, project, or employer for the following awards by January 9:
  • Member of the Year. This award acknowledges a WTS member who has made extraordinary contributions to the success of the organization.
  • Woman of the Year. This category is designed to reach out beyond our membership to honor a woman who is an outstanding role model in transportation.
  • Employer of the Year. This award is designed to honor an organization (company, non-profit, association, or government agency) for recruiting, retaining, and advancing women.
  • Rosa Parks Diversity Leadership Award. The WTS Diversity Award recognizes either an organization(s) or individual(s).
  • Innovative Transportation Solutions Award. This award salutes an innovative transportation project led by a woman.
  • Honorable Ray LaHood Award. This award honors a man who has contributed to the advancement of women and minorities in the transportation community.
Questions? Contact Adele Hall at 651-333-4134.
Holiday Party



Thank you to all who attended this year's party and fundraiser!




Recap: WTSI Leadership Training


By Stephanie Smith, WTS MN Board Secretary and training grant recipient


This fall, our chapter sent four members to WTSI's Chapter Leadership Training Conference held in Saint Louis, MO. The conference was packed with opportunities to learn from the international leaders and other state chapters. The WTSI leadership is on track with the search for a new Director this winter, and they will be returning to a structure where the international board will be active and involved with the operations of WTSI. Much of the conference was about the day-to-day nuts and bolts of running a successful chapter.


Our Chapter had the opportunity to share some of our ideas by leading two breakout sessions: Morgan Abbott presented a session about how our chapter organizes our finances and best practices for budgeting, taxes and efficient reporting. Rose Ryan and Morgan Abbott led a session about the successful growth of our chapter over the past five years including membership growth and retention, chapter organization and strategic planning. Rose also participated on a panel of the Central Region Presidents lead by the Region Council Chair.


It was inspirational to meet so many WTS leaders from other chapters across the country, people dedicated to the WTS mission to build the future of transportation through the global advancement of women. We're excited to bring back great ideas to make the Minnesota Chapter even more successful!




WTS Minnesota Vice President Morgan Abbott, Special Events Director Hannah Pritchard and President Rose Ryan in St. Louis.
Event Recap: 29th Street Shared Street
 
City of Minneapolis Project Manager and WTS friend Don Pflaum, shares a concept plan for the 29th Street Shared Street project. The street was reconstructed in summer 2016 between Bryant and Lyndale Avenues in South Minneapolis, and plans for additional reconstruction to a shared use street are in place for 2017.




Another unique feature of the two-block completed segment is the colored concrete art installation shown above. The project is open to the public, but several features will be added in the upcoming months, including lighting this winter, trees and sodding in spring 2017, and additional public art in spring 2017.





The project includes several features that communicate the shared use street design to drivers, including this blue Multi-use Roadway sign, which is the first of its kind in Minneapolis. The project also abuts the historic Hennepin County ROW and the Midtown Greenway trail.



Congratulations to Becky Alper and her husband Raja, who welcomed a baby girl, Leela, to their family on December 17th!


Congratulations to Jasna Hadzic-Stanek and her husband Jason who got married in early December!


Congratulations to Lacy Shelby, who is leaving the City of Minneapolis to join LHB in Duluth as a Landscape Architectural Designer! 


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Have member news to share? Send in snippets about job changes, life milestones, and other accomplishments to Laura Eash so we can keep track of and recognize our colleagues!
Save the Date: January 2017 Program



Save the date for WTS MN's kickoff to 2017 - Mastering the Art and Science of ADA Document Accessibility on January 31st. This in-depth technical development session will dive deep into the who, what, where, and WHY of ADA Document Accessibility with MnDOT and Metro Transit staff, including the business case for accessible documents. The last hour of the program will be a working session for one-on-one questions and troubleshooting. Bring your laptop and your questions!



WTS Minnesota | c/o WTS Minnesota | Minneapolis | MN | 55415