NEWS RELEASE: California High-Speed Rail Authority Recognized as Employer of Year by Organization Advancing Women in Transportation

January 31, 2022

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The California High-Speed Rail Authority (Authority) has received the prestigious Employer of the Year Award from the Women’s Transportation Seminar (WTS) Sacramento chapter. This annual award recognizes a transportation organization for outstanding leadership in mentoring women in the transportation field, providing opportunities for upward mobility for women and having women at the highest levels of leadership.

“A talented, highly-capable and diverse staff is a pre-requisite for success on a project of this magnitude,” said Authority CEO Brian Kelly. “This recognition validates our approach and is a testament to the tremendous work that our diverse staff has done and will continue to do in advancing the California high-speed rail program.”

“I am proud of the staff and leadership of High-Speed Rail in promoting diversity in the workplace and asking our partners in the rail industry to do the same,” said Authority Board of Directors Vice Chair Nancy Miller.  “It is heartening to attend meetings with the engineers, the attorneys, the systems operators and planners to find a group of diverse and knowledgeable staff assisting at every level.”

More than half of the Authority’s total workforce is female – as well as the majority of the executive team, many appointed under the Newsom Administration. Major initiatives and programs led by women at the Authority include strategic delivery; legal counsel; strategic communications; legislative affairs; information technology; planning and sustainability, administration and human resources; diversity, equity and inclusion; and regional leadership.

WTS is an international organization dedicated to shaping the future of transportation for the public good through the global advancement of women. The Sacramento Chapter supports hundreds of professionals not only within the Sacramento Region but also the Northern California and the Central Valley. WTS Sacramento will hold its annual awards and scholarship event in March. More information can be found at: www.wtssacramento.org.

California’s high-speed rail program is currently under construction over 119 miles with 35 active construction sites in California’s Central Valley, creating more than 7,000 construction jobs to date. By mid-2022, the Authority expects to have environmentally cleared 422 miles of the high-speed rail program from the Bay Area to the Los Angeles Basin. For more on construction progress visit: www.buildhsr.com.

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