Welcome to COMTO New York
COMTO was created to provide a forum for senior minority professionals in the transportation industry.
The Voice of Equity.
The New York Chapter of COMTO is a leading association of minority and women transportation officials committed to advancing the professional growth and career development of all levels of the workforce in the transportation arena and affiliated professions. We are committed to building the best leaders for our industry from both the ranks of the public sector and private corporations. Our mission includes supporting the growth and cultivation of Minority and Women Enterprises as well as Disadvantaged Business Enterprises within New York’s transportation industry. Join us to strengthen our transportation systems and programs in New York and Move New Yorkers Who Move the World.
Leadership
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Richard Watson
President
Richard is the Senior Director, Labor and Employee Relations at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority of NY. He is responsible for providing expert advice to managerial staff on a wide range of workforce issues for the largest mass transportation network in the country with 70,000 employees, and over 30 union contracts with 80 plus bargaining units for represented employees.
Richard has more than three decades of ever-increasing experience in transportation. He has contributed to a wide range of MTA agency-wide enterprises including service delivery, employee and labor relations, policy development, collective bargaining, and conflict/dispute resolution.
Richard possesses an impressive record of working effectively with executive leadership, senior management, and labor union officials on strategies to achieve cost savings and greater operational efficiency. He has a long record of successfully handling highly sensitive and complex workplace issues.
Richard's tenure at the MTA includes serving in several managerial and leadership roles. He was the Director of Administration and Field Operations at NYC Transit; Labor Relations Representative at Metro-North Railroad; Program Manager, Administration, and Labor at MTA Business Service Center; and Manager, Employee and Labor Relations at MTA-HQ.
Richard was awarded the MTA Chairman's Susan L. Kupferman Award for Excellence in Public Service. And, as president of COMTO-NY, he led the chapter's efforts to be recognized nationally and received the - Best Community Engagement Award.
Richard is a graduate of CUNY. He holds an MBA in Organizational Effectiveness; a Master's in Public Administration and Urban Planning and Policy; and a Bachelor's in Liberal Arts.
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Yvette Janniere-Houlder
At-Large Member
Yvette Janniere-Houlder is an accomplished, business leader and change agent with more than 30 years of experience in the Transportation Industry including aviation, bus and rail in both the private and public sectors. She has a record of achievement driving strategic organizational improvement efforts aligned with technology and business goals. She currently serves as the Lead Program Manager, Enterprise Applications at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) New York State.
Ms. Janniere-Houlder holds a Bachelor of Science in Management Information Systems from York College, is a Certified Project Management Professional through the Project Management Institute and holds a Master of Business Administration from Fordham University.
She enjoys volunteering, mentoring, traveling and spending time with her family. She has been an active member of the Conference of Minority Transportation Officials (COMTO) for 10 years serving in several roles for the New York Chapter including Treasurer, Executive Vice President, President and Advisory Board Member. She has also served on the COMTO National Historically Underutilized Business Sub-Committee.
Ms. Janniere-Houlder is also a member of the following professional organizations; Women Transportation Seminar (WTS); Project Management Institute (PMI); National Association of Professional Women (NAPW); former Vice Chair Summit Academy Charter School Board and is a member of the Uniondale Bond Oversight Committee which is responsible for overseeing a $158M Bond to upgrade and expand the schools of the Uniondale Union Free School District.
COMTO has been an immeasurable value add to my personal and professional growth and has allowed me many opportunities to encourage and empower others to also reach beyond their comfort zones and join the journey. I look forward to continuing COMTO’s 50-year legacy committed to fighting for social justice and equity for minority individuals and small businesses within the transportation industry.
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Ivoire Lloyd
Secretary
Ivoire Lloyd is currently the Director of Business Development at EXP, and has 20 years of marketing, business development, communications and proposal coordination experience. Her expertise includes technical writing, coordinating multi-discipline pursuits, as well as cross-selling various sectors for maximum exposure. Her proposal expertise expands across various disciplines, including legal, benefits and compensation, and transportation Ivoire is Bronx born and raised and is passionate about the transportation industry. In her previous role at SYSTRA, Ivoire managed operations of the proposal department. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism/Advertising from her beloved HBCU, Norfolk State University (May 2004).
Ivoire has published several articles for various organizations and has presented on various proposal and professional development topics. Ivoire sits on several boards, including Secretary for COMTO NY (since 2022), Director of Social Media for Young Professionals in Transportation NYC and Director of Education for Society of Marketing Professional Services (SMPS) New York. She was most recently accepted to the COMTO Emerging Leaders Program Tier 4.
Ivoire has been recognized by her peers in the transportation industry having been named “Marketer of the Year” by SMPS-NY in 2023, a recipient of the 2022 “Changemaker in Transportation Award” by Young Professionals in Transportation International, and named a "20 Under 40 Outstanding Women in Construction" by Professional Women in Construction NYC in 2021 (four months shy of her 40th birthday).
