Previous Years Award Winners:

2018 WINNERS

MEMBER OF THE YEAR

Jillian Guizado 

Planning & Programming Manager, Riverside County Transportation Commission

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As a former WTS IE scholarship winner, it was important to Jillian Guizado to get involved and give back to the chapter that supported her education. She volunteered for the Legislative Affairs chair position and is now the chapter Secretary.

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Jillian’s enthusiasm, amazing organization skills, and overall good cheer has enabled the Executive Board to advance the 2019 agenda of Back to Basics, and also to tackle the daunting task of reworking and updating the chapter bylaws. This has involved hundreds of hours collectively on the part of the Executive Board, and so much more on Jillian’s part. She managed the process, from the initial meeting through multiple workshops, always staying on track and moving forward.

It’s not as if Jillian has nothing else to do. She has a demanding career as the Planning and Programming Manager for the Riverside County Transportation Commission and manages her role for WTS on her own time without missing a beat. While most of us do chapter work on our own time, Jillian’s role and workload for the chapter is extensive, which illustrates her commitment to the success of the chapter.

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Through even the most challenging meetings the quality of her character and leadership skills shine through. She will be the backbone of this chapter for years to come.

EMPLOYER OF THE YEAR

Terracon Consultants, Inc.

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It’s an exciting moment in Terracon’s history with an ongoing shift toward greater representation of women at all levels of the company. This year, as part of a deliberate multi-year succession plan, Terracon’s board of directors appointed Gayle Packer as President and Chief Executive Officer, maker her the only woman sole CEO among the top 30 companies in Engineering News Record’s Top 500 Design Firms. In addition to Gayle, our nine-member board of directors’ benefits from the involvement of Laurel Krzeminski, former CFO of Granite Construction, and Nancy Tuor, former CH2MHill vice-chair, as external board members.

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Ten percent of our principals and senior principals are also women. Perhaps most exciting, we are focused on building a strong pipeline of women environmental scientists and engineers throughout Terracon to become leaders of our service lines. We are deliberately and intentionally focused on the advancement of women in all areas of our company.
 

WOMAN OF THE YEAR

Lisa Reece

Vice President, HDR

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Lisa Reece, Vice President for HDR, has 30 experience working in the A&E industry as a business development professional and community volunteer. She is one of the founding members of the WTS-IE Chapter and has held various positions on the board over the last 15 years including President, Vice President, Scholarship Chair, and numerous other committees. In 2007, Lisa was named Member of the Year for WTS-IE largely due to her work in fundraising for scholarships. Lisa took the lead in creating and fundraising for the Susan Van Note Scholarship which has benefitted dozens of young women over the years. HDR provided the initial $10k donation to establish the scholarship. The Chapter has awarded more than $400k in scholarships since its inception.

More recently, as a San Gorgonio Girl Scout Council (GSSGC) Board Member, Lisa helped to create a partnership with the WTS, Girl Scouts, local transportation partners (including Caltrans Districts 7 & 8, SBCTA, Omintrans, Metrolink, VVTA, LA Metro, and LADOT) to offer programming to 600+ girls from elementary through high school, introducing them to careers in transportation. Program activities included how to use the transportation network and introduced the girls to career opportunities in environmental, engineering, planning, traffic, and materials testing.

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In February 2019, the Girl Scouts awarded Lisa with the Council’s Fund Development Award for fundraising and community collaboration due to her efforts related to the Classroom to Career Program and Skyland Ranch Camp. She collaborated with the Girl Scouts fundraising staff to apply and receive a substantial grant from the HDR Foundation which provided 50 sets of earth science equipment for the ongoing environmental education programs offered at the Camp. The council was able to leverage the HDR grant to attract additional funding from US Bank and Majestic Realty Companies to provide a science lab and additional funding for the Classroom to Career program.

