Monica Tibbits-Nutt (Chair) is the Acting Secretary and CEO of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT).
As Acting Secretary, Ms. Tibbits-Nutt is responsible for the four divisions of MassDOT: Highway, Rail and Transit, Registry of Motor Vehicles and Aeronautics. As Acting Secretary, she also serves on the Massport and MBTA Board of Directors.
Prior to her appointment, Ms. Tibbits-Nutt served as Undersecretary of MassDOT where, among other responsibilities, she led the effort to stand up the Office of Transportation and Climate Planning and Policy. She also served on the MassDOT Board of Directors and as the Vice-Chair of the Fiscal Management and Control Board (FMCB) that oversaw the MBTA.
Ms. Tibbits-Nutt was also the Executive Director of the 128 Business Council, a transportation management association and regional service provider that builds privately funded, cooperative public transportation routes throughout the Route 128 West Corridor.
Areas of specialty include regional and transportation planning, urban design, and transit equity. In both her work and research, she is particularly interested in capitalizing upon every opportunity to better educate transportation stakeholders and the public about all aspects of the planning process. As part of this focus on education, she serves as the Vice President of the non-profit Youth Engagement Planning (YEP!), which brings urban planning and community advocacy into K-12 environments.
Ms. Tibbits-Nutt is an active member of the American Institute of Certified Planners and a LEED Accredited Professional in Building Design & Construction with the U.S. Green Building Council.
Joseph Beggan brings more than 35 years of transportation experience in municipal, private sector and institutional roles. For over 10 years, he served in the City of Boston Transportation Department, 12 years as a consultant for TetraTech/Rizzo; and 13 years at Harvard University, until his retirement in 2021. Mr. Beggan is the past president of ITS Massachusetts, a former chair of the BSCES Transportation Committee and a member of the WalkBoston Board of Directors. He also represented Harvard on A Better City’s Board of Directors, Cambridge’s Transit Advisory Committee and Boston’s Bicycle Advisory Committee.
Ilyas Bhatti, P.E., D.WRE, M.ASCE is currently Associate Professor and Acting Dean of the School of Management at Wentworth Institute of Technology, Boston. His teaching experience spans over 20 years – 5 years as adjunct professor and 15 years as a full-time professor. Prior to joining academia, Bhatti provided consulting services on national and international projects. In the public sector, Bhatti served as the Commissioner of the Metropolitan District Commission (MDC), a predecessor agency to the current Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), from 1989 – 1995 in the Dukakis and Weld administrations. In 1995, he was appointed by Governor Weld to oversee the construction of the most complex transportation project in the nation – Boston’s Central Artery/Tunnel (CA/T) project as Associate Project Director. Under his supervision, the Ted Williams Tunnel connecting Interstate 90 with Logan International Airport was completed.
Richard A. Dimino currently serves as President Emeritus of A Better City after serving as the President and CEO from 1995 to April 2023. Under his leadership, A Better City achieved major organizational accomplishments and influenced a wide range of city and regional infrastructure projects. Prior to leading A Better City, Dimino served the City of Boston as Commissioner of Transportation from 1985-1993, where he oversaw a staff of 400, represented the City on MBTA advisory boards and committees, and developed all related infrastructure projects and policies. He also served as the Chairperson of the City of Boston’s Central Artery/Tunnel Project interagency task force. Dimino then held a position as Vice President and Deputy Manager of Stone & Webster Engineering Corporation's Transportation Business Sector. Dimino received his Master's in Business Administration from Boston University in 1994 and is a 1978 Magna Cum Laude graduate of Northeastern University. In 1991, he completed a Loeb Fellowship in urban policy and transportation planning at Harvard University's Graduate School of Design. He then served as a lecturer at Harvard GSD for 17 years and served as a lecturer at Boston University School of management. Dimino had a chance to serve on the Healey-Driscoll administration pre-election transition team. Current and past boards Dimino has served on include the Boston Children’s Museum, Boston Society of Architects and Foundation, Freedom Trail Foundation, and the Metropolitan Area Planning Council.
