Our People

Abby brings her expertise in regional planning and development to the SUMC team as a Program Coordinator. With a focus on supporting the Chicago team, she plays a pivotal role in advancing the Mobility Learning Center, driven by her commitment to fostering equitable, safe, and sustainable transportation solutions. Abby’s professional journey has instilled in her a profound interest in micro-mobility and micro-transit, recognizing their potential to enhance mobility within communities.

Holding a B.S. in environmental science from the University of Wisconsin – Green Bay and an MA in Sustainable Urban Development from DePaul University, Abby’s academic pursuits culminated in a thesis exploring the historical context of walkability and infrastructure in the United States. Her passion for creating more accessible and resilient urban landscapes continues to drive her work.

Alvaro leads SUMC’s Federal Programs, including SUMC’s capacity building work for the USDOT Thriving Communities Program, and SUMC’s technical assistance work for the Federal Transit Administration’s mobility innovation programs. Alvaro has provided technical assistance to over 70 projects developed with state DOTs, local governments, and transit agencies across the country, implementing a wide array of innovative mobility projects.

Alvaro is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP). He holds a Master’s Degree in Urban Planning and Policy from the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) and a Master’s Degree in History from Northwestern University. Prior to SUMC, he worked for the Transportation Improvement Program at the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning.

Alvaro serves as a Panel Member for the TCRP Project: J-11/Task 46 Zero-Emission Vehicles: New Tech, New Skills, New Jobs. He serves as a board member of Young Professionals in Transportation – Kansas City chapter.

Andrea San Gil León is the executive director of the Global Network for Popular Transportation and is responsible for defining GNPT’s strategy and planning, and for managing and implementing the network’s critical projects. She is passionate about reducing social vulnerability and increasing the quality of life of people and communities through urban sustainability planning, making cities better places for people, nature, and climate. Learn more about Andrea here.

Benjie is the CEO of the Shared-Use Mobility Center; he chairs the Global Partnership for Informal Transportation; founder of Agile City Partners, and writes and curates Makeshift Mobility, a fortnightly newsletter covering innovations in informal transportation. He also convenes the Shared Mobility 2030 Action Agenda and edits and produces Pop Transport.

Benjie serves on the board of the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE), the US Advisory Committee of the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy, the UITP Informal Transportation Working Group, the Digital Transport for Africa Partners Committee, the MobiliseYourCity Steering Committee, and is a Senior Fellow for Mobility for the Canadian Urban Institute.

He served as the first-ever Chief of Strategy and Innovation for the Seattle Department of Transportation. He and his team drafted the city’s Transportation Information Infrastructure Plan. He also led the development of Seattle’s New Mobility Playbook. He also served on the advisory committees for L.A.’s Transportation Technology Strategy, Mobiprize, and Cooper Hewitt Museum’s The Road Ahead: Reimagining Mobility and Design with the Other 90%: Cities.

Brian is a city planner and non-profit executive dedicated to envisioning and building equitable, low-carbon urban systems. As SUMC’s Chief Operating Officer, he leads many of the organization’s day-to-day operations, contract management, and development activities. Before assuming the role of COO, Brian led SUMC’s California Office and launched the California Clean Mobility Options program on behalf of the California Air Resources Board.

Prior to joining SUMC, he served as Director of Climate Programs for ICLEI USA, part of a global network of nearly 1,000 cities focused on sustainability and resilience. Here, he led a team that created industry-leading standards, software tools, and training programs, and he spearheaded U.S. city engagement in the 21st UNFCCC Conference of Parties in Paris, France. He was a Lead Author on the Third National Climate Assessment and holds LEED accreditation from the US Green Building Council and City Climate Planner accreditation from the World Bank. Several of his projects have been recognized for sustainability innovation by the American Planning Association. Brian holds a B.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies from the University of Georgia, and currently lives in Joshua Tree, California.

Carlos is a Program Associate at SUMC, where he supports the Clean Mobility Options Program, dedicated to delivering equitable and accessible transportation solutions to underserved communities in California. With a foundation in quantitative methods and social research, Carlos holds a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics and Economics from Bates College. His professional background includes evaluating development programs across Central America and conducting community-centered data science research related to public safety and infrastructure.

