Erin Aleman (Al-le-mahn) has served as executive director for the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) since 2019. She brings more than a decade of accomplishments developing transportation and land use policies to the agency and its implementation of ON TO 2050, the region’s long-term comprehensive plan to help northeastern Illinois’ 7 counties and 284 municipalities improve quality of life using strategies that address transportation, housing, economic development, open space, the environment, and more.
Prior to joining CMAP, Erin served as vice president of Metro Strategies, a policy and advocacy consulting firm, and held various leadership positions at the Illinois Department of Transportation. She has a master’s degree in urban planning, is a certified mediator, a strategist for the Obama Foundation Scholars Program, a member of the American Planning Association, Lambda Alpha, and the Women’s Transportation Seminar, as well as vice chair for the Coalition for America’s Gateways and Trade Corridors.
Kirk Dillard has served as the chairman of the Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) Board of Directors since June 2014. Chairman Dillard is a lifelong resident of the region and has been a rider of public transportation for more than 50 years, riding CTA buses and trains since early childhood, and now is a regular rider of Metra. Chairman Dillard most recently oversaw the development and adoption of Transit is the Answer, the new regional transit strategic plan that puts forward an Action and Advocacy Agenda that offers improvements to the system and options to ensure sustainable funding and played an important role in regional advocacy efforts that culminated with the 2019 passage of Rebuild Illinois, the largest capital bill in Illinois history.
Dillard served as a Republican senator from Chicago's western suburbs in the Illinois State Senate for nearly 20 years. Prior to serving as senator, Chairman Dillard served with distinction as Chief of Staff to former Governor Jim Edgar and as Legislative Director to former Governor James Thompson.
Audrey Wennink is a senior director at the Metropolitan Planning Council where she leads transportation policy efforts and coordination with other facets of planning including affordable housing, land use, and the environment. Her transportation research and advocacy efforts include improving the sustainability and equity of the transportation system, pursuing sustainable funding for transportation in Illinois, integration of performance-based planning methods into transportation practice, and advancing equitable transit-oriented development. She has overseen development of multiple transportation policy reports at MPC including Reconnecting Communities, Toward Universal Mobility, and Transit Means Business. She holds a B.A. in English and Spanish from Colby College and a Master’s in Urban Planning and Policy from the University of Illinois at Chicago. She is a fellow of the University of Chicago’s Harris School’s Civic Leadership Academy.
Dr. Sriraj’s research focuses on understanding the transportation system (both the hard and the human) as well as its impact on many dimensions of quality of life. During his academic career, he has generated more than $30 million dollars in research leading to more than 125 academic products in terms of journal articles, reports, and presentations. He has also conducted extensive research on public transportation systems as well as in the areas of stakeholder engagement. The goal of his research is to incorporate multiple perspectives into the planning process using a mixed methods approach. He holds a Ph.D. degree in Civil Engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago. He has served in leadership positions with the Transportation Research Forum (Vice President), Council of University Transportation Center (President), and is a governor’s appointee to the Board of the Illinois International Port District (Vice Chairman), and the High Speed Rail Commission for Illinois.
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