Leadership Council

Bernadette Austin cultivates cross-sector partnerships to address the greatest challenges facing communities. As Chief Executive Officer of CivicWell, Bernadette Austin leads an organization with a 40-year track record of supporting leaders responding to the climate crisis and its impact on their communities. In her prior role as Executive Director of the UC Davis Center for Regional Change, she participated in statewide efforts to reduce barriers to community engaged learning and research. Prior to her work at UC Davis, Bernadette spent a decade developing and financing affordable housing and other community development projects. Bernadette has served on city and county commissions for 15 years and currently serves on the Yolo County Climate Action Commission. She has also advised several state agencies and currently serves as Co-Chair of the Advisory Committee to the Office of Health Equity at the California Department of Public Health. She holds a Master of Science in Community Development from UC Davis.

Michele Boomhower serves as the Director of Policy, Planning & Intermodal Development for the Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans), where she oversees programming for Policy, Planning, Permitting, Research, Mapping, Aviation, Rail, Public Transit, and Public Outreach. Michele Boomhower was recently appointed as the Agency representative to the Governor’s Climate Change Commission. Prior to joining VTrans, Michele Boomhower served six years as the Metropolitan Planning Organization Director for the Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission serving the greater Burlington area in Vermont.

Robert Burris is engaged in the effort to bring greater attention and resources to rural California. As Deputy Chief Economic Development Officer of Rural County Representatives of California (RCRC), an advocacy and service organization, Robert focuses on economic development and infrastructure issues for RCRC’s 40 rural California county members. An area of particular focus is ensuring that these counties are not left behind in the transition to zero-emission vehicles and autonomous vehicle technology development. Robert brings 25 years of leadership experience with municipal, regional and state economic development agencies and organizations, as well as economic research as Sr. Researcher for the California State University Real Estate and Land Use Institute (RELUI) and Sr. Associate with Economic & Planning Systems. Robert received a BA in Business Economics from UC Santa Barbara and an MBA from Sacramento State University. He also holds an honorary Doctorate from Drexel University-Sacramento as Board Chair and lecturer. Robert is a member of the Massachusetts-based Lincoln Institute of Land Policy-Accelerating Community Investment and Executive Committee member of both the California Association for Local Economic Development (CALED) and California Enterprise Development Authority (CEDA).

Katherine leads the Sierra Club’s efforts to accelerate clean transportation policy and investments. She is deeply committed to reducing transportation emissions to improve air quality and address the climate crisis. Previously, she served as the clean transportation advocate at the Sierra Club California Chapter. Prior to joining the Sierra Club, Katherine was a member of the founding team that launched the Center for Open Data Enterprise in Washington, D.C., where she advocated for open government data. Katherine earned her Master of Public Administration from Baruch College in New York City and BA in Communication at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Jennifer is the Chief of the Sustainable Transportation and Communities Division at the California Air Resources Board, and is focused on promoting policies that provide a range of affordable housing and transportation options that reduce vehicle miles traveled and accelerate the transition to a zero-emission future.  Prior to this position, Jennifer was a Senior Policy Advisor to Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg, where she was responsible for policy development related to housing and community development, transportation, and sustainability.  From 2011 until 2017, Jennifer served as the Legislative Director for the California Air Resources Board. From 2005 until 2011, Jennifer was a consultant to the Senate Transportation and Housing Committee, where she focused on air quality, ports and goods movement, active transportation, and public-private partnerships, among many other transportation-related issues.

Jeff Lindley is the Associate Executive Director and Chief Technical Officer at the Institute of Transportation Engineers where he works to improve mobility and safety for all transportation system users and helps build smart and livable communities. Lindley has served as FHWA’s national practice leader in both safety and operations. Lindley has served as chair of the TRB Committee on Freeway Operations and as Secretary of the AASHTO Subcommittee on Transportation Systems Management and Operations. Lindley is a recipient of both the FHWA Richard D. Morgan Leadership Development Award and the FHWA Administrator’s Award for Superior Achievement. He holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Virginia Tech and a master’s degree in transportation engineering from the University of Maryland.

Dr. Joseph K. Lyou has worked for more than 30 years to improve public health and environmental conditions in California’s most polluted and disadvantaged communities. Dr. Lyou serves as President and CEO of the Coalition for Clean Air, a state-wide organization dedicated to protecting public health, improving air quality, and preventing climate change. Dr. Lyou also serves as the Speaker of the Assembly appointee to the California Transportation Commission (CTC), an independent public agency responsible for programming and allocating more than $20 billion annually for the construction of highway, passenger rail, transit, and active transportation improvements throughout California.

