• June 19, 2018

    Reflecting on the Eno Leaders Development Conference

    Last month, PacTrans supported UW student Elyse Lewis by giving her the opportunity to attend the 2018 Eno Future Leaders Development Conference, in which she acted as a representative for the College of Civil and Environmental Engineering.

    The Eno Center for Transportation (Eno) is a non-profit organization based in Washington D.C. whose mission is to nurture creative and visionary leaders with programs like the Leaders Development Conference (LDC), an event that offers participants professional growth in the transportation sector.

    The LDC is a four-day long session consisting of panels and site visits in D.C., featuring industry leaders, planners, advocates, and policy makers from a variety of transportation sectors. Panels consisted of speakers sharing their experiences with participants in a Q&A-style format.

    Elyse further commented on the great networking opportunity that the LDC provided to its attendees, mentioning that the presence of current leaders and the cohort of fellows allowed for continued discussion outside the panel.

    Key topics of discussion during the conference included ideas regarding new funding transportation methods with a debate on the gas tax, passenger safety regulations for autonomous vehicles, and the management of newer mobility services, like Uber and Lyft, taking their disruptive potential into consideration.

    Solutions to some of these challenges were brought to light, ranging from land use to fee-based demand management, which attempts to limit sprawl and protect high-capacity transportation modes, including buses and trains.

    The concept of building relationships, particularly professional connections with advocates and more personal ones with mentors, was another topic of discussion during the panel. Elyse recalled an interesting note which focused on the fact that women are typically over-mentored while men are often over-advocated. The “Kitchen Cabinet” concept, in which an individual essentially has a handful of allies in his or her back pocket, was also introduced.

    The most popular topic of conversation was the importance and development of a variety of communication skills in order to successfully relate to all audiences invested in transportation.

    Elyse mentioned that there was an even greater emphasis on how communication could be improved with the travelling public, particularly in regard to funding. The use of media tools, such as blogs and news briefs, was suggested during the discussion, as well as the translation of material so it is easily digestible by audiences.

    Elyse left the conference more than pleased with her experience, equipped with both a better understanding of niche transportation topics and enough contacts to start filling a Kitchen Cabinet.