Metro Magazine, September 2020

22 Rehabs Repowers Retroots COMPLETE ELECTRIC CONVERSIONS REHABILITATIONS SALES LEASING HVAC Upgrades Brakes Suspensions Interior Facelifts Mechanical Electrical Repairs Body Work Fire Damage Painting Decals Emission Upgrades Major Collisions Glass Repairs More scheduled panels throughout the day that participants could go to one at a time that best suited them so they wouldnt miss something they wanted to attend The speakers on the program included many Latinos from around the industry but we were also able to bring in non Latinos and supporters like John B Catoe retired from WMATA We were also honored to have Congresswoman Grace F Napolitano which really boosted our cache The panels themselves dug into some of the things that are important for professionals to continue to climb the ladder in this industry Our attendees included students and those in supervisory to mid level management positions and people who essentially served as second in command at their agencies It was our first attempt to provide all these resources and people that are behind what Latinos In Transit is trying to advocate for and overall it was very well received One of LITs biggest champions has been Nuria Fernandez who is currently serving as chair of APTA When she came onboard she included LIT in APTAs Diversity and Inclusion Council to ensure that we were part of the discussions revolving around equity and diversity COMTO and WTS who are both nationally recognized around the country were already part of these discussions but now Latinos In Transit is at the table as well which helps us sort of make our mark as an organization Since 2016 we have held an annual membership meeting and hold receptions throughout the year where we provide our members an opportunity to network and meet our partners and sponsors We have been fortunate to get a lot of support from transit agencies over the last couple of years but now we are gaining the support of business members from our industry They want to partner with LIT and sponsor events The amount of support we have received out of the gate has been wonderful Im very proud to have launched a scholarship fund last year through a partnership with MV Transportation where we have committed to providing funds to the APTF Scholarship Program over a span of three years to reward a Latino or Latina pursuing a career in transportation In addition we formed a subcommittee to work on our business plan which includes membership outreach and the forming of a mentorship program Also in the works is the LIT leadership academy which at this point because of COVID 19 may be held virtually The goal of the academy is at the time where there were a handful of Latinos in managerial positions but none of us really knew many others working in our industry During this time I met Milo Victoria who worked at Metro at the time and who later became the inaugural president of the board for Latinos In Transit We would have discussions about how there werent many Latinos in the transit industry Most of us left Metro and eventually moved on to other agencies but we continued to have those same conversations when we met up at conferences and trade shows Eventually with the help of Flora Castillo and Terry Solis we were able to secure seed money to get LIT started as a non profit and held our first board meeting at the 2016 APTA Annual held in Los Angeles How is LIT providing mentorship and education to its members Well last fall we had our first Leadership Summit which brought together about 100 participants for a one day summit in Newport Beach What we decided to do was instead of having multiple tracks like you would find at most conferences we What do you feel are some of the challenges facing the industry in terms of broadening both diversity and inclusion Some of the challenges we face in transportation are confronting bias cross cultural communication diversity program implementation and finding diverse talent On the small business side we serve as a voice for historically underutilized businesses and continue encourage partnerships to help these companies grow and thrive Alva Carrasco President LIT How and why was LIT started Latinos In Transit officially became a nonprofit organization in 2016 however there was a group of transit colleagues that for many years had been thinking about starting a group that would encourage Latinos to help support and advocate for one another At that point we were not even talking about starting a group at a national level I was working at LA Metro METRO MAGAZINE COM SEPTEMBER 2020 SPECIAL REPORT DIVERSITY IN TRANSIT