Speakers

After progressing steadily in a variety of leadership roles at the local, regional, and state levels, Erin Aleman was appointed unanimously by the Board of the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) in June 2019 as the agency’s third executive director.

Aleman brings more than a decade of accomplishments in developing transportation and land use policies to the agency as it embarks on implementation of ON TO 2050, the region’s new long-term comprehensive plan to help the seven counties and 284 municipalities of northeastern Illinois improve quality of life using strategies that address transportation, housing, economic development, open space, the environment, and more.

Immediately prior to joining CMAP, Aleman served as Vice President of Metro Strategies, a policy and advocacy consulting firm. From 2015-18, she held leadership positions at the Illinois Department of Transportation’s (IDOT), first as a Bureau Chief and then as Director of the Office of Planning and Programming. During her IDOT tenure, she provided strategic guidance, implemented performance-based tools, developed the state’s first Asset Management Plan, and was responsible for developing multimodal policy initiatives.

Aleman has come full circle by rejoining CMAP, where she began her remarkable ascent fresh out of graduate school in 2007 as the agency’s Phillip D. Peters Regional Planning Fellow. Over the next eight years, she rose through the ranks to become Principal Planner in 2011. In that first stint at CMAP, Aleman helped to create the highly successful Local Technical Assistance program, led regional outreach for GO TO 2040 — the agency’s first long-term comprehensive plan — and completed more than 20 local planning projects.

Her master’s degree in Urban Planning emphasized Design and Development. She is a certified mediator, a strategist for the Obama Foundation Scholars Program, and a member of the American Planning Association and Women’s Transportation Seminar.

In addition to being the first woman to serve as CMAP’s executive director, she is also the first professional planner to lead the agency.

José Alvarez was appointed executive director by the Illinois Tollway Board of Directors in April 2019.

He is responsible for managing the agency’s daily operations, overseeing its $1.5 billion budget and leading the implementation of the Tollway’s 15-year, $14 billion capital program, Move Illinois: The Illinois Tollway Driving the Future.

Alvarez is also responsible for leading the Tollway’s more than 1,400 employees in providing a safe, effective and efficient toll highway system and ensuring the highest possible level of customer service for the Tollway’s 1.6 million daily drivers.

Alvarez brings a wealth of administrative and government experience, including leadership positions at the highest levels of the public sector.

Prior to joining the Tollway, he served as chief operating officer and chief of staff for the Chicago Housing Authority. He also has served as chief of staff for the state superintendent of education for Washington D.C. Schools and deputy chief of staff for the chief executive officer of Chicago Public Schools.

Alvarez is also a civic leader, serving as chairman of the local school council at the Andrew Jackson Language Academy, as vice chairman of La Casa Norte and as a member of the board of directors at Trinity High School in River Forest

John Baczek, P.E.

Engineer of Program Development

Region One/Executive Office

Illinois Department of Transportation

John has been employed with the Illinois Department of Transportation since 1992 after receiving his Bachelor of Science Degree in Civil Engineering from Bradley University.

He has worked in construction, design and planning (Bureau of Programming) in District 1 which covers the six county Chicago metropolitan area.  He is currently the Program Development Engineer where he provides overall direction of the District’s annual and multi-year programs.  In addition, he oversees all activities associated with the preliminary engineering phases of projects such as development of project reports and contract plans, agreements with governmental agencies and utility companies, and the purchase of right-of-way.

Beth has over 12 years of experience in digital platform, civic tech and educational program development. She has worked with startup teams, social ventures, public agencies and corporations to identify strategic partnerships, launch products and cultivate community. Current projects include – facilitating a civic tech incubator in Chicago Schools with her nonprofit Community Startups, and exploring the future of urban mobility in megacities with BOSCH.