Ivoire is also a member of APMP– Liberty and Black Marketers Association of America. She is an active volunteer, and she is a mentor. She is also the proud mom of two little girls, 24/7/365 (366 on leap year).
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Lisa Santoro
Treasurer
As HNTB’s New York Office Sales Leader and Associate Vice President, Lisa Santoro guides essential project pursuits, leads strategic planning efforts, and manages a comprehensive sales portfolio that includes the city’s and state’s most significant transportation agencies. A New York City native and accredited urban planner, Lisa possesses deep transportation industry connections, an innate ability to quickly establish excellent working relationships with clients and colleagues, and an enduring commitment to her fellow New Yorkers. She has 15+ years of experience in the transportation industry, most recently serving as Business Director of a global engineering consultancy before joining HNTB.
Lisa has been Director-at-Large on the Women’s Transportation Seminar (WTS) Greater NY Chapter Board from 2020 through 2023. She is dedicated to mentoring younger female professionals in the industry where women are underrepresented. She previously served as co-chair of the WTS-GNY Mentoring Program, a year-long program for women with mid-level transportation profession experience.
Lisa was accepted into the 2018 NYU Rudin Center Emerging Leaders in Transportation Program. She actively participates in other industry organizations, including the American Planning Association (APA), the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC), The New York Building Congress (NYBC), New York the Metropolitan Rail Club of NY, and the Council of Minority Transportation Officials (COMTO), where she has served as a NY Chapter Board Member and Treasurer since 2023.
She is an industry change-maker, selected as a member of the Leadership APTA (American Public Transportation Association) class of 2023.
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Gregory Bradley
Vice President of Business Development
Gregory Bradley is Principal of Bradley Consulting & Training (BC&T). BC&T provides human capital training and consulting services to companies, organizations, professionals and entrepreneurs. Greg, a lawyer, professor and former human resources transportation executive, has over 25 years of experience in human resources management, training and development, employee relations, labor relations, diversity management, conflict resolution and workplace mediation. Greg is a member of COMTO-New York, serves as Chair of the COMTO-New York Professional Development Committee and a recipient of the Thomas G. Neusom Founders Award (2009).
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Alesia Cain
Vice President of Communications
Alesia Cain is the Director of Technology and Business Consulting at Marine Tiger Technologies providing strategic business and management consulting for public sector agencies with a concentration in transportation and public transit. Ms. Cain has over 30 years of technology management experience, of which 18 years was at Hampton Roads Transit (HRT) in Norfolk, Virginia where she was the Chief Information Officer (CIO), Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) overseeing all aspects of Enterprise Information Technology (IT) and Operational Technology (OT). Ms. Cain serves as Vice Chair of the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) Research and Technology (R&T) Committee, Chair of the APTA Technology Standards Policy and Planning Committee (SPPC) and is a Board Member for the Intelligent Transportation Society of Virginia (ITSVA).
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Terence Banks
Legislative Chair
Mr. Banks is the Legislative Chair for the Conference of Minority Transportation Officials, New York Chapter (COMTO-NY). He has 23 years as a committed leader in urban transportation and infrastructure with New York City Transit. Mr. Banks is responsible for the safe expedition of day to day subway train movement, including scheduling, train cleanliness, emergency response, customer communications on board and station public announcements and policy enforcement. Mr. Banks sits on the membership committee and the gala committee of the esteemed One Hundred Black Men Inc., an organization that implements programs designed to improve the quality of life for African Americans and other minorities. In 2013, Councilman I. Daneek Miller appointed Mr. Banks to serve as a Community Board member in the eastern part of Queens and to serve as co-chair of the Youth and Education Committee for Queens Community Board 13. Mr. Banks also formed The Pearl Group, a collective of diverse professionals whose goal is to enhance the social, educational, and economic status in underserved communities leveraging collective power and pooling resources together – promoting the motto “there is strength in numbers”.
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Albert Culler
Scholarship Chair
Albert Culler is the General Superintendent for the Service Delivery Transportation Operations group at New York City Transit one of six agencies of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). He has over 30 years of transportation industry experience.
Scholarship Program
CONGRATULATIONS to our Recipients
News
August 4, 2023
Sophia-LaFrance Brooks Nominated for the New York Readers' Choice Award
Members On The Move
October 14, 2022
Ivoire Lloyd joins EXP as Business Development Director
National News
October 14, 2022
Yvette Janniere-Houlder Named Woman of the Year by She is Empowered, US
National News
October 14, 2022
Terence Banks Community Leader of the Year Award
Members On The Move
October 14, 2022
Albert Culler, Beacon Mobility, Senior Vice President of Operations, New York City
