A familiar industry name, Ronna Weber, was announced to succeed Charlie Hood next month as the executive director of the National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services (NASDPTS).
Hood, a past NASDPTS president and a retired state of director at the Florida Department of Education, announced his retirement in January. Since then, the association has been reviewing potential candidates and holding interviews. The NASDPTS Board of Directors announced via email on Thursday that Weber has filled that vacancy.
“While we will miss Charlie Hood’s leadership, our board of directors are confident that Ronna is truly the ideal person to represent NASDPTS as its next executive director and lead us into the future,” NASDPTS President Patrick McManamon said in a statement.
In addition to being the past executive director for the National School Transportation Association (NSTA) from 2012-2017, Weber spoke at various NASDPTS annual conferences as well as State and National Associations Council member annual conferences. During her tenure at NSTA, she managed the association’s regulatory affairs, grant efforts, and managed quarterly meetings. She also coordinated with NSTA’s consultants to ensure all priorities of the association were met.
“I’m thrilled to be joining NASDPTS and am looking forward to returning full-time to the school transportation industry,” Weber told School Transportation News on Thursday. “I have attended many NASDPTS annual conferences over the years and look forward to continuing the great work of the association.”
Earlier in her career, Weber served as a senior associate with Prime Policy Group, a leading government lobbying firm, where she specialized in transportation policy. She specifically worked with NSTA for over 12 years, specializing in legislative and regulatory affairs.
In 2008, she was the U.S. export control officer for Alstom Power Inc. During that time, she worked to implement export control programs and educate employees on U.S export control laws. She also managed the legal subsidiaries for two of Alstom’s U.S. divisions and maintained corporate records and state qualifications for numerous entities of the company.
Then, in 2017, she founded the consulting firm Colonial Strategies, to serve the needs of the school transportation industry.
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“While I have several goals in the short- and long-term, my top priority is to introduce myself to the membership and find out more about them in order to understand how our association can be of better assistance and service and meet, if not exceed their needs,” Weber said. “The pandemic has changed a multitude of things in our industry, but together we will emerge better and stronger.”
Weber’s first day with NASDPTS will be March 1. She will work with Hood for the month to ensure a smooth transition.
