Think. Do. Write.
Education
PhD
Political Economy of Development
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2019
Fields of Practice: Political Economy of International Development, Governance and Finance of Infrastructure
Dissertation: Delivering Urban Projects: Contracting, voice, and anti-corruption in infrastructure
MCP (City Planning) &
MS Transportation Engineering
University of California at Berkeley, 2008
Professional Report prepared for The Energy Foundation: Endure or Perish: Cycling Trends in the Face of BRT, A Case Study of Jinan, Shandong Province, PRC
SB Civil Engineering
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2006
International Honors Program, Cities in the 21st Century Comparative Study Abroad, December 2005
Professional Experience
Sr. Advisor, Special Projects & Initiatives - Office of the President, June 2022-Present, New York, NY
Executive Leadership
Served on the New York City Transit (NYCT) executive leadership team, overseeing strategic planning and KPIs, policy & data analysis, and executive communications, and leading cross-departmental and cross-functional teams to deliver key programs and projects
Directed the agency's $100M, 1200-person fare evasion program and program evaluation, realizing a 26% increase in paid fares on subways in 6 months
Supported the development and execution of NYCT's Strategic Operating Plan: Faster, Cleaner, Safer
Strategy & Innovation
Oversaw the MTA's inaugural behavioral change initiatives, issuing a public solicitation and receiving a $1.9M NYMTC (federal) grant
Led a technology pilot involving 100+ employees to enhance real-time information delivery to 2.8M customers through machine learning; pilot resulted in modifications to existing software to improve user and employee experience and the development of a solicitation for a new, modern software platform
Directed a pioneering technology and labor relations initiative to digitize and modernize the job selection process for 20K frontline employees, setting a precedent for custom software procurement and development using "Agile" methodology at MTA and in NY State
Conducted two Partnership for NYC Transit Tech Lab "Proofs of Concept" with startups, introducing user research and co-design workshops to frontline employees and incentivizing customer and employee behavioral change; successfully gained buy-in across MTA
Ran strategic initiatives for the launch of MTA’s contactless transit ticketing and payment system (“OMNY”), identifying fare policy and business process improvements, developing self-service applications for customers, and coordinating communications to 400K
Spearheaded a 40-member cross-agency initiative, facilitating participatory workshops and scenario analyses to prepare for the phased roll-out of new operating procedures aimed at enhancing the bus customer experience
Partnership
Forged a partnership between MTA and U.S. Digital Response, resulting in employee training and co-creation of an "Agile RFP”
Ambassador, 2021-2022, New York, NY
Designed and authored the complete manuscript for "Untangling Conflict: An Introspective Guide for Families in Business,” leading to its successful publication with Random House within 16 months from inception and becoming the first non-partner at BCG to earn a byline for book authorship; developed the global marketing that propelled the book to #1 on Amazon India's "Business" bestseller list in October 2022
Coached two leaders of multibillion-dollar family businesses on strategic business decisions and family governance through the BCG CEO Advisory program
Project Leader, 2021-2022, New York, NY
Orchestrated a megacity administration’s strategic vision in human services, infrastructure, and the environment through workshops with government transition team members and led prioritization discussions
Managed a team to develop training materials for executive staff of newly elected U.S. state governors, deployed in the 2022 election cycle
Consultant, 2019-2022, New York, NY
Advised multiple state governments on COVID-19 responses, including forecasting federal funding, assessing economic reopening enablers, and developing strategies for emergency procurement and mass vaccination
Formulated a 10-year strategy to enhance educational outcomes in rural America for an international nonprofit
Diagnosed priorities to streamline portfolio, category, and supplier management of a $25B state procurement budget
Analyzed implications of innovative gene therapy contracts on distribution models for a large biopharma company
Analyzed opportunities for cost reduction and streamlining of organizational design for a leading med tech company and an international NGO
Advisor to the Secretary (contract), 2017-2018, Bogotá, Colombia
Directed a 180-member interdisciplinary team from 18 government agencies in stakeholder engagement, public space recovery, and construction management for a $3M urban corridor renovation project, benefitting 380K transit riders daily
Oversaw infrastructure design, managed public messaging, and facilitated coordination among four government agencies to develop seven new mass transportation corridors within the TransMilenio system, benefiting over 1.5M people
Pioneered the adoption of project "social management" within the agency, leading to the establishment of a new permanent department
Represented the Secretary of Mobility in a congressional hearing on the mayor’s key transit project
Project Leader and Senior Consultant, February 2009-May 2013, São Paulo, Brazil
