Meet the Workgroup
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About the Transportation Equity Workgroup (TEW)
Our Transportation Equity Program provides department-wide policy and strategic advisement on equitable, safe, environmentally sustainable, accessible, and affordable transportation systems that support communities historically and currently underinvested in by government.
The Transportation Equity Workgroup (TEW) was established to seek input from a broad and diverse set of community members representing Black, Indigenous, and People of Color and vulnerable communities.
Apply to Join the Transportation Equity Workgroup
SDOT’s Transportation Equity Workgroup (TEW) currently has open seats for Cohort #2, 2024-2025 term! Would you like to apply your experiences and professional knowledge to serving as community stewards of SDOT’s Transportation Equity Framework (TEF)? We invite community members affiliated with community organizations, non-profits, coalitions, or networks serving Seattle-King County BIPOC and vulnerable communities to apply.
Learn more about the application process and benefits of participation in the application guide. Applicants must submit both an application and a letter of support from their affiliated organization by Friday, May 10th, 2024 at 6:00 PM PST.
For additional questions, please refer to the FAQ guide for organizations and for candidates.
Translation Services
Individuals, coalitions and community-based organizations in need of language access services to help complete and submit applications or Letters of Support may email transportationequity@seattle.gov or call (206) 530-3260.
Frequently Asked Questions
Workgroup members will have personal and/or professional expertise, and be affiliated with community-based organizations, coalitions, and networks from/or serving the following communities identified from Resolution 31773:
- Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) communities
- Low-income communities
- Immigrant and refugee populations
- People living with disabilities
- LGBTQIA+ people
- People experiencing homelessness or housing insecurity
- Women and female-identifying populations
- Youth
- Aging adults
- Individuals who were formerly incarcerated
- Displaced and/or high-risk displacement neighborhoods
If you are a youth or young adult interested in engaging with the TEW, please contact us through email for more information.”
Members of the general public that do not identify with, are not affiliated with, and who do not have a letter of support from a community-based organization, group, coalition, and/or network serving poulations identified above are not eligible for a seat on the workgroup.
Yes, all efforts will be made by SDOT to provide access services for people living with disabilities to participate in the workgroup convenings, and we will coordinate with selected workgroup members on their specific needs.
Yes, non-voting TEW members will be paid $50 per hour during the 3-month onboarding. Once members are voted in officially as TEW members, compensation for the 2024-2025 term is an hourly rate of $75. Each TEW member can bill up to $7,500 for the year. All TEW members will sign a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with SDOT.
Selected workgroup members are expected to serve a 2-year commitment and participate an average of 9 to 10 hours per month in TEW roles, an estimated total of 100 hours per year.
Members should anticipate participating in an average of 2 to 4 virtual/in-person meetings per month, depending on how light or busy the TEW work is. The majority of our meetings are currently virtual, but we do have occasional in-person gatherings.
Workgroup members are expected to collaborate with other TEW members, SDOT and City of Seattle staff to accomplish TEW deliverables. Expect to participate in some combined meetings with TEW and SDOT staff, and to review materials in between meetings, provide comments via email and have one-on-one meetings with fellow TEW members. To ensure we have fair and equal participation across the TEW, members cannot miss more than 3 TEW meetings annually.
A selection committee of TEW members and SDOT staff will review submitted applications and letter of support in mid-October. We will then select candidates to advance and meet with for interviews, tentatively late October/early November.
Interviews will be held virtually and candidates will have one hour prior to the interview to receive the questions ahead of time. After the interview process, we plan to make final selection and inform candidate by early December.
From 2019 to 2021, we co-designed the Transportation Equity Framework (TEF) with members of the TEW. The TEF includes values and strategies as well as an implementation plan with over 200 tactics, also co-developed with TEW members.
We are now in the 6-year implementation stage of the TEF and are continuing to collaborate with the TEW to deliver this. For more information on the development and implementation plan for the Transportation Equity Framework, click here.
Current Workgroup Members
Lakeisha Jones, Workgroup Co-Chair
Keisha is representing Monica’s Village Place One. They serve many demographics and offer subsidized apartment complexes on a sliding scale, and does case managing. Keisha is an inclusive educator at a nonprofit preschool in downtown Seattle. Her center is an inclusive center serving children with special needs, disabilities, and diagnoses, as well as typical developing children. Keisha finished her bachelor’s in child and family studies and would like to get her master’s in applied behavioral analysis. She is looking forward to working with other likeminded people who appreciate the increase of equity! Being a part of this group will provide her with experience in developing more equitable resources for her community. Keisha enjoys community events and learning about people from all walks of life. When she’s not working, Keisha is involving herself in various extracurricular activities. She is also a mother of a teenager who is academically outstanding, which brings her so much joy.
Jessica Salvador, Workgroup Co-Chair
Bio coming soon.
