Diana Mendes, AICP, is HNTB’s corporate president of infrastructure and mobility equity and is responsible for shaping transportation and mobility equity policy through collaboration with federal, state and local agency leaders.
With more than 35 years in the industry, including five years with HNTB, Mendes has held numerous significant leadership positions. An HNTB Fellow, she most recently served as the firm’s Mid-Atlantic Division president overseeing growth, operations and client service in six states and the District of Columbia. Prior to that position, she was HNTB’s transit and rail market sector leader.
Mendes has a long history of commitment to social justice and equity issues associated with infrastructure investment. She holds a bachelor of arts degree in sociology from Mount Holyoke College, and a master’s in city planning from the University of Pennsylvania.
For several years, Mendes has been an adjunct professor at Rutgers University, teaching the National Transit Institute’s Advanced Environmental Justice seminar. She also regularly speaks at a wide variety of conferences, including Women’s Transportation Seminar, Transportation Research Board, American Public Transportation Association, Rail~Volution and the Conference of Minority Transportation Officials. She advocates changing the conversation around diversity and inclusion from a requirement to a competitive advantage, emphasizing the linkages between diversity and innovation.
Mendes was chair of APTA’s Legislative Committee to develop Federal Transportation Bill Reauthorization recommendations; receiving the American Road and Transportation Builders Association’s Ethel S. Birchland Lifetime Achievement Award. In July 2019, she was recognized by COMTO as Executive of the Year.
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THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
ENR – New Thinking About Diversity Can Boost Innovation