INNOVATIVE TRANSPORTATION SOLUTION AWARD

#REBOOTMYCOMMUTE​

RCTC

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Traffic. Late trains. Streets with potholes. Slow buses. High toll rates. Endless orange cones. The Riverside County Transportation Commission knows that residents are frustrated. To hear directly from residents about their challenging commutes and ways to fix them, RCTC launched a multi-pronged public engagement program, #RebootMyCommute, this spring. This was RCTC’s first-ever effort to engage with all residents across Riverside County. Residents spoke. RCTC listened.

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The program offered opportunities for the public to tell their stories and to recommend how and where RCTC’s limited transportation funds should be spent. Defining these priorities is critical for RCTC, which faces a $12.6 billion shortage between its anticipated transportation revenue and its needs during the next 20 years. Compounding this funding gap are other challenges – a rapidly growing population, a high jobs-to-housing imbalance that creates a large commuter base, and a booming logistics industry that employs many residents but adds to traffic congestion and air pollution.

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RCTC received thousands of public comments from #RebootMyCommute between March 6 and June 3, 2019, a 90-day period. Rather than conduct a survey, RCTC asked for open-ended feedback with no limits to the length of the comments and the number of times that people could respond. RCTC provided 10 tools for residents and commuters to share their opinions; residents responded in English and Spanish.
 

SECRETARY RAY LAHOOD AWARD

John Bulinski

District 7 Director, Caltrans​

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John Bulinski has dedicated his career to public service with 30 years at Caltrans. Prior to serving as the District 7 Director, John held the Director role in District 8. During his tenure in District 8, he made a tremendous impact in the Inland Empire. When John heard about the WTS-IE’s partnership with the Girl Scouts for the Classroom to Career program, he enthusiastically requested the girls come to visit Caltrans. Caltrans volunteers worked with WTS-IE and the Girl Scouts to organize Transportation Day at Caltrans. The event introduced 100+ girls to careers at Caltrans while providing a tour the Materials Lab and Network Operations Center. It was the highest rated event in the Classroom to Career Program as voted by the girls themselves.

2017 WINNERS

WOMAN OF THE YEAR

Paula Beauchamp 

Director of Project Delivery, San Bernardino County Transportation Authority

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MEMBER OF THE YEAR

Alma Valencia

Office Engineer, HDR  

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EMPLOYER OF THE YEAR

Epic Land Solutions, Inc.

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INNOVATIVE TRANSPORTATION SOLUTION AWARD

Downtown San Bernardino Passenger Rail

San Bernardino Country Transportation Authority

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SECRETARY RAY LAHOOD AWARD

Juan Perez

Assistant CEO/TLMA Director, County of Riverside Transportation and Land Management Agency

2016 WINNERS

WOMAN OF THE YEAR

Andrea Zureick

Director of Fund Administration and Programming, San Bernardino County Transportation Authority

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MEMBER OF THE YEAR

Amy Cook

Inland Empire Marketing Manager, WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff

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EMPLOYER OF THE YEAR

Stantec

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INNOVATIVE TRANSPORTATION SOLUTION AWARD

San Bernardino Transit Center​

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SECRETARY RAY LAHOOD AWARD

Dr. Raymond Wolfe

Executive Director, San Bernardino County Transportation Authority

2015 WINNERS

WOMAN OF THE YEAR

Patricia Romo

Assistant Director, Transportation Department, County of Riverside

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MEMBER OF THE YEAR

Rebecca Young

Michael Baker International, Inc.

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EMPLOYER OF THE YEAR

Michael Baker International, Inc.

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INNOVATIVE TRANSPORTATION SOLUTION AWARD

Perris Valley Line

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SECRETARY RAY LAHOOD AWARD

Joseph Tavaglione

California Transportation Commission

2014 WINNERS

WOMAN OF THE YEAR

Eliza Echevarria

Community Relations Manager, Riverside County Transportation Commission

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MEMBER OF THE YEAR

Renee Gleason

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EMPLOYER OF THE YEAR

Kleinfelder

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INNOVATIVE TRANSPORTATION SOLUTION AWARD

Colton Crossing Flyover