Akira Ohiso
Akira is a licensed social worker with 20 years of experience working with older adults in community-based programs. He has been an employee of Sound Generations for eight years, where he developed a passion for direct service and local systems that impact older adults. Originally from New York City, he worked with Holocaust survivors, older adults living with HIV/AIDS, and the New York City Housing Authority to provide services to residents of a Naturally Occurring Retirement Community (NORC). In addition to community work, Akira is an artist who has partnered with the Office of Arts & Culture, the Maynard Alley Partnership, and SDOT to activate public spaces around the city. Other projects include the University of Washington’s Tech Policy Lab, Amplifier Art, and Avaaz. His art often intersects with his social work training to raise social awareness around issues that are important to him.
Andy Pham
Andy Pham (he/him) is the Community Outreach Coordinator at FLS, working with small businesses, residents, volunteers and community partners in the Little Saigon Community. Having grown up in South Seattle, Andy cares deeply about the macro-environmental forces that are transforming the relationship between ourselves and nature, our local neighbors and our Vietnamese community. Andy envisions a society where people of all backgrounds and lived experiences are healing and thriving, home is safe and our well-being is prioritized. Prior to FLS, he worked as a youth development worker, providing free after-school programming to immigrant and refugee youth of color living in the King County subsidized housing system. He also served on Neighborhood House’s Equity and Diversity Committee as the co-coordinator. Andy holds a BA in Economics with a concentration in International Development from Macalester College
Dalton Owens
Dalton Owens is a Built Environment Professional currently employed by Venture General Contracting LLC as a Project Engineer. He obtained a Bachelor's Degree in both Urban, Design and Planning & Political Science from the University of Washington. Dalton is passionate about the intersection between the Built Environment and Social Structures. He strongly believes that it is the responsibility of all Built Environment Professionals to design and build with consideration for all communities, especially those that have been historically marginalized.
Throughout his academic and professional career, Dalton has held a passion for community driven work. His current roles include serving as a Get Engaged Commissioner for the City of Seattle Planning Commission and serving as an Alumni Mentor for the Brotherhood Initiative, the organization for which he represents on the Transportation Equity Workgroup. The Brotherhood Initiative is a cohort-based program at the University of Washington that seeks to support men of color in their pursuit of higher education. Dalton became affiliated with the organization in 2017 and has since taken on leadership roles to further support younger members.
Marisa Parshotam
Marisa has been involved with Lake City Collective since its inception, first through a multilingual civic engagement outreach project in 2019, and then as a member of the organization's steering committee in 2020 focused on environmental and anti-displacement efforts. For over 6 years she has worked directly with low-income immigrant, refugee, and BIPOC community members from a wide range of backgrounds and language groups in her job as a coordinator of English, technology, workforce, and leadership programming for adult English learners (first with Literacy Source, then with OneAmerica). Her passion for community engagement, language justice, and organizing was shaped significantly through her involvement with Lake City Collective and its intentionality around centering the voices and issues affecting BIPOC communities north of Seattle's ship canal. Marisa lives in Northeast Seattle and is passionate about building equity, opportunities, and power alongside immigrants and BIPOC folks in her community. She is driven by her love for community and a desire for people too often left out of conversations to be centered in decision-making and the institutions that directly impact their lives.
Sharon Sobers-Outlaw
Sharon Sobers Outlaw, MSW, MHP, CDP, is a multifaceted professional with several roles as a clinical social worker, counselor and certified Minority Mental Health Consultant. Previously served as part-time faculty at Seattle Central Counseling 101 imparting her expertise to future professionals. Sharon is also a certified Behavior Activation Therapist, further enhancing her ability to provide effective support and interventions. Effective public communicator on aging & caregiving. Strong commitment to holistic care and advocacy extends to her full-time role as a caregiverfor her mother, alongside active engagement in aging programs and services. Former President Leschi 9th Community Council, Vice President Central district Council, Member City Wide neighborhood Councils Furthermore, she contributes her leadership skills to the ONYX Fine Arts Collective board and the Transportation Equity Workgroup for the Department of Transportation, driven by her fervent dedication to cultural awareness, equity, inclusion, and social justice.
Former TEW Members
- Rizwan Rizwi (Co-Chair Emeritus)
- Yordanos Teferi (Co-Chair Emeritus)
- Steven Sawyer (Co-Chair Emeritus)
- An Huynh
- Karia Wong
- Amir Noir Soulkin
- BB Jones
- Ellena Jones
- Cesar Garcia
- Yu-Ann Youn (Co-Chair Emeritus)
- Ellany Kayce
- Khatami Chau
- Kiana Parker
- Kristina Pearson
- Chris Rhoades
- Christina Thomas
- Phyllis Porter
- Micah Lusignan
- Julia Jannon-Shields
- Sokunthea Ok (Department of Neighborhoods (DON), Community Liaison)
- Analia Bertoni (Department of Neighborhoods (DON), Community Liaison)