14 | Mass Transit | MassTransitmag.com | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2018
capital planning departments to intricately
apply for the best projects to win funding
and assist the counties that MARTA
operates in. She provides mentorship activities
and assistance to her counterparts
in other transportation organizations,
seeking to increase their programmatic
budgets through grants and sponsorships.
Akujuo has served on panels for the
U.S. Department of Transportation as
it relates to metropolitan planning and
performance management. She recently
served on a panel at the Conference of Minority
Transportation Offi cials discussing
millennial leadership and advisement
in transportation organizations. She also
serves on the Finance and Planning committees
for the American Public Transportation
Association (APTA).
document vision plan is used as a roadmap
for Nassau County and imagines
the systems growth and evolution over
time. Th e TDP also gives county leaders
hard facts that tie a robust transit system
to more access to jobs with direct
economic benefi ts to the county.
Alvarado regularly works with riders’
groups to fi nd solutions to improving
service for commuters and students
and he has helped introduce new express
routes to the system and has partnered
with private sector companies to
leverage technology to improve service
and the user experience.
ONYINYE AKUJUO’S EXPERTISE IN
federal compliance, grant development
and transportation policy has allowed
her to attain more than $3 billion in
grant funding and an overall savings
of $220 million for her transportation
companies over the course of her career.
She is a seasoned grants professional
serving as the director of federal and
state grant programs on the senior executive
team for MARTA. She oversees,
directs and manages more than $600
million in federal funding and is the
designated offi cial for Atlanta, responsible
for appropriating Federal Transit
Administration formula funds for 13
counties that make up the Atlanta Urbanized
Area.
In fi scal year 2018 alone, she has
won nearly $20 million in Transportation
Investment Generating Economic
Recovery (TIGER) and FTA discretionary
funding, due to her new innovative
model in grant seeking.
With a background in planning and
project management, Akujuo no longer
uses a sole fi nance angle to apply for
grants; she has mitigated silos and has
become unifi ed with her operations and
OMAR ANTONIO ALVARADO IS THE
director of Schedule & Planning for the
Nassau Inter-County Express and New
Orleans. He also does extensive work
with other properties, including Central
Florida University, Lower Hudson
Valley and various streetcar projects
across the U.S. He is an expert in the
Trapeze and Clever CAD system and
uses various other analysis tools to deliver
the best possible value and service
to his clients and passengers. Alvarado
has built a small but extremely eff ective
team of transit experts that are both
data and service driven.
Th ough extremely successful at his
mission, Alvarado continues to look for
ways to grow by attending conferences
and seminars and has been active in
New York Public Transit Association.
In addition, he recently published a paper
on mobile fare payments.
Alvarado is a true transit advocate
and uses every opportunity to promote
transit as an asset and an engine for
economic growth. He was a major contributor
to the Nassau County 5-Year
Transit Development Plan. Th e living
Fact:
Akujuo is an
active board
director for
the League of
Women Voters
Atlanta/Fulton
County and a
board member
of the Jamaica
Center for Arts
and Learning
in NYC.
MassTransitmag.
com/12422347
“Leadership is no longer about your position.
It is now more about your passion for excellence and your
passion for making a difference. You can lead without a
title. In transportation, you have the opportunity to be a
leader at any level. Take advantage and ensure that you
have established mentors who will guide you along the
way and sponsors who will elevate you and speak well on
your behalf to help you achieve your promotional goals.”
Fact:
Alvardo helped
start a nonprofit,
the Uniondale
Knights Youth
Football, in an
underserved
community for
his nephew’s
team.
MassTransitmag.
com/12426416
“I enjoy the direct impact I make on countless people’s
days and the ability to build a team around me to help make
every system we work with better. In my role, I have the
opportunity to make an impact on multiple systems and
multiple cities at the same time. I enjoy refining and sometimes
rebuilding things when necessary to help make the riders’
experience on public transit better each day. However, this
impact doesn’t happen without a great team. The ability to
build a team that is customer focused and analytics driven
is something that I have cherished in my time in this role.”
Onyinye Akujuo
Director of Federal
and State Grant
Programs
Metropolitan
Atlanta Rapid
Transit Authority
(MARTA)
Omar Antonio
Alvarado
Director of
Planning &
Scheduling
Transdev
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