Dr. Lisa I. Iezzoni is a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, based at the Health Policy Research Center and the Mongan Institute at Massachusetts General Hospital. For 25 years, her research has focused on improving the lived experiences, healthcare quality, and health equity of adults with disability, particularly mobility disability. Iezzoni obtained her MD and MSc in health policy and management from Harvard Medical School and the Harvard School of Public Health, respectively. Her early career focused on risk adjustment methods and assessing quality of care. Dr. Iezzoni speaks widely, and she has served on numerous committees and advisory boards of professional and governmental organizations, including the National Institutes of Health, the Institute of Medicine, the National Quality Forum, The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholars Program, and the Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services.
Timothy King is a Detective Sergeant for the Waltham Police Department, joining the department as a patrolman in 1992, and currently serving as President of the Massachusetts Police Association. He has also served as Attorney/General Counsel for the Massachusetts Coalition of Police since 2007 and was previously a Corrections Officer for the Massachusetts Department of Corrections. King is a graduate of Waltham High School, earned a Baccalaureate Degree from Western New England College, Juris Doctorate from the Massachusetts School of Law and is a member of the Massachusetts Bar. He has served on the Curriculum Advisory Board of Middlesex Community College, the Massachusetts Police Training Committee Board, and the Massachusetts Coalition of Police Executive Board. He was a member of the Massachusetts Transportation Working Group and Vice President of the Greater Boston Labor Council.
Thomas Koch has served as Mayor of the City of Quincy since January 2008 with over 20-years in public service. Mayor Koch took office just as the worst recession of our generation was hitting, and he acted immediately to protect the City with a series of financial reforms accomplished by bringing stakeholders to the table and working together. He has worked successfully for an overhaul of the city’s financial systems and zoning code, embarked on a major reform of the city’s Water and Sewer Department, and brokered an agreement that is saving taxpayers and city employees millions of dollars on health insurance costs. In just his first six years in office, Mayor Koch spearheaded an unprecedented number of important public projects to fruition, some of them discussed for decades.
Dean Mazzarella has served as the Mayor of Leominster and Chairman of the Leominster School Committee for the past 22 years. As Mayor he has focused on fiscal stability, economic development, and improving the quality of life in Leominster. The Mayor also has served as the Management representative for the state's Joint Labor Management Committee for the past 16 years, successfully resolving labor/management contract disputes across the Commonwealth. He also serves on the Montachusett Metropolitan Planning Organization. Prior to his election, Mayor Mazzarella served as a Leominster Police Officer for 10 years. He is a small business owner, operating Central Flag & Flagpole for more than 30 years.
Tom McGee served as Mayor of the City of Lynn from 2018 to 2022. Previously, he served as Massachusetts State Senator from the Third Essex district. He was a member of the Senate Joint Committee on Transportation starting in 2003 and served as Chair of the committee from 2011 to 2018. Before his election to the Senate in 2002, McGee served four terms in the Massachusetts House of Representatives where he represented West Lynn and Nahant. Prior to holding office, McGee practiced law at Quinn and Morris (1990-1994) and served as an Assistant District Attorney for Essex County (1988-1990). McGee is a life-long resident of Lynn where he lives with his wife Maria. He has 2 children Thomas and Katherine. He is committed to improving the state's transportation system and strongly supports regional equity. He currently serves as a member of the Board of Trustees at the St Mary's School in Lynn. He is also a member of the Pickering Middle School Building Committee in Lynn. In April, Governor Healey appointed McGee to the MBTA Board of Directors.
Vanessa Otero is the Chief Operating Officer at Partners for Community. She has led strategic planning, grant writing, program evaluation and risk management efforts, in addition to overseeing $70 million in public and private grants and contracts. Otero was previously Director of the North End Campus Coalition, where she was responsible for developing and implementing community-based programming to address health indicators in Springfield. Otero has a bachelor's degree in Women’s Studies from Smith College, a master’s in Public Administration from the University of Massachusetts, and was a Massachusetts Institute of Technology Springfield Fellow in Urban Planning in 2012. Otero has played an active role in community organizations and continues to serve as part of many boards and institutions, including as a board member of Sisters of Providence Health Systems/Mercy Hospital, Regional Employment Board, Brightwood Development Corporation, Massachusetts Convention Center Authority, Veritas Preparatory Charter School, and New England Farm Workers’ Council. She also serves as Commissioner of Springfield Water and Sewer and as a founding member of the Puerto Rican/Latino Leadership Council and the Healing Racism Institute of Pioneer Valley.