January 2024 , the COMTO Jacksonville chapter held its first membership meeting in 2024. We were joined by a very special guest that provided us with an inspiring dialogue and words of wisdom. Our guest was none other than Jacksonville Council Member Ju’Coby Pittman of District 10 and CEO of Clara White Mission. We appreciate her visiting and discussing the importance of non-profit leadership, civic engagement and community engagement in Northeast Florida. One takeaway from the dialogue “If your not at the table, then your own the menu”. Thank you our members and the ongoing business relationships that are being built between our members to continue to grow and develop this community of transportation leaders.
The members have voted and these individuals have been elected to the Executive Board of COMTO Jacksonville for 2022-2024.
Please welcome them as the baton is passed from past leadership to their capable hands.
This group is excited to serve the COMTO Jacksonville members and Jacksonville community in spreading the good news about COMTO.
Elected: President Donovan H. Calicker Transportation Superintendent, Transit Operations Jacksonville Transportation Authority (JTA)
“As transportation professionals, our focus is to move individuals and commerce in a safe and timely manner. At COMTO Jacksonville, the focus should be to move our members to areas of opportunity and success, safely and timely… Email: [email protected] Phone: (423) 255-8025
Elected: 1st Vice President Greer Gillis Senior Vice President, System Development and Capital Programs Jacksonville Transportation Authority (JTA)
“Here in Jacksonville, we are on the cusp on bringing sustainable and innovative mobility solutions to our customers, and leading the nation in doing so. Thus, I look to serve on the COMTO Board to do three things: (1) expand our efforts to bring innovative, sustainable, and carbon neutral mobility solutions to NE Florida; (2) increase our membership by inviting government, nonprofit, private sector, and academia to become engaged in our chapter; and (3) and provide institutional and insightful guidance to our chapter board…”
“My goal is to increase membership interaction by assembling multifaceted roundtable discussions and events, which will allow members and supreme officials to collaborate on the future of modernization projects. My passion to springboard this local chapter towards excellence and distinction will hopefully continue our urge to guide our youth and surpass our chapter’s own expectations to raise the bar successfully on local and national levels.”
Elected: Secretary Jeremy Norsworthy Transportation Planner III, Planning & System Development Jacksonville Transportation Authority (JTA)
“Through COMTO’s education and outreach efforts, I will strive to create a more inclusive environment within the planning sector of transportation and land use planning that advances equity and inclusion within the transportation industry. Educating the public on the fact that transportation-planning decisions have large and diverse equity impacts on their community and way of life is critical in developing the built environment and transportation services that fully meets the needs of minority communities….I will strive to farther advance this effort of inclusion and equity both locally and regionally.”
Elected: Treasurer Ida O. Blaylock Revenue Supervisor, Customer Engagement Jacksonville Transportation Authority (JTA)
“I will also work diligently to ensure funding is secured so COMTO Jacksonville can continue to provide scholarships for deserving students in the Jacksonville area. I will continue to work supporting the COMTO Jax Board, members and represent our chapter as a member of the prestigious National Industry Awards Committee.”
See other photos from the meet & greet event with the new executive board.
Thank you to Councilwoman Joyce Morgan Dansford of District 1 for stopping by to welcome the new board! New COMTO Jacksonville Chapter President Addressing the Audience
Our annual Chapter-driven membership recruitment drive, is a full week of creative activities to help bolster local Chapter membership and participation, and bring transportation industry professionals from all modes under the COMTO banner!
During COMTO Week, On Thursday, November 18th, the COMTO Jacksonville handed out 70 #thanksgiving meals to residents at Sulzbacher Village with Local ATU & IAM employees and the with JTA.
In addition, later that day COMTO Jacksonville and JTA hosted a National Webinar about the JTA’s Autonomous Vehicle Program. COMTO outstanding feature speaker was Bernard Schmidt, JTA Vice President of Automation. Schmidt spoke about the innovative and groundbreaking technology, how the AV Program is creating opportunities in the workforce development space and fostering community relationships.
