Tierra Bills

Tierra Bills is an Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering and Public Policy at UCLA. Dr. Bills is a thinker, teacher, and researcher committed to advancing equity is transportation systems and policies. She has over 10 years of experience developing and advancing travel demand and equity analysis methods. She holds a B.S in Civil Engineering Technology from Florida A&M University, and M.S and PhD degrees in Transportation Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley.

Emma Huang

Emma Huang is a Senior Consultant at InfraStrategies, a strategic advisory firm. She supports transportation agencies with strategic planning, policy, and innovation. Her clients include Lane Transit District, DART, SamTrans, and Charlotte Area Transit System. Emma has published white papers and perspectives on innovative transportation issues, including microtransit, bus only lanes, and fareless transit. Prior to joining InfraStrategies, as a Manager with Metro’s Office of Extraordinary Innovation, Emma spent six years focused on advancing strategic initiatives for the agency. She has her MPP from UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs.

Sarah Jepson

Sarah Jepson is the Chief Planning Officer at Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG), the nation’s largest Metropolitan Planning Organization. Her responsibilities include the development and implementation of the Regional Transportation Plan/Sustainable Communities Strategy, a long-range visioning plan that balances future mobility and housing needs with economic and environmental goals. Sarah also oversees the Regional Housing Needs Assessment, Federal Transportation Improvement Program, local funding programs and a comprehensive environmental analysis and compliance program. Prior to this role, she managed the agency’s Active Transportation Department leading the development of regional plans, funding programs and the Go Human Campaign. Sarah also served as the Sustainability Policy Manager for the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) and worked on growth management planning for the King County Executive in Seattle, Washington. She started her career as a Peace Corps volunteer in St. Vincent & the Grenadines. Sarah received a BA in English from Miami University; and a Master’s degree in Public Policy from the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan.

Jody Litvak

A Los Angeles native, Jody Litvak currently serves at LA Metro as Executive Officer for Community Relations leading a team focused on delivering the agency’s environmental and other planning studies, strengthening the agency’s partnerships with the 88 cities in Los Angeles County and other key stakeholders, as well as supporting an array of county-wide initiatives, bus and rail operations and more. She has a broad range of experience across the agency’s varied functions having worked in Operations, Planning, Government

Relations and others. She has been involved in some of the agency’s highest-profile efforts including the Sepulveda Transit Corridor, Purple Line Extension, NextGen Bus Plan, and the successful Measure R and Measure M efforts. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Master in Public Policy degree from the Harvard Kennedy School.

Juan Matute

Juan Matute, Deputy Director of the UCLA Institute of Transportation Studies (ITS), leads research initiatives that bridge the gap between academic inquiry and practical transportation decision-making. As Deputy Director, Juan Matute leads UCLA ITS’s annual UCLA Arrowhead Symposium on urban and regional planning and is the Program Manager for the national Center of Excellence on New Mobility and Automated Vehicles.

At UCLA ITS, Juan spearheads research projects that delve into public transit, transportation finance, and governance. His interdisciplinary approach, rooted in problem-solving and systems thinking, enables him to unravel complex transportation challenges and develop effective solutions.

Juan’s dedication to public service extends beyond UCLA. He actively serves on various state, regional, and city committees, contributing his expertise to initiatives such as the Transit Transformation Task Force, Open Data/Big Data – Smart, and Connected SCAG Region Committee. Juan’s involvement in working groups and boards, such as the Los Angeles Parking Reform Working Group and the Downtown Santa Monica, Inc. Board of Directors, demonstrates his commitment to improving transportation systems at the local level.

Juan’s passion for transportation extends to the classroom, where he has taught numerous courses at the graduate and undergraduate levels at UCLA. His courses cover a wide range of topics, including transportation, environmental assessment, and climate planning.

Juan holds an MBA and Urban Planning MA from UCLA and a BA from Pomona College. He lives in Santa Monica, CA., where he and his wife Sirinya bike, walk, and use transit regularly with their son.

Emmanuel Proussaloglou

Emmanuel Proussaloglou is Assistant Director of cityLAB, a multidisciplinary research center housed within UCLA’s Department of Architecture and Urban Design. Having received dual Master’s degrees in Architecture and Urban Planning from UCLA, his work interrogates the impact of public policy on the built environment with a specific focus on the design, provision, and distribution of affordable housing. Professionally, he has worked at think tanks such as the Brookings Institution and the Center for Neighborhood Technology. He has also worked in architectural offices like Perkins & Will and Sharif, Lynch; Architecture.