Joe Buckner is the Director of Product Engineering at AutonomouStuff. He oversees the engineering support, software engineering and embedded engineering teams. Joe is inspired by working with a world-class team at AutonomouStuff to deliver the world’s most amazing technology, which will change the future of transportation and play a key role in saving thousands of lives. Joe received a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering from Bradley University. He has held various engineering jobs at Caterpillar, Kress and Archer Daniels Midland, all while exploring his entrepreneurial talents on the side. He finds his job at AutonomouStuff the perfect mix of his natural talents — entrepreneur and engineer. He spends his time outside of AutonomouStuff traveling the world with his wife and enjoying new craft beer with his friends.

Dorval R. Carter, Jr. is President of the Chicago Transit Authority, the nation’s second-largest transit agency, providing approximately 1.5 million rides on an average weekday and serving the City of Chicago and 35 surrounding suburbs. Overseeing more than 10,000 employees, President Carter carries out CTA’s mission of delivering quality, affordable transit services that link people, jobs and communities.

Appointed as CTA President in 2015, Mr. Carter has overseen unprecedented investment in CTA. Under Mayor Emanuel, more than $8B of projects have been completed, begun or announced—including the largest construction project in CTA history (the Red and Purple Modernization), the largest railcar order in the agency’s history, and the reconstruction/rehabilitation of more than 40 rail stations.

Prior to becoming CTA President, Mr. Carter served as the Acting Chief of Staff to U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx, managing a department with more than 55,000 employees and a $70 billion budget that oversees air, maritime and surface transportation.

Prior to that, Mr. Carter served as Acting Deputy Administrator for the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) as well as FTA’s Chief Counsel, where he provided support to the Department of Transportation’s General Counsel on legal matters concerning the federal transit program.

A graduate of Carroll University in Waukesha, Wisconsin, where he is Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Mr. Carter also holds a Juris Doctor degree from Howard University School of Law. He is a proud member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., as well as the Illinois and Federal bars associations.

Don DeLoach is an entrepreneur, author, board member, and a leading industry evangelist for the Internet of Things. Don is currently the Co-founder and CEO of Rocket Wagon Venture Studios, a family of IoT focused, vertically aligned venture studios designed to create forward looking IoT startups as we progress to a cyber-physical world. Prior to starting RWVS, he was a Board member and served as interim President of Centri Technology, an IoT security company, in 2018. He was previously CEO of Youcentric (CRM), Aleri (complex event processing), and Infobright (analytic database) spanning the last 20 years. He is currently also an advisor to Michroshare.io (IoT governance). He has been a past outside director for Broadbeam and Chairman of the Board of Apropos. Don co-founded the Midwest IoT Council in late 2014, where he currently serves as co-chairman. He also currently serves on the executive committee of the Array of Things (US Dept of Energy smart cities project), the Board of the Illinois Autonomous Vehicle Association, and the Board of the Juvenile Protective Association. He is the principal driver of the “First Receiver” IoT architectural thesis addressed in his book “The Future of IoT”, which he co-authored with Gartner Vice-President Emil Berthelsen and Hitachi/Pentaho executive Wael Elrifai, which was published in June of 2017. He is an Industrial Engineering graduate from Ga. Tech, an enthusiastic cyclist, and lives in the Chicago area with his wife and the youngest of their seven children.

Finch Fulton is Deputy Assistant Secretary for Transportation Policy.

He served as a member of the President’s Transition Team, focusing on Transportation and Infrastructure Policy, and with the Department of Transportation as a Special Advisor to the Secretary on Transportation Policy.

He has served in the House of Representatives under Congressman Jim McCrery and Congressman John Fleming, M.D. and in the Senate for Senator Jeff Sessions. In addition, he has worked in public affairs at VOX Global, devising and executing integrated policy and advocacy campaigns.

He is a native of Mobile, Alabama, a graduate of the University of Alabama, received his MBA from Johns Hopkins University and was most recently a resident of Dallas, Texas.