Managed a $1.2M project to establish a new public transport system in Asunción, Paraguay, overseeing institutional design, national policy changes, business financial modeling, data collection and analysis, infrastructure design, and operational planning; directed a 35-member multinational, cross-functional team and managed project budget and client relations
Prepared a $200M Public Private Partnership contract for the Macrobús Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system in Guadalajara, Mexico, securing multilateral development bank project financing on behalf of the State of Jalisco
Led the development of infrastructure, financial, and operational plans for a new urban transit system in Pachuca, Mexico, negotiating a 10% consulting fee increase and successfully implementing the system in 2013, which currently serves 80K passengers daily
Trained public sector transportation leaders in transit system management and developed and implemented a performance monitoring system for the Macrobús BRT system
Supervised demand modeling, operational analysis, and design teams in Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico and oversaw large data collection programs in six cities
Authored commercial proposals for projects financed by the World Bank, IABD, EBP, and state and local governments
World Resources Institute
(formerly EMBARQ/
CTS Mexico)
Mobility and Urban Development Visiting Researcher, 2008, Mexico City, Mexico
Developed Transit Oriented Development (TOD) indicators monitoring and evaluating TOD sites in Mexico City and co-authored a TOD “How To” Manual
Directed the data collection and analysis of land use, urban environment quality, and travel surveys for five areas in Mexico City
Mobility and Urban Development Visiting Researcher, 2006, Washington D.C.
Devised macro-level indicators for monitoring and evaluating the urban pedestrian environment
Presented a global data collection proposal to Bank staff
Facilities Intern, May-August 2005, Chicago IL
Authored the CTA “Bus Facilities Handbook,” a design manual for bus infrastructure
Proposed a contraflow busway conceptual design to CTA executives
Structural Engineering & Transportation Intern, 2004, New York, NY
Conducted structural load “take-downs” for the Fulton Street Transit Center, opened in 2014
Created a linear referencing system for Lower Manhattan street infrastructure
Civil Engineering Intern, 2003, Araxá, Brazil
Inspected ongoing construction of a nickel niobium refining plant
Research & Teaching Experience
Ethnographer, 2016- 2019, Bogotá, Colombia
Secured $267K in funding from USDOT, MIT grants, and professional organizations to support doctoral research, unprecedented for a graduate student not relying on typical program funds
• Conducted ethnographic research in Bogotá, Colombia, exploring infrastructure implementation and providing insights into organizational coordination, public sector contracting, social management of project stakeholders, and the effects of anti-corruption measures on organizational behavior and project outcomes, culminating in a completed dissertation manuscript delivered on schedule and within budget constraints
Instructor and Researcher, 2013-2015, Cambridge, MA
Created and taught a new undergraduate seminar and internship program on technology evaluation methodologies, achieving a perfect 7.0 instructor rating based on student evaluations
Developed curriculum and directed an edX course (Massive Open Online Course – MOOC) based on CITE’s experience with technology evaluation and contributions to the USAID Higher Education Solutions Network
Synthesized experimental, multi-disciplinary product evaluation methodologies into a comprehensive evaluation framework, contributing to three years of product evaluation framework development
Implemented a data sharing platform for the five-department research team
Authored CITE thought leadership blog article on ethics in development engineering
Drafted a proposal for a new interdisciplinary undergraduate minor focused on technologies for use in the developing world
Graduate Student Tutor, 2015-2017, Cambridge, MA
Mentored 50+ undergraduate women, with direct responsibility for the well-being of 25 students per semester
Developed community within McCormick Hall through hosting small gatherings and organizing house-wide events
Supported students through referrals to campus resources (e.g. student support services,, mediating conflict, and responding to personal and campus-wide emergencies
Graduate Researcher, 2007-2008, Berkeley, CA / Jinan, PRC
Designed data collection protocol for three city-wide transportation studies and co-organized a survey program, including managing 120 students from Shandong University in Jinan, PRC
Analyzed bicycle and e-bike travel patterns through origin-destination matrix construction and statistical measures
Advocated for the continued development of bicycle-friendly infrastructure alongside new BRT systems, based on primary data collection and analysis, with government officials from Shandong Province
Advised government officials on how to implement Transit-Oriented Development in Jinan, PRC
Graduate Researcher, Fall 2006, Berkeley, CA
Defined quantitative and qualitative indicators to produce a Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) benchmarking “How-to Guide” for the U.S. Federal Transit Administration
Selected Publications & Presentations
BOOK: "Untangling Conflict: An introspective Guide for Families in Business,” Montgomery, Sinha, Kimura, & Liao. Penguin RandomHouse India, 2022.
