Doris Powell, 69, a board member and former chairwoman of the Birmingham-Jefferson County Transit Authority (BJCTA) Board of Directors, died April 13. She had served on the board since 2005.

Powell was active in her community, serving as the longtime president of the Fountain Heights Neighborhood Association; secretary of the Operation New Birmingham board; and an 11-year member and longtime vice chair of the Transportation Citizens Committee. A Birmingham native, she graduated from the State University of New York at Albany and worked as a producer for Saturday Night Live (appearing as Lt. Uhura in “The Last Voyage of the Starship Enterprise,” a classic sketch from the show’s first season) and, later, as a legislative aide for a Brooklyn member of the New York State Assembly. She returned to Birmingham following her father’s death in 1994.

In a statement, BJCTA called Powell “the voice of the rider. In every decision she made, in every word she spoke, it was with the rider in mind.”