Originally from El Salvador, Carlos has lived and studied in China, Australia, and Maine. In his free time, he enjoys SCUBA diving, cooking, and jogging through Los Angeles.

Christian’s first interest in the mobility and sustainability sector was rooted in a passion for protecting nature and addressing climate change. As a Partnerships and Engagement Associate, Christian builds on his background in research, communications, and community outreach to foster relationships and communicate initiatives advancing sustainable and inclusive transportation systems.

Before stepping into this position, Christian was a Research and Communications Intern at SUMC, where he contributed to a wide range of SUMC’s projects and campaigns, including the Clean Mobility Options Program. In his spare time, he enjoys spending time with animals, making art, and going on hikes.

Colin leads SUMC’s research and consulting efforts, with an emphasis on newer shared modes’ interaction with existing transportation networks. With SUMC since 2015, he has served as lead writer and researcher on all four of SUMC’s TCRP studies and heads teams for pilots and evaluation projects across the US. He has studied the operational characteristics of innovative mobility projects and transit agency partnerships around the country, as well as analyzing the policy environments surrounding them. Colin is a frequent speaker on new mobility across the country and is part of several ongoing industry dialogues on shared mobility, data standards, and data privacy. Before joining SUMC, he worked with Smart Growth America’s National Complete Streets Coalition and the Center for Neighborhood Technology in Chicago and spent several years as an independent researcher and communications consultant. Colin holds a BA in English from the University of Texas at Austin and a Master’s in Public Policy and Administration from Northwestern University, and enjoys hauling absurd masses of humans and material by bicycle.

As the Operations Manager at SUMC, Dauren co-leads the management of HR, finance, and administrative projects.

Dauren has several years of experience working with and for nonprofit organizations. Prior to joining SUMC, Dauren worked in operations for the Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation. Before they began work in nonprofit operations, Dauren worked as a consultant and project manager doing marketing, event, and strategic planning for nonprofits and foundations.

Dauren has a B.A. in Liberal Arts from St. John’s College in Santa Fe, NM, where they studied the history of Western thought through primary sources in science, math, language, literature, and philosophy. They also hold an M.F.A. from Columbia College Chicago in Creative Nonfiction, with a focus on the essay form.

Diana is a Program Manager at the Shared-Use Mobility Center with experience in active transportation planning, education, capacity building, and technical assistance. She’s passionate about advancing human-centered transportation systems through inclusive and participatory planning. Prior to joining SUMC, Diana supported a wide variety of urban and rural communities across California through community-centered engagement. She has led, in both English and Spanish, numerous focus group meetings, interactive workshops, stakeholder advisory groups, and pop-up events that informed transportation plans. Diana holds a B.S. in Management of Natural Resources and Business Administration from the Universidad Marista de Mérida, México, and received her M.S. in Agricultural Production and Business, with a focus on the urban environment, from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Fernanda Rivera Flores is a senior specialist in sustainable mobility and public transport policy with more than 12 years of experience in Mexico City’s government. Her work has focused on implementing mobility policies related to cycling, public and popular transport, gender, and road safety, with an emphasis on user-centered approaches, practical implementation, and social equity.

She held senior leadership roles at Mexico City’s Ministry of Mobility (SEMOVI), including General Director of Public Transport and Licensing, where she worked closely with popular transport operators to translate policy and regulation into day-to-day practice, grounded in trust and human-centered governance. Earlier in her career, she coordinated the ECOBICI bike-share system and led cycling and active mobility initiatives to increase the use of bicycles in Mexico City.

In these roles, Fernanda collaborated with international organizations including VREF, Bloomberg Philanthropies, WRI, ITDP, the IDB, and the World Bank. She began her involvement in mobility in 2011 as a cyclist advocate with Haz Ciudad. She holds an MSc in Transport and City Planning from The Bartlett, University College London, as a Chevening Scholar. An urban cyclist, public transport believer, and feminist, she grounds her work in everyday mobility and a commitment to equity and care.

