Kate J. Lichtenstein, PMP
Senior Project Manager
Sound Transit
- Alma Mater: Middlebury College (undergraduate), University of Washington College of Built Environments – Urban Design & Planning (Master’s)
- Favorite Book: "Thanks for the Feedback: The Science and Art of Receiving Feedback Well"
- Favorite TV show: PBS documentaries about history, music or nature
- Favorite Hobby: Playing music, gardening, walking everywhere, biking to work, running, climbing mountains, yoga, and cooking
- What is my favorite transit system, outside the one they work for: TransLink, Vancouver, British Columbia. Lichtenstein lived there a semester of college and took trains and buses to school, downtown, far-flung communities, hikes and skiing. Lichtenstein loved combining walking and transit to explore, meet people and really learn about places – outside the confines of a car.
Kate Lichtenstein has been with Sound Transit since 2002. During that time she has had at least 7 job titles and has worked on multiple transit infrastructure projects, from early planning to revenue start-up. A certified Professional Project Manager, (PMP) Lichtenstein has taken on numerous challenges and is often tapped to manage unusual projects for which there are few precedents and that require cross-discipline thinking and creative problem solving.
Early in her career Lichtenstein helped secure environmental permits and developed wetland mitigation strategies for bus and rail projects. One unusual project involved relocating an Osprey nest from a transmission tower to a new pole in a nearby park – the Osprey pair found their new nest and successfully fledged young the first year. Lichtenstein also helped write Sound Transit’s first Executive Order on Sustainability and served on the team that developed Sound Transit’s award winning Environmental and Sustainability Management System (ESMS). Lichtenstein began working as a specialist in Sound Transit’s Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) program. The TOD program looks for opportunities to transform Sound Transit facilities and property no longer needed (such as construction staging areas) into development that boosts ridership and supports community goals.
Lichtenstein currently serves as the Senior Project Manager for design and construction of the underground U District Station, one of three light rail stations in the Northgate Link Extension, a $1.9B, 4.3 mile expansion of light rail currently under construction from the University of Washington (UW) Station to Seattle’s Northgate neighborhood. In this role Lichtenstein works closely with design, construction and outreach teams, and is often the face and voice of the project in the community.
"What’s most interesting – working as a project manager with the many disciplines involved in planning, designing, building and operating transit – can also be the most challenging. Working and negotiating with staff, consultants or agency partners from many different disciplines means that our perspectives, values and objectives may differ even if we’re all working on the same project and toward the same high level goals. Communication is key.”
Fun fact: Lichtenstein plays guitar and fiddle in local string-bands, playing shows for community square dances and at local clubs.
