- One word to describe yourself: Resilient
- Alma Mater: Hiram College “Go Terriers!”
- Favorite book: “Outlander” by Diana Gabaldon, “Romeo” by Elise Title and the “Saga” series by Brian Vaughan and Fiona Staples
- Favorite TV show: “Adventure Time,” “Attack on Titan,” “Chef’s Table,” and “Bill Nye Saves the World”
- Favorite movie: “The Princess Bride,” “Legend,” and “Princess Mononoke”
- Favorite hobby(ies): Photography, cooking, painting/drawing, cosplay, cycling, hiking and reading
- Fun fact about yourself: She owned and operated an art gallery for a year, successfully curating 11 shows with up to four artists each, before taking steps to earn her MBA in sustainability.
- What is your favorite transit system (outside of the one you work for or have worked for!) and why?: King County Metro and Sound Transit. The systems add to the sense of connectedness felt when visint the greater Seattle area. On her first trip overseas, she tried Stagecoach Bus on her vacation in Scotland.
Growing up, Kari Solomon shunned the traditional dolls and dresses for reading comic books with her dad and shearing sheep with her mom. A lifelong comic book super-fan, she was inspired by justice and changing the world for the better.
She began her career at the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (RTA) as a business analyst in the Management Development Program (MDP). For two years, she rotated throughout departments and divisions in the authority, including Operations, Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Human Resources, and Internal Audit.
Solomon earned her CDL with passenger endorsement as a part of her MDP experience, and maintains it to this day. After completing the program, she began her role as a budget management analyst in OMB.
In addition to managing the capital and operating needs for the RTA, Solomon started the authority’s first, comprehensive sustainability and performance excellence programs. As the programs matured from idea to authority-wide, she strengthened her skills by attaining an MBA with a focus in sustainability.
Solomon was the project manager to complete a sustainability materiality assessment for the RTA. She engaged internal and external stakeholders to gather data and insight relative to governance, environmental, financial and social issues. The results were used for short-term decision making and strategic planning.
She is a team leader in RTA’s implementation of the ISO 14001 Environmental & Sustainability Management System. She was honored to participate with an RTA team in the FTA-Virginia Tech ISO 14001 Institute for specialized training on establishing Environment & Sustainability Management Systems. Through this process, one facility has been ISO 14001 certified, and two additional facilities are in progress of defining their programs.
In addition to her efforts to advance environmental sustainability, Solomon is a champion for sustainable business practices. A proudest achievement has been the opportunity to collaborate with the executive management team to update and establish a new strategic planning process, the organizational strategic plan and facilitate its ongoing implementation. She worked closely with a consultant and top RTA executives to develop the 5-year Strategic Plan, and has developed a dashboard for continuous tracking. This plan was deployed throughout the entire organization.
Since 2013, Solomon has led the RTA in the efforts to win the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. The Partnership for Excellence (TPE) awards represent Ohio, Indiana and West Virginia’s highest honor for performance excellence through innovation, results and visionary leadership using the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence. Under her leadership, RTA earned the silver award from TPE in 2015 on its very first application, then earned the gold award in 2017. In addition to the honor and distinction, the output of the TPE process is a comprehensive assessment of the organization that helps organizational leaders better understand and prioritize key strengths and opportunities for improvement.
Solomon is also Lean Six/Green Belt certified, and has put those skills to use in a project at GCRTA to improve the process of bus pull-ins and pull-outs.
At the national level, Solomon is involved in the American Public Transportation Association’s Sustainability Committee to develop national standards to share with peer organizations regarding social and economic aspects of sustainability. She has also been a speaker at APTA’s Sustainability Workshop, sharing her expertise on strategy and performance excellence for sustainable transportation.
Solomon is a member of the Emerging Professionals (a young professionals subset of the Ohio Green Building Council), and a board member with Urban Shepherds.
Solomon is a volunteer with Super Heroes to Kids in Ohio, a non-profit organization of adults who make costumed visits to children’s hospitals, special needs centers and charitable events whenever needed throughout Northeast Ohio.
She was an active leader of her local 4-H club, organizing events and mentoring younger members, and continues to be a strong supporter of 4-H programs in Trumbull and Cuyahoga counties. She also graduated from an interested comic book reader to a regular San Diego Comic Con attendee, complete with Wonder Woman cosplay.
Solomon is also the proudest dog mom anyone could ever meet to her precious rescued “fuzz-butt” Ludo.
“At a young age, my core values were put to the test, and from that experience I knew committing to a role of public service was my path.”
“The best industry to be a public servant; it doesn’t take being an operator to see the impact of our work on our customers.”
“Blinders are necessary sometimes, but never forget they’re removable. It’s truly beneficial to look around and seek innovation, or you’ll stunt your own growth and that of your team.”
