News
TWC Holds Webinar on Recruitment and Workforce Development
Posted June 2022
On Tuesday, June 7, the Transit Workforce Center (TWC) held the second webinar in its series on strategic workforce development planning, “Recruiting and Developing Today’s Transit Workforce”. FTA Administrator Nuria Fernandez opened the session, thanking webinar speakers for sharing their experiences so that others could benefit from what they had learned and accomplished; she also expressed appreciation to the over-300 webinar attendees for their interest in building well-trained, dedicated transit workforces throughout the country. ITLC Deputy Director Xinge Wang thanked Administrator Fernandez for all she and her team has done for the industry and then discussed key data points on underlying causes of transit workforce shortages, ITLC Executive Director Jack Clark moderated the session and introduced the speakers, who provided examples of innovative practices transit agencies and partner organizations are using to meet significant recruitment challenges, with insights on how to best turn these challenges into opportunities to reach, attract, and retain a diverse workforce:
- Mona Babauta, Deputy General Manager, Golden Gate Transit, San Francisco Bay;
- Rich Diaz, Bus Operator Mentor Lead, Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1575;
- Tracy Spikes, Workforce Development Senior Program Manager, Central Ohio Transit Authority, Columbus, Ohio;
- Jarvis Williams, President, Transport Workers Union Local 208;
- Dr. Beverly Scott, Founder, Introducing Youth to American Infrastructure, Inc. and Vice-Chair, President’s National Infrastructure Advisory Committee of the U. S. Department of Homeland Security; and
- David Stephen, Senior Communication Specialist, Transit Workforce Center.
FTA Administrator, Nuria Fernandez provided opening remarks for the webinar
Following the presentations, the speakers were joined by ATU Apprenticeship and Workforce Development Coordinator Jamaine Gibson, FTA Associate Administrator Karina Ricks, and FTA Senior Transportation Specialist Betty Jackson, for a lively question and answer session.