Andres Ramirez

Andres Ramirez serves as the Executive Director of People for Mobility Justice. He also serves on LA County Metropolitan Transit Authority’s Policy Advisory Council, the Public Utilities Commission Disadvantaged Communities Advisory Group, and the Solar on Multifamily Affordable Housing (SOMAH) advisory council. He has over 15 years of experience advocating for Equity in DACs through community organizing and policy advocacy.  Andres has a diverse policy expertise and a keen understanding of the strengths and needs of BIPOC communities. He has led multiple advocacy and organizing efforts assuring that land use, transportation, housing, and environmental policies are developed and implemented equitably. Some of the successful efforts he has led include: LADOT Community Ambassador program (Vision Zero), Electro Bici (Pacoima e-bike library), and South Central Power Up (South LA e-bike library)

Joshua Schank

Joshual Schank is a Managing Prinicipal at InfraStrategies LLC, where he leads a practice focused on innovation, strategic planning, and technology. He is also a Senior Fellow in the Institute of Transportation Studies at UCLA, and a Research Associate at the Mineta Transportation Institute. Prior to joining InfraStrategies and UCLA, Dr. Schank was the first-ever Chief Innovation Officer (CIO) at LA Metro. Dr. Schank previously served as President and CEO of the Eno Center for Transportation, led transportation research for the Bipartisan Policy Center, and served as Transportation Policy Advisor to Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY).

Brian Taylor

Brian D. Taylor, PhD, FAICP is a Professor of Urban Planning and Public Policy in the Luskin School of Public Affairs and Director of the Institute of Transportation Studies at UCLA.  He teaches courses on transportation, land use, and urban form; public transit and shared mobility; and transportation economics, finance, and policy.  Professor Taylor studies travel behavior and transportation equity, finance, history, and politics.  His recent research examines falling public transit ridership, public sector responses to new transportation technologies, the socio-economic dimensions of travel behavior, the equity of increased local option sales taxes for transportation, the economic effects of traffic congestion, and the transportation policy and equity implications of the SARS-Cov-2 global pandemic.

Professor Taylor is on sabbatical during the 2022-23 academic year.

Mark Tollefson

Mark Tollefson was appointed Undersecretary of the California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA) by Governor Gavin Newsom in December 2022. As Undersecretary, Mark advises the Secretary on CalSTA issues, programs and departments, and oversees personnel, fiscal and administrative functions, and planning.

Previously, Mark served as Governor Newsom’s Senior Counselor on Infrastructure and Fiscal Affairs and as a Deputy Cabinet Secretary. He held several positions at the California Department of Finance from 2007 to 2019. Mark earned a Master of Business Administration degree from California State University, Sacramento.

Jacob Wasserman

Jacob Wasserman studies and manages research on public transit, the intersection of transportation and other social issues, and a range of mobility questions at UCLA Institute of Transportation Studies. With a background in transportation equity, finance, and demand management, Wasserman serves as the lead scholar of ITS’ Public Transit research program.

Prior to joining ITS, he worked for the Cities of Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New Haven on capital planning, vehicle miles traveled development review thresholds, budget process improvements, and active transportation. He also served as a Transportation Justice Fellow for BART Director Lateefah Simon, coordinating passage of the system’s Safe Transit sanctuary policy.

Wasserman has a Master of Urban and Regional Planning degree from the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, with concentrations in transportation policy and planning and in community economic development and housing, in the housing stream. He holds a bachelor’s degree in history and political science from Yale.

Qiao Yu

Qiao Yu is a Ph.D. candidate at UCLA’s Department of Environmental Health Sciences, focusing on climate change mitigation, air quality co-benefits, Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) policy, and environmental justice. His work has contributed to the LA100 Equity Strategies Report and involves improving clean and equitable transportation for disadvantaged communities through California Climate Action funded projects.

Oscar Zarate

Oscar U. Zarate is a Director of Advocacy and Organizing at Strategic Actions for a Just Economy (SAJE), where he leads the organization’s built environment work, with a focus on improving the conditions of rental housing and public transit. Oscar serves as a council member on the LA County Metropolitan Transit Authority’s Community Advisory Council and is a Founding member of the City of Compton’s Tenant Union. He’s led successful grassroot efforts to establish new tenant protections in LA County and prevent fare hikes for Metro riders. 

Before joining SAJE, Oscar was a UCLA Labor Fellow at SEIU Local 2015 and Teamsters Port Division, organizing truck drivers and long-term care workers. Oscar holds a BA in Political Science from UC Santa Barbara.

Kate Kigongo

Kate Kigongo is the Manager of Partnerships for Innovative Deployment at Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG). Her career has focused on using technology, innovation, and pilot projects to improve transportation, urban design, and sustainability outcomes in California. Kate has worked for the City of West Hollywood, Los Angeles Neighborhood Initiative, and the Low Income Investment Fund. She is a double-Bruin, with a Master’s in Urban and Regional Planning and BA in Geography and History.

Chelsea Richer

Chelsea is a Principal in Fehr & Peer’s Los Angeles office. Chelsea leads the Fehr & Peers companywide discipline group on Climate Change & Resilience. Much of her work focuses on policies and practices to enable mode-shift towards low-carbon modes – first/last mile planning, multimodal safety, VMT policy, active transportation planning, and transportation demand management (TDM). She also is passionate about gender equity on transit, working on local and national projects to advance that practice. She is a UCLA Luskin alum (MURP 2014) and has her bachelor’s degree in public policy from the University of Chicago.