John Robert Smith
John Robert Smith is the former Mayor of Meridian, Mississippi, and a long-time leader on behalf of passenger rail. He is co-chairman of Transportation for America, a former Chairman of Amtrak’s board, and a former member of the transportation committees of the National League of Cities and the U.S. Conference of Mayors, as well as former co-chairman of the National Forum on the Future of Passenger Rail. He is a veteran of the station-centered community development movement, and led the drive to renovate the City of Meridian’s Union Station, a $7 million historic restoration project that created a new multimodal transportation center, dramatically increased use of the station, raised property values and city tax receipts, and lowered crime in the station's neighborhood. He served on Reconnecting America’s board for five years, and was a founding partner and board member of Reconnecting America’s predecessor organization, the Great American Station Foundation.
Allison Brooks
As Chief of Staff of Reconnecting America, Allison Brooks is responsible for overseeing all grants and contract work and in helping to guide the overall strategic direction of the organization. Prior to joining Reconnecting America, Allison served as Program Officer for the Livable Communities Program at the East Bay Community Foundation where she spearheaded a number of innovative and collaborative transit oriented development and community development efforts across the Bay Area, particularly in low-income and under served communities. Allison has an extensive background in building broad collaborations, working in partnership with diverse local and regional stakeholders, to foster healthier, more equitable and sustainable communities. She has a B.A. in Political Science from the University of California, San Diego and a Masters in Sustainable International Development from the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University.
Vernon Brundage Jr.
Vernon Brundage Jr. is a Policy Intern at the Washington, DC office providing support and assistance on projects focusing on local, state and federal transit-oriented development policies as well as transportation and affordable housing policies and their relation to building sustainable communities. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics Degree from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, a Master of Arts Degree in Urban Economics from Howard University and is currently pursuing his Doctorate of Philosophy in Urban Economics at Howard University.
Catherine Cox Blair
Catherine Cox Blair, AICP LEED AP, is Program Director with Reconnecting America and works with local governments, metropolitan planning organizations, transit agencies, housing authorities, developers, community advocates and other partners across the country to provide a range of tools to strengthen their role in creating successful transit-oriented development (TOD). Catherine oversees the education program that helps illustrate the role of different actors in TOD, provides in-depth best practices and cutting-edge research, and highlights effective tools that can be deployed to support equitable TOD. She worked as the City of Denver’s TOD Program Manager for eight years, where she managed efforts to build the city’s capacity to leverage public investments in transit for creating sustainable communities. Catherine’s background includes experience in urban planning, public policy development, environmental consulting, and sustainable philanthropy. She has a Masters degree in Urban and Environmental Planning from the University of Virginia and a Bachelor of Urban Affairs and Planning from Virginia Tech.
G. Sasha Forbes
Sasha Forbes is a policy associate in Reconnecting America’s Washington, DC office. She works on federal and local level transit-oriented development policies, particularly as it relates to affordable housing, mixed-income housing, equity, and sustainable communities. Projects include the Mixed-Income Transit-Oriented Development Action Guide and a report of State and Local Level Policies that Fund Transit-Oriented Development. Sasha coordinates with national affordable housing groups in Washington, DC, to build and maintain partnerships and identify opportunities to further the preservation of affordable housing near transit. She is passionate about sustainable development and community outreach and advocacy in underserved communities. Sasha has a Master’s degree in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Florida.
Crystal Henle
Crystal wears many hats including office administration, membership coordination, and office technology liason. She also provides support for human resources and operations. Previously, she worked as an event coordinator for a Bay Area nonprofit and as legislative assistant for former Minnesota Representative Myron Orfield. She has a bachelor's degree in geography.
John L. Hughes
John Hughes became communications manager in July 2010, having worked with Reconnecting America since 2008 as webmaster and content manager for the organization's Internet efforts. As the communications manager, Hughes assists the Communications Director and the New Media Director. Hughes worked for more than 27 years for The Sacramento Bee, holding editing positions in the newsroom, Capitol bureau and the opinion pages. Hughes has a strong interest in transportation, housing and community revitalization and how all of these issues can be integrated through transit-oriented development. For more than a decade Hughes has also operated a web design, construction and maintenance firm catering to Sacramento small businesses and nonprofits.
Sarah A. Kline
As policy director for Reconnecting America, Sarah Kline is responsible for the organization’s work on Capitol Hill fostering healthy and prosperous communities that serve people of all incomes. A lawyer by profession, Kline has worked as counsel to the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs. Before joining Reconnecting America she was director of policy and government relations for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. She was a 2010 recipient of Mass Transit Magazine’s Top 40 Under 40 Award for her outstanding achievements. Kline graduated magna cum laude with a degree in history from Harvard University and received her law degree from Stanford Law School.
Toral Patel
Toral Patel is a Project Intern at the Oakland office, providing research, analysis, and graphic support to Reconnecting America staff. Previously she worked at RECOFTC – The Center for People & Forests, an international forestry organization in Bangkok, and at the Stanford Spatial History Project, a data visualization lab in Palo Alto. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Geography and Political Science from Middlebury College.
