Stephanie Pollack

Best known in Massachusetts as the Secretary of Transportation for six years during the Baker/Polito Administration, Stephanie Pollack has spent decades in federal and state government, academia and the nonprofit sector shaping and implementing policy, programs and projects across many policy areas. Throughout her career, Stephanie has applied a people-focused and data-driven approach not just to transportation but also to land use, housing policy and production, transit-oriented development, sustainability and climate and environmental issues.

In her four years at the US Department of Transportation, she first led the Federal Highway Administration and then served as a senior advisor to Secretary Pete Buttigieg working to implement the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and improve project delivery. Before her Federal service, as Secretary and CEO of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation Stephanie led efforts to transform project selection and delivery, safety and roadway design, customer service including at the Registry of Motor Vehicles, and transit operations and investments for both the MBTA and the Commonwealth’s regional transit agencies.

Before her decade in government service, Stephanie helped to shape, conduct transportation research and teach in the School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs at Northeastern University. She had previously spent years as an advocate and leader at the Conservation Law Foundation, worked to catalyze on-the-ground change in environmental outcomes and sustainable development in Boston, Massachusetts and throughout New England.

Stephanie is currently a senior fellow at the MIT Mobility Initiative and consults and collaborates with private sector, government, philanthropic, nonprofit and academic organizations working to deliver and improve the delivery of transportation policy and infrastructure. She is particularly interested in understanding and sharing how best to improve the capacity and effectiveness of state agencies and local governments as they deliver policies, programs and projects.