As a Program Coordinator at SUMC, Francesca supports a range of projects that advance innovative and equitable transportation solutions. Francesca contributes to the Mobility Innovation Collaborative, helping to share lessons from mobility pilot projects across the country, and provides support to the Clean Mobility Options program. They have also contributed to the USDOT Thriving Communities Program.

Before joining SUMC, Francesca served as a regional planner at Tri-County Regional Planning Commission and with the McLean County Regional Planning Commission, supporting transportation and community planning initiatives for metropolitan planning organizations in central Illinois. Francesca holds a B.S in Geography from Illinois State University and is committed to advancing mobility strategies that foster environmental stewardship and more connected communities.

Hani is passionate about shared transportation and driven to help make it safe and accessible. At SUMC, he primarily works under the Mobility Innovation Collaborative, a technical assistance program in partnership with the Federal Transit Administration, providing technical assistance and sharing lessons learned from cities, states, and transit agencies around the country working on innovative transportation pilot projects.

Hani has a Bachelor’s degree from Lawrence University and a Master’s degree in Public Policy and Public Administration from Northwestern University, where he wrote his thesis on transportation equity, bikeshare, and multi-modal transportation. Hani serves as the Board Chair for the Young Professionals in Transportation Chicago Chapter and has also been honored as one of Mass Transit Magazine’s 40 under 40.

Hannah is passionate about improving the well-being of people in a holistic way to realize more equitable and sustainable communities. She believes this is achieved at the intersection of social and spatial solutions that work together and that improving mobility for all is at the core of this relationship.

At SUMC, Hannah leads our team that mobilizes the shared mobility community through our Shared Mobility 2030 Action Agenda and events, including the National Shared Mobility Summit, cultivates cross-sector partnerships, and engages the sector about equity, sustainability, and community initiatives. Prior to SUMC, she worked for a patient engagement company that delivered products rooted in behavioral science and human-centered design to improve patient empowerment and decision-making.

Hannah received her master’s degree in city design and social science from the London School of Economics and a bachelor’s degree in biology and society, with a minor in communications from Cornell University. As a sociologist, she loves to explore and people-watch in new cities and parks.

Katarina is a Program Coordinator at SUMC, supporting the Clean Mobility Options Program that provides equitable and accessible mobility solutions in California’s underserved communities. Her professional experience in mobility began as a CivicSpark Fellow at the Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District. She supported the Clean Cars 4 All Program, leading program evaluation and outreach.

Katarina received a Master of Science in Environmental Science and Policy from Clark University, with an emphasis on Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation. Her master’s final project studied the impacts of flooding in Dhaka, Bangladesh. She also holds a Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Arts, with a concentration in Environmental Studies, from Soka University of America. During her undergraduate studies, she lived in Taiwan for three months studying Traditional Chinese.

Originally from Myanmar, Katarina has been living in Los Angeles since 2007. In her free time, she enjoys live music and frequenting art museums.

Lauren N. McCarthy, PhD, is the Senior Director of Research and Impact at the Shared-Use Mobility Center, where she oversees the research agenda and provides oversight, guidance, and direction for multiple research initiatives and programs. She also leads impact analysis and reporting, ensuring that SUMC’s projects are data-driven, culturally responsive, and community-centered.

Her experience includes coordinating large-scale policy evaluations, designing capacity-building programs with community partners, and guiding culturally responsive research methodologies. Lauren’s work focuses on the analysis, diffusion, and impact of investments in transportation systems, with an emphasis on community-centered outcomes. Before joining SUMC, Lauren was program manager and senior researcher at the Center for Transportation Public-Private Partnership Policy at George Mason University and was selected as a Google public policy fellow in 2019, focusing on technology adoption in marginalized communities.

She earned her PhD from the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University, where her dissertation, “Shared Mobility Systems: Frameworks to Understand the Growth of an Industry and the Prospect of Public Investments,” explores diffusion models and evaluation frameworks applicable to novel transportation technologies, particularly micromobility. Lauren also holds a B.S. in Business Administration and an M.A. in Geography from the University at Buffalo, The State University of New York.

Michelle Baron is a Program Coordinator at SUMC, where she supports the Clean Mobility Options Program in providing clean and accessible transportation solutions to California’s underserved communities. She comes to SUMC with a background in climate change, sustainability, environmental justice, equity, and policy.