Bill Sadler
Bill Sadler is a Program Associate in Reconnect¬ing America’s Denver office. Bill works with the technical assistance staff on place-based projects around the country, with an emphasis on the Denver region’s transit expansion and equitable TOD opportunities. Bill has a strong interest in the link between public health and the built environment, especially how TOD can help improve health outcomes by encouraging active transportation and healthier food choices. Bill previously worked with the City and County of Denver's Commu¬nity Planning and Development department on station area planning, zoning code reform, and the Living Streets Ini¬tiative, a complete streets policy with a strong land use component. Bill also assisted En¬viroHealth Consulting with three health impact assessments in com¬munities near Denver transit stations. Bill holds a master's degree in urban planning (M.U.R.P.) from the Uni¬versity of Colorado Denver, as well as a law degree (J.D.), cum laude, from the University of Minnesota Law School, and a B.A., summa cum laude, in economics and communication from Boston College. In his spare time, Bill is an avid endurance athlete, having completed 20 marathons in 13 U.S. cities, including six Boston Marathons in a row. He prides himself on beating Lance Armstrong in the 2008 Boston Marathon by two minutes.
Rebecca M. (Becky) Sullivan
Becky Sullivan joined Reconnecting America in February 2010 as Communications Director. She is responsible for developing and managing a comprehensive communications program to include branding, media relations, website oversight and all internal and external communications. Becky has more than 20 years of experience in communications and government relations, including positions at the U.S Department of Transportation, the White House and the International Council of Shopping Centers. Originally from Ohio, Becky has a BS in Political Science from Kent State University.
Abigail Thorne-Lyman
Abigail Thorne-Lyman is Director of the Center for Transit-Oriented Development, working with partner organizations to develop innovative applied research tools and improve the connections between public transit and development. Thorne-Lyman manages efforts to provide technical resources and best practices to transit agencies, cities, and local communities working to implement transit-oriented development plans at scales from the neighborhood to the region. Current place-based initiatives include efforts in Boston; the Twin Cities in Minnesota; Los Angeles; Portland, Oregon; and Denver on topics including mixed-income housing and equitable development, urban design, economic feasibility analysis and policy reform strategies. Prior to becoming CTOD director, Thorne-Lyman was Project Director in Reconnecting America’s Oakland office, where she managed a range of technical assistance and research projects. She was previously a Principal at Strategic Economics, a partner in the Center for Transit-Oriented Development, where she managed economic and real estate analyses for a range of different clients including transit agencies and local governments. She has worked with CTOD since 2004, during which time she has completed numerous plans supporting TOD at the station area, corridor, and regional scales. Abby received her Master in City Planning from U.C. Berkeley with a concentration in regional and local economic development. She has a Bachelor of Arts in the Growth and Structure of Cities from Bryn Mawr College.
Elizabeth Wampler
Elizabeth is a Program Associate in Reconnecting America’s Oakland office. She works on technical assistance and research projects, including the Los Angeles TOD Typology: Creating Successful Transit-Oriented Districts in Los Angeles, Identifying and Evaluating Regionally Significant Walkable Urban Places in the Twin Cities, and the TOD Implementation Strategy for Denver’s West Corridor. She co-wrote TOD 203: Transit Corridors and TOD: Connecting the Dots. Before moving to Oakland, Elizabeth lived and worked on the southside of Chicago, where she served as the industrial coordinator at a community development agency. She holds a Masters in City Planning from the University of Berkeley and an AB from the University of Chicago.
Jeffrey Wood
Jeff is the New Media Director and Chief Cartographer at Reconnecting America. He does mapping analysis for a variety of projects and conducts research on transit mode funding, technology, and the relationship of transit to development while also coordinating new media outreach and communications. Previous to his work at Reconnecting America, Jeff co-founded Connect Austin, an umbrella organization for nonprofits in Austin that promoted streetcars. He has a Bachelor of Arts in Geography and a Master of Science in Community and Regional Planning from the University of Texas at Austin.
Chris Yake
Chris is Project Director with Reconnecting America, working closely with local partners, including transit agencies, regional coalitions and MPOs, local jurisdictions, non-profit and non-profit developers, philanthropic partners and community-based organizations to advance transit-oriented development (TOD) in cities and regions across the country. He leads quantitative and qualitative research projects, with multi-disciplinary teams on subjects related to TOD, transit performance, urban form and travel behavior, and other leading edge issues. Prior to coming to Reconnecting America, Chris has worked across the country on TOD at all scales, ranging from long-range regional and corridor visioning to station area planning and down to on-the-ground transit and development projects. Most recently, he served as a Senior Development Project Manager with Portland Metro’s TOD Program. He worked directly with private developers to leverage higher density mixed-use projects near light rail stations and along frequent bus corridors. Collaborating with the Center for Transit-Oriented Development, he led Metro’s TOD Strategic Plan to develop innovative analytical and visualization tools for TOD typologies. Chris has also worked for the City & County of Denver and as an urban development advisor, managing a variety of transit-related projects including station area planning, economic studies, form-based codes, New Starts applications, bus rapid transit (BRT), and a number of district and downtown revitalization studies. Chris received his Master’s in City & Regional Planning from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a concentration in land use and transportation planning. He has a Bachelor of Arts in sociology from Gonzaga University.
