SAN FRANCISCO — US Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, Women’s Transportation Seminar President & CEO Marcia Ferranto and WTS Board Chair Terry Gruver will launch Transportation YOU, a national educational initiative aimed at girls and young women, at the WTS annual awards dinner on Thursday, May 19th at the Hyatt Regency San Francisco at 7 p.m Pacific.
Transportation YOU is a joint initiative of the U.S. Department of Transportation and WTS to promote education and careers in the areas of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), and for the advancement of women in the field of transportation. Transportation YOU will introduce younger girls ages 13-18 to the broad array of transportation careers through hands-on interactive activities, mentoring programs, field experiences and a national “virtual” community. This initiative also provides specific attention to STEM and career exploration in a variety of transportation related fields.
“We need to tap the best and brightest minds of this generation in order to make our vision for a cutting-edge transportation network a reality,” said Secretary LaHood. “That is why I am so pleased to partner with the Women’s Transportation Seminar on the Transportation YOU initiative, which will ensure that young women have all the tools and opportunities they need to succeed in transportation careers.”
“The Women’s Transportation Seminar and the WTS Foundation are thrilled to collaborate with Secretary LaHood and the US Department of Transportation on this crucial work,” added WTS Board Chair Terry Gruver. “The Transportation YOU initiative directly supports our mission to transform the transportation industry through the advancement of women.”
Secretary LaHood will be a special guest at the WTS 2011 Annual Conference, where many of the international organization’s 4,100 members will gather to explore the technical, policy, financial, and political aspects of emerging transportation issues in virtually every sector. WTS helps women find opportunity and recognition in the transportation industry through its professional, networking, mentoring and leadership activities and opportunities.
Media: To register to attend this and other WTS conference events, please contact Dean Rogers at 240-604-5578.
For more information about WTS and the Transportation YOU initiative, contact WTS President and CEO Marcia Ferranto, or call 302-545-7292.
