LA Metro Hosts Girls Empowerment Summit for More Than 250 Students Interested in Transportation Careers

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Women and Girls Governing Council on Friday hosted more than 250 girls from middle and high schools across the county at its first-ever Girls Empowerment Summit.

Girls from grades 6-12 who have expressed interest in transportation careers listened to speakers and participated in workshops featuring professionals from both public and private organizations throughout the industry. Speakers included women professionals from Metro, Metrolink, Caltrans, the Los Angeles Department of Transportation, Long Beach Transit and several private companies that plan, design, build and operate transportation infrastructure and services. The summit was designed to provide insight and highlight opportunities for women in the transportation field.

“We want more and more women in leadership at Metro,” said L.A. County Supervisor and Metro Board Chair Supervisor Sheila Kuehl. “About one in three of our senior leaders at Metro are women, and, though that’s a good percentage generally, we want to see it grow to 50/50.”

The students hailed from eight schools across the county: Wilson Middle School, Panorama High School, Long Beach Polytechnic High School, Cabrillo High School, James A. Garfield High School, Diego Rivera Learning Complex, Granada Hills Charter High School and William Workman High School.

The Women and Girls Governing Council was formed in September 2017 at CEO Phillip A. Washington’s request to examine Metro policies, programs and services and how they impact the lives of women and girls in Los Angeles County. Its main goals are to have a gender-balanced workforce, to accelerate change and to develop a strategy to address the complex and inter-related causes of gender inequality mobility and economic challenges.

As part of the council’s mission, it created the Girls Empowerment Summit to inform and inspire girls about careers at Metro and across the transportation industry.

“This summit is an excellent way of highlighting work the Women and Girls Governing Council is doing to promote Metro’s E3 Initiative to Expose, Educate and Employ the next generation of transportation professionals,” said Metro Chief Policy Officer Elba Higueros, who leads the Women and Girls Governing Council. “We are making a profound difference in the way girls today think of their career paths and job options following high school.” 

The council and the summit are important efforts toward realizing two key components of LA Metro’s Vision 2028 Strategic Plan: increasing equity and cultivating the transportation workforce of the future.

“Here at Metro, we are solving complex problems, building infrastructure and moving the economy forward in the most populated county in America,” Metro CEO Phillip A. Washington told the girls in attendance. “We could not do what we do without the hard work, dedication and expertise of the talented women who work at Metro.”