COMTO Jacksonville would like to thank COMTO National, Jacksonville Transportation Authority and the Jacksonville Chapter for pulling this event together. Special Thanks to JTA CEO Mr. Ford, COMTO National Chair Woman Tanya Adams, JTA David Cawton, COMTO National Staff Gatwiri Muthara and COMTO Jacksonville Chapter President Chris Macklin
The COMTO Jacksonville chapter is proud to announce we have two recipients that received 3 awards at the 2021 COMTO Industry Awards on September 30, 2021. The 2021 COMTO Industry Awards were presented to individuals, chapters and organizations for outstanding work completed in 2020 – the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The awards ceremony was part of COMTO’s 50th Anniversary Virtual National Meeting and Training Conference.
The three awards taken home by COMTO Jacksonville members were (Please list names below):
Our guest speaker, the Honorable Judge Rhonda Peoples-Waters, joined us for a very dynamic discussion about her career journey, perseverance and current legal issues affecting Jacksonville. Her story is one of inspiration and courage to always strive for your goals. We appreciate Judge Rhonda Peoples-Waters for joining us on this amazing dialogue and wish her much success in her endeavors on the bench.
In this panel discussion, COMTO Jacksonville received an amazing opportunity to speak with women leaders in transportation. Our speakers were: Debra Johnson (CEO of Regional Transportation District in Denver), Adelee Le Grand (CEO of Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority in Tampa) and Ari Jolly (Chairwoman of the JTA in Jacksonville). Each discussed their personal journey and their navigation into leadership roles. Additionally, they provided information and inspiration about what it takes to be a leader now. Dr. Tammy Hodo, CEO of All Things Diverse, topped off the event by providing insight and context to the conversation as an expert in diversity and culture. Thank you all for joining us and creating a memorable moment in COMTO Jacksonville history
In this informative conversation around COVID-19, Dr. Shari Calicker educated the COMTO chapter and its guests on the importance of vaccinations, for the community and in transportation. Dr. Calicker provided us an update on COVID-19, offered information about current approved vaccines, discussed the vaccinations impact on transportation (staff, leadership & customers) and offered some helpful tips to increase vaccination rates.
Our second guest speaker, Mrs. Greer Gillis, Vice President of System Development for the JTA. The discussion was around JTA’s efforts to protect the community and front-line employees against the COVID-19 pandemic. Discussion points focused on free rides to healthcare, COVID-19 testing for employees, pop-up discussions about how to combat the virus and the development of the “Ride-to-Health” initiative.
In this conversation, Mr. Mims discussed the importance of COMTO, what leadership looks like in the transportation industry today and his excitement to take on a new role under the Biden-Harris administration.
Brad Mims stated, “It was an honor to have been the President of the COMTO National. It helped my own leadership skills to be aggressive and vocal. Looking forward to working with the Biden administration. It is all about learning to make things run.”
Shortly after Brad Mims, Mr. Ken Middleton joined us to discuss the JTA’s recent launch of two new programs: the Local Small Business Enterprise Program and Micro LSBE Program. These programs intend to: stimulate the economy, increase the number of small businesses on JTA contracts and create additional prime contracting opportunities
This season the COMTO Jacksonville chapter was able to donate much needed supplies to our senior citizen partner community here in NE Florida. With respect to social distance guidelines, we were able to package and deliver the items but unable to personally gift them to recipients. All in all, the event was a major success with being able to give and spread much needed holiday cheer!
COMTO Week 2020 went virtual! During the week, the COMTO Jacksonville hosted three events to provide members of the chapter to express themselves by sharing words of motivation, stories about their experience as members of this organization and engaging in a “virtual” finale with one of the charter members of the chapter – Mr. Michael Blaylock, former CEO of the Jacksonville Transportation Authority. In addition to celebrating 20 years as a chapter in COMTO, we were able to raise funds for our scholarship fund! Thank you to all that supported this day and continue to support our youth in their pursuit for education and training.
The Premier Organization for Education, Empowerment and Engagement of Minority Transportation Professionals in Northeast Florida
