Empowering Excellence: Building a Community of Support and Success

Join this insightful panel of local women transportation leaders as they share their career paths to achieve success, and lessons learned applicable for today and tomorrow’s workforce. Event participants will be invited to continue the discussion with our panelists through facilitated roundtables, share their own experiences, and gain access to new professional development resources and opportunities. This is a not-to-miss event! Whether you’re just entering the field or a seasoned professional, this event is the opportunity to build relationships, share challenges, successes, lessons learned and insights that support the ongoing excellence and recognition of women in our local industry. Light food and beverages will be served.

Transportation

• Metrorail accessible via U Street (Green)

Panelists:

Yvonne Thelwell, PE
Deputy Chief Engineer, DDOT
Yvonne Thelwell joined the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) in 2020 and serves as the Deputy Chief Engineer with IPMA, the Infrastructure Project Management Administration. Prior to joining DDOT, she worked 35 years in the private sector, responsible for the design, construction, and management of major transportation projects throughout the United States and overseas, including the Arlington Memorial Bridge, the Qatar-Bahrain Causeway, the Sun Yat Sen Freeway in Taiwan, the Roslyn Viaduct on Long Island, NY, and the I-90 Logan Airport Interchange in Boston.

Ms. Thelwell holds a Master of Science degree in Civil Engineering and a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Maryland at College Park and a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics from Frostburg State College. She is a registered Professional Engineer.

She is a Washingtonian and a proud resident of DC. She can often be seen walking around the City. She has been an Aikido instructor for 30 years.

Jennifer Mitchell

Executive Vice President, Strategy & Planning, Amtrak

Jennifer is Executive Vice President, Strategy & Planning. She joined Amtrak in December 2024 and is responsible for setting the long-term strategic vision for the company, which includes a goal to double ridership by 2040 by attracting more riders and serving new communities. Her portfolio includes the Planning, Infrastructure Access, State Partner, Network Development and Host Railroad functions.

Jennifer is an accomplished transportation industry leader whose three-decade career has spanned the private and public sectors. She has extensive experience in successfully negotiating complex agreements with public and private sector partners and developing plans for major capital projects.

From April 2022 through November 2024, she served as deputy administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), providing executive leadership and direction on agency operations and policy matters, including safety and rail development activities. Jennifer also oversaw implementation of the FRA’s Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act provisions, including the development of new discretionary funding programs and railroad development activities.

Prior to moving to the FRA, Jennifer served as director of the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation (DRPT) for eight years. She led a team that developed the groundbreaking Transforming Rail in Virginia program, a public-private partnership to expand passenger rail capacity in the fast-growing Richmond-Washington corridor over a decade. She also advanced planning and construction of a new Long Bridge across the Potomac River to relieve a critical freight and passenger rail bottleneck.

Jennifer was instrumental in efforts at DRPT to secure dedicated regional funding for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, establish the Metro Safety Commission through an interstate compact, create the Virginia Passenger Rail Authority (VPRA) and develop Virginia’s SmartScale multimodal transportation funding program.

Earlier in her career, Jennifer held positions where she developed financial plans and funding strategies for major capital projects with several U.S. transportation agencies. She also worked with the DRPT and Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority on the financial planning and project development activities to advance the Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project in Northern Virginia.

Jennifer has served on various boards and commissions, including the VPRA, American Public Transportation Association and the Women’s Transportation Seminar International. Jennifer holds a Bachelor of City Planning from the University of Virginia and a Master of Regional Planning from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Monica Backmon

Chief Executive Officer, Northern Virginia Transportation Authority

Monica Backmon is the Chief Executive Officer of the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority (NVTA) and has led NVTA since May 2014. Bringing more than 25 years of public and private sector transportation experience, Ms. Backmon oversees the region’s long-range planning, prioritization, and funding of regionally significant projects bringing multimodal transportation solutions to Northern Virginia. Managing an annual revenue stream provided through House Bill 2313 that is trending at $425 million per year, Ms. Backmon led the NVTA through the adoption of all seven funding programs, the most recent occurring in July of 2024. With the implementation of NVTA’s funding programs, NVTA is advancing 139 regional multimodal transportation projects totaling more than $3.8 billion for congestion reduction throughout the region. Ms. Backmon also oversees the distribution of $110 million annually to the Authority’s nine member localities for their local transportation priorities, which surpassed a total of $1 billion in September 2023.

Ms. Backmon holds a B.A. in Psychology and a Master’s in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Allison Cullin

Principal, Convey Public Policy

Allison has nearly 20 years of experience in transportation policy development and advocacy. She began her career on Capitol Hill, working for the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and the Senate Commerce Committee. After nearly a decade on the hill, she joined Amazon's public policy team, focusing on the intersection of transportation and technology and representing the company before Congress and the Department of Transportation. She joined Amazon's European policy team and coordinated transportation policy engagement at the EU Commission and Parliament and in more than 10 countries. She has been a consultant helping companies navigate US policy institutions, and has helped clients pass legislation, influence regulations, and become thought leaders.

Allison is a member of WTS and the co-chair of the Transportation and Infrastructure Task Force of Women in Government Relations.

Shelley Johnson

Co-Owner, Director of Business Development, Account Director at Epstein Creative Group

As co-owner of Epstein Creative Group, a women-owned DBE firm specializing in transportation marketing and public outreach, Shelley Johnson leads high-profile projects for agencies including WMATA, MDOT, and DDOT, where she champions initiatives centered around pedestrian safety, transit accessibility, and sustainable transportation solutions. With over 15 years of experience fostering multicultural engagement and implementing innovative outreach strategies, Shelley serves asthe Communications and PR Chair for the American Society of Highway Engineers 2026 National Conference and Corporate Membership Chair for WTS-DC, continuing to build bridges between transportation agencies and the communities they serve.

Host or Publisher WTS-DC Hospitality Committee