Pennington to Lead Planning Practice in WSP USA’s Portland, Oregon Office

Kirsten Pennington has been named planning manager for the Portland, Oregon office of WSP USA, formerly WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff, a leading engineering and professional services organization.

In her new position, Pennington will manage transportation and environmental planning projects for multiple disciplines. In addition to her project management responsibilities, she will be actively engaged in marketing/business development activities as well as manage the team of planners.

Pennington has nearly 20 years of experience with transportation policy, planning, and implementation projects. She is currently leading the Historic Columbia River Highway Congestion Mitigation and Safety Plan, and recently completed management of the Oregon Department of Transportation’s successful OR-PLAN policy consolidation tool development. Prior to joining WSP, she was U.S. west regional practice lead at an international engineering organization, managing the western region’s infrastructure planning practice. From 2011 to 2015 she served as planning manager and interim policy and development manager for Region 1 of the Oregon Department of Transportation.

Pennington received master of public policy and master of environmental management degrees from Duke University and a bachelor of arts from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. She served on the board of Portland Streetcar from 2013 to 2016 and has been involved with WTS since the late 1990s, including a role as president of the Puget Sound Chapter and service as a mentor and scholarship committee member for the Portland chapter. She is a member of the American Planning Association and is certified by the American Institute of Certified Planners.