The Body of Christ is made of many parts, and people experience their understanding of God in many different ways. On this blog, we'll consider the beliefs and activities of congregations, denominations and different religions.
Saturday, April 10, 2021
Breaking News: AME Church Member appointed to Lead Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority
TCR Breaking News: AME Member Stephanie Wiggins appointed as CEO of Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority
On Thursday, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti named Ms. Stephanie Wiggins as the CEO of the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority (LA Metro). With an operating area of 1,433 square miles, Metro is the third-largest public transportation system in the U.S. by ridership. The agency operates 2,000 buses serving more than 150 routes as well as six train lines. She previously served as the CEO of Metrolink, Metrolink, the nation’s third-largest passenger rail system covering 538 route-miles throughout the Southern California mega-region. She is the first African-American and female to lead both agencies.
Ms. Wiggins has navigated the disruption caused by COVID-19 with a customer-first approach while upholding its foundational value of safety. Ms. Wiggins led the development of a Recovery Plan to reimagine the delivery of Metrolink service in a post-COVID-19 environment, driven by insights gathered from surveys with customers and employees. The survey responses have been instrumental in developing new ideas to better serve the agency’s core ridership of essential workers who use Metrolink to connect to their jobs on the frontline of the pandemic with safe, and reliable transportation.
With a deep and genuine commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion, Ms. Wiggins strives to provide all people living in southern California equal access to mobility to get to work, school, and leisure activities. And achieving that goal depends on leading an organization that is as diverse and inclusive as the region it serves.
Prior to leading Metrolink, Ms. Wiggins was Deputy CEO of the LA Metro where she assisted the CEO in providing leadership and formulating and achieving strategic public transportation objectives, including the passage of Measure M, a half-cent sales tax approved by 71 percent of voters in LA County. During her tenure at LA Metro, Ms. Wiggins also served as the Executive Director of Vendor/Contract Management, where she implemented procurement streamlining initiatives and greatly expanded Metro’s utilization of small and historically underutilized businesses. Prior to that role, Ms. Wiggins was the Executive Officer and Project Director of the Congestion Reduction/ExpressLanes Program where she launched the first high occupancy toll lanes in LA County, the I-10 and I-110 Express Lanes, which improved travel times and travel reliability on two of the County’s most congested freeway corridors.
Prior to Metro, she served as Regional Programs Director for the Riverside County Transportation Commission (RCTC) and oversaw transit, commuter rail, rideshare, goods movement and rail capital projects.
Ms. Wiggins began her career in transportation when she accepted a temporary assignment at the San Bernardino County Transportation Authority and fell in love with the mission of the agency. The six-month temporary assignment turned into more than four years.
She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration from Whittier College in 1992. Ms. Wiggins earned a Master of Business Administration from the USC Marshall School of Business in 2007.
Ms. Wiggins is a self-proclaimed “military brat” whose father made his career in the Air Force. She credits her experience moving from base to base and country to country as a child for teaching her the importance of diversity.
Ms. Wiggins is the founding president of the Inland Empire Chapter of Women’s Transportation Seminar. She is the recipient of many awards including the Conference of Minority Transportation Officials 2018 Women Who Move the Nation Award. She is a Board Member of the Los Angeles Chapter of Friends of the Children and a member of the Whittier College Board of Trustees. She is a member of Ward AME Church in Los Angeles where the Rev. Dr. John Cager is the pastor.
The Christian Recorder is the official newspaper of the African Methodist Episcopal Church and the oldest continuously produced publication by persons of African descent.
Bishop Vashti M. McKenzie, Chair of the General Board Commission on Publications Rev. Dr. Roderick D. Belin, President/Publisher of the AME Sunday School Union Mr. John Thomas III, Editor of The Christian Recorder
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