James (Jimmy) Lanigan has been active in the family business of Mi-Jack Products/Lanco International since 1996. Currently he serves as the Director of Economic Development for Mi-Jack/Lanco International.  He has 5+ years experience in production/manufacturing, 15+ years in aftermarket sales and sales management, 5+ years in project management/special project management and 3+ years in economic development and political development.  Jimmy is the grandson of Jack Lanigan Sr., founder and son of Jack Lanigan Jr.

Jerry Quandt is the Executive Director of the Illinois Autonomous Vehicles Association. The Association is a privately funded, not-for-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of autonomous vehicle technologies within the State of Illinois. The organization’s focus is to establish Illinois as the leader in the development, design, and application of the system-of-systems that will transform mobility as we know it. Jerry has worked most of his career in global marketing and business transformation in a variety of verticals which were facing significant changes to their industry and established business models. He also spent some of his early career working in the political arenas in Illinois, Washington DC and Ireland. His passion is to focus on the use of technology to increase people’s quality of life, through consumer-centric solutions which are scalable and sustainable.

Leanne Redden is Executive Director of the Regional Transportation Authority (RTA). The RTA manages an annual regional transit operating budget of approximately $3 billion with assets of approximately $160 billion and a more than $4 billion five-year capital program. Under Redden’s leadership, the RTA created Invest in Transit, the most recent regional transit strategic plan covering 2018-2023.

Prior to being named RTA Executive Director in 2014, Redden oversaw RTA’s planning and regional programs for eight years. Before joining the agency, Redden was Chief of Planning for the Illinois Tollway and Director of Transportation for the Village of Schaumburg. Throughout her career, Redden has been instrumental in developing strategic long range planning initiatives for the region’s transit system and was a key player in the state’s 2008 Funding Reform Legislation.  Redden was named 2015 “Woman of the Year” by the Chicago chapter of Women in Transportation and is a Conference of Minority Transportation Officials 2016 “Woman Who Moves the Nation.” To learn about more about the RTA, follow the agency blog, Ride On, and Executive Director Redden on Twitter @LReddenRTA.

As a Chicago Tribune transportation reporter, Wisniewski understands the questions and concerns of the Chicago residents. She also has a complete understanding of the ins and outs of the many transportation options available to Chicago residents. Wisniewski has worked in Chicago journalism for 25 years and joined the Chicago Tribune in 2016 after previously working at Reuters and the Chicago Sun-Times. She also wrote an award-winning biography of Chicago writer Nelson Algren.

John Yonan was appointed the Superintendent of the Cook County Department of Transportation and Highways (CCDOTH) in January of 2012 by Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle. In that capacity, John is responsible for all of CCDOTH professional engineering functions, including the programming, design, construction and maintenance of the County’s infrastructure assets which includes over 130 bridge structures, over 570 miles of roads, 350 traffic signals and 4 Maintenance Districts. Recent notable projects include the $22 Million reconstruction of Crawford Avenue from Devon to Oakton and the $11 Million reconstruction of Center Street from 159^th Street to 171^st Street.

Prior to his appointment as Superintendent, John spent 19 years at the City of Chicago’s Department of Transportation moving up from an entry level Bridge Engineer to Chief Engineer\Deputy Commissioner in the Bureau of Engineering.  During his career at the City, John was responsible for overseeing over $1.5 Billion in construction projects, including Wacker Drive, Morgan Green Line Station and various transit stations to major road and bridge reconstruction projects.

Dan currently holds the position of Vice President of Technology Business Development for Mi-Jack Products, Inc.  He has spent the past 40 years with Mi-Jack Products, a provider of state-of-the-art container handling equipment, world-class service support and leading-edge technology solutions to the Intermodal and Maritime Industries.  During his tenure with Mi-Jack, Dan has held positions that influenced the advancement of machine design and operational performance.

In 1998 Dan headed up a new technology division at Mi-Jack dedicated to providing advanced technologies for the purpose of increasing equipment performance and terminal efficiencies.  A few of the division’s accomplishments included a world-class DGPS auto-guidance system and inventory tracking, telematic fleet monitoring and management and semi-automation of gantry cranes.