Hiring the Right People in TDM (Who aren’t coming from TDM!)

TMAs/TMOs frequently recruit folks into TDM from outside the industry – what’s the key to finding and recruiting people with TDM potential? Learn from experienced industry professionals who have built a legacy of finding good people – what do they look for? Where have they found the best folks? What do they avoid or watch out for?

Speakers include:

Allison Simmons is a principal and founder of NorthEase Consulting Group.  Ms. Simmons specializes in sustainable transportation services for non-profits, companies, and municipalities. She has been in the Transportation Demand Management (TDM) industry for over 25 years, and is proud to be a certified TDM professional. With a background in marketing and communications she specializes in creating innovative programs and campaigns to create behavior change. Over the past twenty years Ms. Simmons has worked for several Boston TMAs Ms. Simmons is a national expert on TMA formation has been part of the formation of six TMAs in Massachusetts, as well as work with TMA formation in Memphis, TN and Buffalo NY. Over the years Allison has hired close to 20 people for work in TDM.

Emily Haar, TDM-CP, is a Principal with Alta Planning + Design and has more than 15 years of experience in TDM. Like many TDM professionals, Emily did not initially envision this career path. After a brief stint in healthcare, she joined a community improvement district, where she discovered her passion for helping people access more sustainable and practical transportation options. Today, Emily oversees multidisciplinary teams delivering innovative mobility programs across the country and plays an active role in recruiting, mentoring, and developing TDM professionals. She has hired more than 15 TDM professionals and participated in numerous interviews for positions across her organizations.

 Jeff Pazdalski has served as Executive Director at Westside Transportation Alliance since 2016 and in that time the organization has grown from 2 to 4 FTE. Jeff has led the hiring for 8 different staff positions, and most of the resulting hires came from outside the TDM industry. Plus, Jeff was hired with no prior TDM experience so can speak to what led to his hiring and longevity in the role. 

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Amelia Sherfield is the Program Director with Smart Mobility Associates, where she leads program development, operations, business development, and team growth for the West Palm Beach Mobility Coalition. She has hired and developed roughly a dozen staff and interns across program development, outreach, business development, marketing, operations, and data analysis, all of whom joined without prior TDM experience. Her approach is to hire for curiosity, resourcefulness, and reliability, then build confidence and industry knowledge through clear training, collaborative learning, and increasing ownership.