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Meet Lindsey Robertson!
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Lindsey Robertson
Senior Program Manager
Workforce Development and Educational Services Department
What job elements do you focus on most?
 My main focus comes under the workforce development umbrella, working with the Human Resources Committee and the Workforce Development Subcommittee, which are looking at how we can solve some of the industry’s workforce development challenges.
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One strategy is to widely share the fact that public transit is a rewarding career decision. I think there are 179 different job opportunities in transit. We’re looking at how we get that knowledge out to people looking for new careers, college or high school students—even students in elementary school.
My personal focus is on generational work. There are four generations in our workforce right now. How do we work together? Every generation brings something valuable to the workplace. It’s very rewarding to help people explore new ideas as they value and appreciate our industry’s history and precedent. I also support APTA’s foundation (the APTF), the APTF Board of Directors and the foundation’s scholars. I do a little bit of everything, including fundraising and website design.
I also help “connect the dots” on workforce development. This includes listening to members to identify “collective issues”—the challenges everyone faces—and then help find solutions and best practices. Our industry is very willing to share, and I enjoy helping APTA be the “connector” between issues and answers.
Please talk about a recent time you’ve helped out a member.
A member contacted me looking for examples of organization charts, so I sent a mass email to the 300 or so members of the HR Committee. Before long, I heard from committee members that they would like those charts too.
Instead of asking committee members to send their org charts to an individual, I asked them to send the charts to me so I could post them on APTA’s collaboration pages on APTA’s website where we centralize resources and information for specific committees. Now everyone on the HR Committee has access to the charts, not just the individual who first asked.
What have you worked on at APTA that you have taken particular pride in completing?
I’m excited about the Organizational Development Workshops we’re conducting around the country. So far, we’ve had a spring workshop in Washington, DC, one in Atlanta and a third in Los Angeles before the Annual Meeting, hosted by the Los Angeles Trade-Technical College.
About 100 people from member organizations have participated in each workshop. We cover the key issues: diversity, engaging unions, reaching veterans and other underserved groups, developing internships and apprenticeships, moving from front-line jobs to management and so on.
In addition to the curriculum, the participants—all from the same region—really connected, peer-to-peer. The workshops are a great way to combine the talent and experience on the HR Committee and the Workforce Development Subcommittee with APTA’s expertise and apply it for the direct benefit of members.
How did you land at APTA?
I worked closely with Vice President Pam Boswell and Joe Niegoski (senior director-educational services), the HR Committee and the foundation when I was an APTA member with GannonConsult. Dr. Barbara Gannon told me about the job at APTA. She saw it as a great opportunity for me and—hopefully—a good fit for APTA. She’s been a terrific mentor for me. I also worked at the Center for Transportation Leadership at the Eno Transportation Center.
I’ve been at APTA for about 10 months, but I was with member organizations for eight years before that.
Could you tell us something about yourself that might surprise us?
I love to bake, and sometimes I bring in cookies or cupcakes to share with my APTA colleagues. I always have a stash of peppermint patties for my colleagues—especially when they need a little chocolate! I’m also the only female on the APTA Fantasy Football League—and I’m in second place!
I grew up in Skaneateles, NY, right on the Finger Lakes. It’s beautiful there—but I came to Washington, DC, to go to college and stayed. I own a car, but I’m an everyday public transit user.
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