Jianming Ma is the Director of the Traffic Management Section of the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), where he oversees the development of statewide traffic management programs including Intelligent Transportation Systems, Traffic Signals, Transportation Systems Management and Operations, and Traffic Incident Management. Jianming Ma obtained his Ph.D. degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin in 2006. Dr. Ma has been a registered Professional Engineer in Texas since 2008, and a certified Project Management Professional (PMP®) since 2019.

Darwin Moosavi was appointed Deputy Secretary for Environmental Policy and Housing Coordination at the California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA) in August of 2019 by Governor Gavin Newsom. Darwin previously served as Special Advisor to the Secretary at CalSTA in early 2019. Before joining the team at CalSTA, Darwin served as Sustainability Project Manager the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), leading initiatives to champion walking, bicycling and transit use, promote zero emission vehicles and integrate equity considerations into the Department’s work. Under the administration of Governor Brown, Darwin was appointed as a Senior Planner at the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research, where he worked on various transportation policy issues centered around building sustainable communities and reducing vehicle miles traveled. Darwin spent several years helping build the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities program, and later served as its Program Manager at the Strategic Growth Council.

Josh Rodriguez is the Policy and Government Relations Program Director for Environment at the American Association for State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) and the Director of AASHTO’s Center for Environmental Excellence. Mr. Rodriguez manages the activities of the Committee on Environment and Sustainability and the Committee on Transportation System Security and Resilience. These committees and their sub-committees focus on topics such as air quality, climate change, decarbonization, permitting, stormwater, NEPA, hazardous waste and hazardous materials, risk and resilience, and emergency response. Prior to joining AASHTO Mr. Rodriguez served 11 years with the DC Department of Energy and Environment in water compliance monitoring and enforcement. He most recently served as the Associate Director for Inspection and Enforcement. Prior to his career with the DC Government he spent 10 years in the private sector. Mr. Rodriguez holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Environmental Science from TCU in Fort Worth, TX.

Douglas Shinkle is the Transportation Program Director in the Environment, Energy and Transportation Program at the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL). He has worked for NCSL since 2005, focusing on traffic safety, shared and innovative mobility, transportation funding, and many other key areas of transportation. Shinkle has written a number of well-regarded publications for NCSL, and enjoys ensuring members of the Colorado General Assembly benefit from and participate in NCSL activities. A Colorado native, Shinkle worked at the Colorado Capitol on three occasions, as well as for a California Congressman and a California Assemblymember.

Barry Wallerstein is a Senior Policy Fellow at the UC Riverside School of Public Policy. Wallerstein served as Executive Officer of the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) from 1997 to 2016. Before joining SCAQMD, Barry Wallerstein was previously an Environmental Control Administrator for Northrop, and was on the rule development staff in the Mobile Source Division of the California Air Resources Board. He has also served as Co-President of the National Association of Clean Air Agencies. Barry Wallerstein holds a doctorate in environmental science and engineering from UCLA, and M.S. and B.S. degrees in biological science.

Emily has worked on the front lines of policy development for emerging transportation technologies for over a decade. She started her career as a Congressional aide and municipal financial analyst before joining the original Lyft team in 2012. At Lyft, she led teams focused on transportation policy and community engagement during the formative years of the ridehailing industry. Emily later held public policy leadership roles at Lime, Amazon, Embark, and EverCharge, where she advocated for policies supporting the commercialization of vehicle and infrastructure technologies including electric bikes and scooters, electric delivery vans, fleet and residential charging systems, and autonomous heavy-duty trucks. She currently serves as an advisory Venture Partner at Fontinalis, a mobility-focused venture capital firm, and on the advisory board of the UCLA Institute of Transportation Studies.

Kate Wright is the Executive Director of Climate Mayors—a growing network of nearly 500 U.S. mayors who have committed to accelerating equitable climate action in cities. Kate is responsible for strategic direction of the network, including helping cities implement bold policies and programs, supporting equitable climate action by the Federal Administration and Congress, and building initiatives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while advancing economic growth and environmental justice. Prior to joining Climate Mayors, Kate served as CEO of CivicWell (formerly the Local Government Commission).

Erich Zimmermann is the Director of Transportation Programs at the National Association of Regional Councils (NARC). Erich Zimmermann is responsible for NARC’s transportation portfolio, which includes managing priorities for NARC’s members, lobbying for regional priorities on Capitol Hill, and carrying out a variety of programmatic, research, and communication initiatives. He helps refine policy priorities and recommendations for the federal surface transportation authorization and also manages NARC’s transportation technical assistance and education program. Erich Zimmerman is also a member of the Transportation Research Board’s Metropolitan Policy, Planning, and Processes Committee (ADA20) Before joining NARC, Erich Zimmermann worked at the Taxpayers for Common Sense. Erich Zimmermann has a B.A. in Political Communication from The George Washington University and a M.S. in Environmental Studies from the University of Montana.