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ULI Colorado - Leadership Connection with Debra Johnson, CEO & General Manager, RTD
The Leadership Connection Series is a program offered through ULI Colorado’s Women’s Leadership Initiative (WLI) and provides opportunities for leading women in business to candidly share their career story, lessons learned and advice for future women leaders. We invite you to join us for this virtual event featuring a conversation with CEO and General Manager of RTD, Debra Johnson, who will embark on candid conversation regarding her personal and professional journey and what she has learned from first-hand experience.
About Debra Johnson:
Debra A. Johnson is a person in the people business, a transit executive guided by the knowledge that her decision-making has direct bearing on the public’s ability to make connections that benefit their lives. Her public transportation journey began as a child in Fresno, California, and encompasses more than a quarter-century of leadership experience honed at some of the largest transit agencies in the United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, Washington, D.C., and Southern California.
Johnson was selected as General Manager and CEO of RTD by the agency’s Board of Directors on Aug. 25, 2020. She carries top responsibility for RTD’s budget, capital projects and service delivery, which include bus, light rail and commuter rail options across the Denver metro region.
Johnson joined RTD from Long Beach Transit, where she served as Deputy CEO of the Southern California agency from May 2014 to October 2020. Prior to that, Johnson held executive positions at the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LA Metro), the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) and Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA). She moved into public sector service after beginning her transportation career in the private sector in the Bay Area.
Johnson holds a master of arts degree in public administration from California State University Hayward (now CSU East Bay), and a bachelor of arts degree in international relations from the University of California Davis. She is a proud alumna of civic leadership programs in San Francisco and Long Beach, as well as the Eno Center for Transportation’s Executive Development Program.
About Debra Johnson:
Debra A. Johnson is a person in the people business, a transit executive guided by the knowledge that her decision-making has direct bearing on the public’s ability to make connections that benefit their lives. Her public transportation journey began as a child in Fresno, California, and encompasses more than a quarter-century of leadership experience honed at some of the largest transit agencies in the United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, Washington, D.C., and Southern California.
Johnson was selected as General Manager and CEO of RTD by the agency’s Board of Directors on Aug. 25, 2020. She carries top responsibility for RTD’s budget, capital projects and service delivery, which include bus, light rail and commuter rail options across the Denver metro region.
Johnson joined RTD from Long Beach Transit, where she served as Deputy CEO of the Southern California agency from May 2014 to October 2020. Prior to that, Johnson held executive positions at the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LA Metro), the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) and Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA). She moved into public sector service after beginning her transportation career in the private sector in the Bay Area.
Johnson holds a master of arts degree in public administration from California State University Hayward (now CSU East Bay), and a bachelor of arts degree in international relations from the University of California Davis. She is a proud alumna of civic leadership programs in San Francisco and Long Beach, as well as the Eno Center for Transportation’s Executive Development Program.