Join us for a special Transit Month panel exploring the power of community engagement in shaping successful transit projects.

Experts from Northern and Southern California will share insights on why meaningful community involvement matters, how agencies can build stronger connections with the public, and the ways effective engagement can lead to better outcomes for both projects and the communities they serve.

The panel will conclude with a brief Q&A session.

~About the panelists~

Melissa Holguin serves as Staff & Project Director for some of Arellano Associates’ largest projects, several environmental and planning projects, as well as Lead for Arellano Associates Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) internal working group and launched AA’s Online Engagement and Social Media Strategies. In this capacity, she is responsible for public information program management, strategic planning, and comprehensive outreach programs. Building from instrumental traditional outreach tools, Melissa has also played a key role in developing and implementing innovative digital engagement and technology tools applied throughout the firm. She has played a key role in planning, developing, and implementing comprehensive communications programs for the past 18 years. She is accustomed to working with senior staff, elected officials, business leaders, and the grassroots community. Melissa has become our in-house Equity & Diversity expert and continues to create outreach programs that are inclusive of diverse and underrepresented populations. She has an excellent command of Spanish and strong experience reaching deeper within marginalized communities in Southern California.

Carlisle Dockery (she/her) is the Director of Planning & Community Engagement for Circulate San Diego, a nonprofit with a mission to create excellent mobility choices and vibrant, healthy neighborhoods. She has worked in the nonprofit sector for nine years and joined Circulate San Diego in October 2021, bringing experience in active transportation planning, community engagement, public health advocacy, and project management. Carlisle has worked on projects addressing pedestrian and bicycle safety education, tactical urbanism, complete streets, active transportation planning, transit surveys, first/last mile connections, and age-friendly development. She enjoys developing data visualizations using mapping tools and is also a certified League Cycling Instructor.

~About the Moderator~

Eli Lipmen joined the Move LA staff in August 2017 after working on the successful Measure M campaign in 2016. Eli was appointed Executive Director in 2022, having previously served on the Leadership Board for over six years. Eli has dedicated his life’s work to social change, from hunger to human rights to climate change to affordable housing. As a board member of the nonprofit ClimatePlan and co-chair of the South Los Angeles Transit Empowerment Zone (SLATE-Z) Transit Work Group, he is leading efforts in Los Angeles and across California to create more equitable public transportation. As one of five proponents of Measure ULA, Eli led the campaign for funding for affordable housing and tenant protections in the City of Los Angeles. Eli led Move LA’s campaign to successfully make LA Metro's ‘GoPass’ program permanent, providing fare-free transit for 1.3 million K-12 and community college students in LA County. He was honored by the TransitCenter for organizing national advocacy to achieve a more equitable Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the largest national investment in the public transportation system ever. Eli is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communications, the London School of Economics & Political Science, and the Coro Lead SoCal Fellowship program. Eli’s family of five lives in the City of Los Angeles, where they love to walk, bike, and ride public transit.