Michelle received her Master of Public Policy, with an emphasis in Environmental and Resource Policy, and a Bachelor of Science in Sustainability Studies from the University of California, Riverside.

Prior to SUMC, Michelle was a CivicSpark fellow working to help Climate Resolve facilitate the Inland Southern California Climate Collaborative, where she fostered relationship-building among a cross-sectoral environmental network and published a climate landscape analysis report. While she was studying at UC Riverside, Michelle served as a Student Supervisor in the Office of Sustainability, where she worked closely with the student population to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through operations, engagement, and academic programs.

Outside of work, Michelle enjoys spending time with her family, best friends, and her cats, watching and going to fútbol games, practicing her painting, and working out.

Miriam comes to SUMC with a background in equitable transportation research. Her scholarship broadly focuses on travel and the built environment (including parking), transportation economics and finance, and travel among demographic groups facing mobility barriers, including women, older adults, and people with low incomes.

Her doctoral and Master’s degrees are both in urban planning from the University of California, Los Angeles. Her dissertation tracks the evolution of driver’s license policy, from a tool to address road safety to a lever to coerce monetary sanctions. Miriam has presented her research at conferences and been awarded research fellowships for her work, including the U.S. Student Fulbright Fellowship and the Haynes Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship.

Miriam can be found traveling through Los Angeles by bike and enjoys painting the cityscape in watercolor.

Natalia is a Research Communications Specialist at the Global Network for Popular Transport and the Shared-Use Mobility Center, where she uses research and storytelling to advance replacing car-centric transportation with people-focused shared mobility.

Her 8 years of international work focus on sustainable development, gender equity, mobility hubs, and human-centred transportation.

Her experience includes using storytelling to engage stakeholders, evaluate projects, and communicate lessons learned in the Clean Mobility Options Program. It also includes gender-sensitive user experience design with the international project Design Framework: Mobility Hubs for Women and Caregivers, and policy research with projects such as Safety and Economic Analysis.

With a background in Communication Science and a Master’s degree in Urban Studies (from the four European cities of Brussels, Vienna, Copenhagen, and Madrid), she has worked in projects for relevant institutions like the Mexico City Lab GIZ, the BBSR, UNDP, CARB, and Cities Alliance, and lived in Mexico City, Berlin, and Los Angeles.

Sarah is a Program Manager at SUMC, where she supports the Clean Mobility Options Program in providing clean, accessible transportation solutions to California’s underserved communities. Sarah comes to SUMC with a background and interest in the intersection of transportation, climate change, and public health.

Prior to joining SUMC, Sarah worked with the Local Government Commission and the CivicSpark Program to support fellows, local governments, state agencies, and nonprofit partners in implementing capacity-building projects to address California’s biggest challenges in climate change and community resilience.

Sarah received her B.A. in Geography & Environmental Studies from UCLA. She is currently a member of the American Society of Adaptation Professionals and serves on the Steering Committee for Orange County Environmental Justice. Outside of work, Sarah enjoys cooking and baking, starting new art projects, and reading books.

Clayton is a Senior Principal for Nelson\Nygaard Consulting Associates. He manages larger transit projects nationally and leads Northeast U.S. market development. Clayton has 20 years of experience as a social entrepreneur, mobility expert, and international program director. Clayton co-founded PhillyCarShare and grew it to become the largest regional car-sharing system in the world, displacing about 20,000 cars, reduced driving by about 50 million miles, and avoiding about 46,000 tons of CO2. More recently as CEO of ITDP, COO of EMBARQ, and Deputy Director of WRI Cities, Clayton has led 100-200 passionate professionals to influence mobility policy & plans in over 50 cities worldwide. Clayton has played key roles in raising over $100 million; leading strategy; and forging partnerships with governments, banks, UN agencies, NGOs & companies. He also has overseen top-notch research teams authoring the “Bike Share Planning Guide” and BRT and TOD Standards.