“User Experience at the Center of Public Transportation”
Regional Policy Dialogue, Inter-American Development Bank, 2024
“Drivers of Infrastructure Project Outcomes: Governance and Institutional Elements of Transportation Sector Projects in Bogotá, Colombia”
Engineering Project Organization Conference, 2016
Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting and Engineering, 2017
“Cycling Trends and Fate in the Face of BRT: Case Study of Jinan, Shandong Province, People’s Republic of China”
Transportation Research Record, Journal of the Transportation Research Board No. 2139, 2010
“Strategies for Protecting Revenue and Improving Compliance”
Travel & Transport Payments Week, Transport Ticketing Global, 2024
“Critical Infrastructure Continuity: Survivors in the volatile Mexican context”
American Association of Geographers Annual Meeting, 2015
American Collegiate Schools of Planning Annual Conference, 2015
“Manual de Desarrollo Orientado a Transporte Sustentable”
(Transit Oriented Development Manual)
Centro de Transporte Sustentable Mexico (now WRI), 2009
“Urban Mobility Governance in New York”
Debate: Metropolitan Governance of Urban Mobility, INSPER, 2024
“Five Common Problems with Human Resources for New Mobility”
Latin American Association of Integrated Systems and BRT Conference, 2014
“Walk Urban: Demand, constraints, and measurement of the urban pedestrian environment”
With Peter Roberts. The World Bank Group Transport Papers, 2008
“Under the Surface Opportunities in Urban Mobility”
Data & Innovation in Urban Mobility, CAF Urban Mobility Observatory, 2023
“Novel Course Development”
USAID Higher Education Solutions Network TechCon, 2014
“Scaling Down to Lift Up: Financing Urban Walking Infrastructure”
CODATU Conference Proceedings, 2008
Academic Honors
Graduate
U.S. Department of Transportation Eisenhower Fellowship (5 years)
Engineering Project Organization Conference Ph.D. Best Poster Award
Women’s Transportation Seminar Ann Hershfang Scholarship and Helene M. Overly Scholarships
MIT International Science & Technology Initiative - Mexico Grantee
Eno Leadership Fellow
U.C. Berkeley William V. Power Award
Undergraduate
MIT Tau Beta Pi and Chi Epsilon Engineering Honor Societies
Society of Women Engineers Student Leadership Award
General Electric Women’s Network Scholarship
Robert Byrd Scholarship
Skills
Professional Certifications
AICP Certified Planner
Engineer-In-Training (NEECS)
BCG Business Essentials
MIT Teaching Certificate
AmericaSpeaks Meeting Facilitator
IP3 PPP Skills & Competency Development
Tech
Figma, Monday.com, Alteryx, NVivo, Scrivener, TransCAD, Arc Map/GIS, Microsoft Office
Languages
English
Spanish
Portuguese (Brazilian)
International Work Experience
Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, China, Paraguay, Argentina, Peru, Thailand