Scott leads CNT’s work to understand and better disclose the economic value of resource use in urban communities, and helps craft strategies to capture the value of this efficiency productively and locally. He studied at Northwestern University, served on the research staff of Northwestern’s Center for Urban Affairs, taught at UCLA and was a founding Board member at the Brookings Institution Metropolitan Center. In addition, President Clinton appointed Scott to the President’s Council for Sustainable Development, where he co-chaired its task forces on Metropolitan Sustainable Communities and on Cross-Cutting Climate Strategies and contributed to other federal advisory panels on global warming, development strategy, and science policy.

Alison is a partner and co-founder of the Studio for Urban Projects, an interdisciplinary design collaborative based in San Francisco that works at the intersection of architecture, urbanism, art, and social activism. For more than 15 years, the Studio has focused on public programming, urban prototyping, and civic dialog – aiming to bring social justice and sustainability to the design of cities. Sant is the author of From the Ground Up: Local Efforts to Create Resilient Cities (Island Press, 2022) a book that examines how American cities are mitigating and adapting to climate change while creating greater equity and livability. She has taught at the College of Environmental Design, University of California Berkeley, the California College of the Arts, Mills College, and the San Francisco Art Institute.

Amy Chiou served as the Senior Director (for finance and administration) of the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Amy has worked in various national political campaigns, served in the federal government and in the private sector, and has run and led a city-based nonprofit. She is currently the chair of the board of the Andrew Goodman Foundation. Amy was previously a manager in Deloitte’s Government and Public Sector practice where she worked with state and local governments, political candidates and campaigns, advocacy organizations, and nonprofits to develop messaging, branding, stakeholder mapping, and other strategic communications. She was previously the Director of Public Engagement and Speechwriter for the U.S. General Services Administration. She served as the executive director of Queen City Forward, a nonprofit committed to building the social entrepreneurship community in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Amy has nearly two-decades of experience in communications and community engagement. She has a J.D. in Law from the George Washington University Law School, and a B.A. in Government from The University of Texas at Austin.

Bianca Macêdo serves as Clean Transport Finance Senior Manager for C40’s City Finance Programme. In this role, Bianca leads the development and successful implementation of a range of city-city interactions and technical assistance on urban transportation finance. She supports city achievements of strong finance-related outcomes, bringing cities together to share experiences and learn from each other to discover new solutions. Prior to C40, she worked at the Municipality of Fortaleza, where led relevant projects that raised the city’s mobility policies into international recognition, such as the free bike share system, the program against sexual harassment in public transport, the electric tricycles project for recyclable waste pickers and the cycling infrastructure expansion. She also has experience in sustainable urban mobility plans, health and air quality mobility projects and gender-responsive transport studies in Brazil and Guyana. She is a Civil Engineer graduated in the Technological Institute of Aeronautics (ITA) and holds a Master Degree in Transportation Engineering at the Federal University of Ceará, Brazil.

Carol Coletta is President and CEO of Memphis River Parks Partnership, a public-private partnership responsible for five miles of public property along the Mississippi River. Its mission is to work with and for the people of Memphis to trigger the transformative power of the river. She led a new riverfront concept plan, renaming and redesigning two former Confederate Parks and a five-mile bike-ped trail. She was a senior fellow in the American Cities Practice at the Kresge Foundation, where she led Reimagining the Civic Commons, a national initiative to demonstrate that transformative public spaces can connect people of all backgrounds, cultivate trust, create more resilient communities, and generate greater value in neighborhoods nearby. She previously served as VP of Community and National Initiatives for the Knight Foundation. She managed a portfolio of more than $50 million annually in grants and a team of 18 in eight offices nationwide to drive success in cities. Her strategic focus at Knight was to understand how robust public life can accelerate talent, opportunity, and engagement. She led a national inquiry into the value of economic integration in America’s cities.

She also led the start-up of ArtPlace, a public-private collaboration to accelerate creative placemaking in communities across the U.S. The partnership included 13 leading foundations, eight federal agencies, and six of the nation’s largest banks. She served as president/CEO of CEOs for Cities, a Chicago-based network of urban leaders from 45 of the nation’s top metro areas. She also led the Mayors’ Institute on City Design, a collaboration of the National Endowment for the Arts, the U.S. Conference of Mayors, and the American Architectural Foundation. Carol created and hosted the public radio show “Smart City.”

Danielle J. Harris is a passionate advocate for environmental and racial justice, which led her to city planning. As a city planner mitigating tech’s growing impacts on San Francisco over the past 10 years, Danielle began to adapt city functions to unlock tech’s benefits. Today, Danielle is the Managing Director of Engagement & Innovation at Elemental Excelerator, a climate tech catalyst that finds and funds climate startup deployments with corporates, community-based organizations, and cities. She develops strategic engagements and partnerships with diverse stakeholders to make impactful change to address social inequity and the climate crisis. Danielle continues to be a thought leader in new mobility, helping the industry navigate the ever-evolving mobility revolution, for she previously served as Director of Mobility Innovation at Elemental and Innovation Strategist for SFMTA Office of Innovation, where she created dynamic collaborations between city departments and tech companies.

Jana brings more than 20 years of diverse planning and policy experience from the non-profit, for-profit and public sectors. She is a nationally recognized thought leader with more than 30 publications on transportation and livable communities and is a strong advocate for public transit technology solutions and data standards. From 2007 to 2024, Jana was a Senior Policy Advisor in the AARP Public Policy Institute, where she also directed the organization’s Livability Index and data team. Jana joined the SUMC Board in 2020.

Jorge Guajardo is a diplomat, strategist, and nonprofit leader with more than 30 years of experience advancing international cooperation, public policy, and cross-sector collaboration. As Co-Chair of the Aspen Institute’s Global Cyber Security Group, he convenes leaders from government, industry, and civil society to address global technology and security challenges that support democracy and the public good. He has also served on the board of The Beijing Center, promoting academic and cultural exchange between East and West.

Born in Nuevo León, Mexico, Guajardo earned a bachelor’s degree in Foreign Service from Georgetown University and a master’s in public policy from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. After beginning his career in strategic communications, he served as Communications Director and Press Secretary to the Governor of Nuevo León before being appointed Mexican Consul in Austin in 2005.

In 2007, President Felipe Calderón appointed Guajardo as Mexico’s Ambassador to China, a position he held until 2013. During the longest uninterrupted Mexican ambassadorship to China, he strengthened bilateral relations during a pivotal period and became the first Mexican ambassador to visit all 22 Chinese provinces.

Today, Guajardo is a Partner at DGA Group, advising organizations on government affairs, market strategy, and geopolitical risk across Latin America and China. Since 2015, he has also advised World Central Kitchen on geopolitical issues supporting humanitarian response efforts. Throughout his career, Guajardo has built partnerships across governments, business, and civil society to advance security, sustainability, and international cooperation.

Kevin is a mobility entrepreneur, passionate about turning great ideas into products and services that improve people’s lives through better mobility and healthier cities. He is a 4-time founder of successful Canadian mobility and healthy city ventures, including AutoShare, Toronto’s original carsharing service (1998), now part of Enterprise CarShare; Vancouver’s Modo – the Car Co-op (1997) and Evergreen.ca (1991), Canada’s leading NGO that works to make cities flourish. He is currently CEO of his latest startup Zygg—the first subscription service for personal e-bikes in North America, based in Toronto. Kevin was recently a Vice President at Free2Move, the urban mobility service that allows users to search, compare and choose from a variety of mobility options on a single app.

Richard is the Director of Collaboration for Sidara, a global collaborative of 20+ leading specialist firms that design for people and the planet. Sidara brings together over 20,000 professionals across 308 offices in 60 countries. Our core mission is to advocate for human experience, design for livability, and empower clients through sustainability advisory and technological innovation. Our global network of visionaries, thinkers, and innovators delivers services ranging from architecture and design, engineering, and project management to digital strategy, sustainability consulting, and energy innovation. Collaboration is at the heart of our success – and we’re here to help you find solutions to your most pressing challenges. Together, we can elevate communities, transform lives, and inspire global impact.

As Director of Collaboration, Richard plays a pivotal role in fostering partnerships, driving cross-functional teamwork, and cultivating a culture of collaboration across Sidara’s companies. He leads strategic business development initiatives to connect diverse stakeholders, both within and outside the organization, ensuring seamless communication and effective knowledge sharing. His leadership aligns efforts, builds strategic alliances, and unlocks new opportunities for growth and impact.