Jennifer Aument
Global Business Line Chief Executive, Transportation, AECOM
Jennifer Aument specializes in helping corporations in the transportation, energy and financial services sectors manage community, legislative and regulatory risks. Her strategies have supported the successful delivery of two of the nation’s largest public-private infrastructure projects, including the Washington, D.C.-area Capital Beltway HOT Lanes and the $2.6 billion Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project. Ms. Aument joined AECOM, an infrastructure consulting firm, in January 2021 and was appointed as chief executive of its global transportation business. Ms. Aument oversees AECOM’s global transportation design business to drive innovative transportation solutions that better advance its clients’ goals of delivering safe, sustainable and cost-effective transportation systems. Before joining AECOM, she was the president and CEO, North American business at Transurban.
Peter J. “Jack” Basso
Parsons Brinckerhoff and Peter J. Basso, LLP
Peter J. “Jack” Basso is a nationally recognized expert on transportation finance and policy. He recently was named a Senior Advisor in the strategic consulting group at Parsons Brinckerhoff, a global infrastructure strategic consulting, engineering and program/construction management organization. Mr. Basso’s career includes leadership roles at the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) as well as senior positions in the US Department of Transportation. From 2001 to February 2013, he oversaw the management of AASHTO as Chief Operating Officer and Business Development Director. In this capacity, he represented the interests of state departments of transportation, developed new member services, and aggressively marketed technical services provided for AASHTO members. He worked closely with congressional staff and associations with mutual interests in transportation financing issues. Before joining AASHTO, Mr. Basso served as Assistant Secretary for Budget and Programs, and as Chief Financial Officer at the US Department of Transportation. In this role, he oversaw the development of a $60-billion budget and interacted with senior officials, members of Congress, and key industry officials on a wide variety of transportation matters. Prior to his appointment to this position, he served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Budget and Programs.
Mathew Garver
Chairman and CEO, Liberty Street Capital
Mathew Garver is the Chairman and CEO of Liberty Street Capital, which is a private investment firm. He has been involved in private equity and international investments for 20 years. Mr. Garver also served as a Senior Advisor to a global law firm on large international private equity projects. He previously served as Secretary to the Steering Committee for Global Infrastructure projects with the world’s largest law firm. Mr. Garver has also been a principal in a private equity firm since the 90′s. He is a graduate of Michigan State and of the Saïd Business School at Oxford University and is a Fellow at Harvard University. He is the author of numerous articles on regional and international economics.
Matt Girard
Senior Vice President, Project Development & Delivery, Plenary Group (USA) Ltd
Matt Girard is Senior Vice President for Plenary Group (USA) Ltd, where he is responsible for project development and delivery, and business development. He has worked in senior project management roles for design and construction firms, with particular expertise in the development and delivery of heavy civil infrastructure and alternative delivery projects, including over $3 billion under PPP models over the last 10 years in both the Canadian and U.S. PPP markets. His experience spans numerous roles in the design and construction of civil infrastructure, including Engineer, Estimator, Project Manager, and Executive Vice President for Business Development at Flatiron Constructors, and Director of Alternative Delivery for AECOM, a pre-eminent global design firm, and also the lead design firm for Plenary Roads Indiana on the I-69 project in Indiana. Girard holds a Bachelor and a Master of Science in Civil Engineering & Construction Management from the University of Colorado – Boulder, and is an STS Construction Safety Trained Supervisor. He is also a DBIA Designated Design-Build Professional.
John Irvine
Senior Vice President, Business Development, Anchor Construction Corporation
John Irvine is currently the Senior vice President of Business Development. He is charged with growing the business in new and existing markets through alternative procurement opportunities and partnerships. Prior to Anchor, Mr. Irvine was the Vice President US Sales & Market Director for COWI. He increased the international engineering firm’s profile and partnerships throughout the US.
Mr. Irvine holds a master’s in Public Administration (MPA) from the University of Baltimore, a Post-graduate Certificate (PgC) in Transportation Policy & Logistics from George Mason University, and a BA in US History from Kent State University.
Janet Kavinoky
Director of Federal and State Governmental Affairs, Vulcan Materials
Janet F. Kavinoky is a nationally recognized expert in transportation policy, funding, and finance who recently joined Vulcan Materials as the Director of Federal and State Governmental Affairs. Prior to that, she was the Executive Director, Transportation & Infrastructure, US Chamber of Commerce. In the Chamber’s Congressional and Public Affairs Division. Kavinoky led all transportation strategy, policy, and lobbying efforts. She has expertise in developing consensus policy positions among diverse stakeholders and lobbying Congress and executive branch agencies on a wide range of legislative and regulatory matters relating to surface, air, and water transportation. Kavinoky is Vice President of the Chamber-led Americans for Transportation Mobility (ATM) Coalition, a nationwide effort by business, labor, transportation organizations, and concerned citizens to advocate for improved and increased federal investment in the nation’s aging and overburdened transportation system. In addition, Kavinoky developed and leads the Chamber’s Let’s Rebuild America (LRA) initiative to raise the profile of infrastructure issues, broaden stakeholder engagement, and create new opportunities for businesses to influence public policy. As part of LRA, Kavinoky guided a multidisciplinary team to develop and regularly update the groundbreaking Transportation Performance Index. The Index assesses the degree to which surface, air, and water transportation systems are meeting business and economic demands and correlates improvement and decline with economic indicators.
Belen Marcos
President, VINCI Highways
Ms. Marcos serves as President of VINCI Highways, VINCI Concessions’ road mobility subsidiary, and as Executive Vice President of VINCI Concessions. Ms. Marcos has extensive experience in managing and operating toll highways given her previous roles as the Chief Operating Officer for the Chicago Skyway, the Chief Information Officer for the Indiana Toll Road, and the Chief Executive Officer for the North Tarrant Express and the LBJ Express projects. Before joining VINCI Highways in September 2020, Ms. Marcos served as President of CINTRA US.
Simon Santiago
Partner, Nossaman LLP
Leader of East Coast operations for Nossaman’s Infrastructure Practice Group, Simon J. Santiago handles development, procurement and construction issues for the largest transportation, transit and multi-modal projects in the U.S and provides guidance in creating successful infrastructure projects through innovative procurement, financing and delivery methods including public-private partnerships (P3s). Given his broad experience, he often advises industry leaders and policymakers on emerging federal legislative and policy issues involving transportation. At the state level, Mr. Santiago helped develop P3-enabling legislation, procedures and programs in Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina and Virginia. He also counseled the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey on state and federal law governing all-electronic toll systems. Before joining Nossaman in 2006, Mr. Santiago was a litigator with a construction and government contract law firm in Northern Virginia, where he advised public- and private-sector clients on disputes involving large and complex infrastructure projects. He also served as a judicial clerk with the General Services Board of Contract Appeals, assisting in legal analysis of contract claims and disputes.
Mike Schneider
Senior Vice President and Director of Professional Services for HDR Inc.
Mr. Schneider is Senior Vice President and Director of Professional Services for HDR Inc., serving as a member of the firm’s Executive Leadership Team. Prior to this appointment, he led the firm’s global strategic advisory practice and continues to serve as project director or principal technical advisor for a variety of transit, rail, highway and infrastructure engagements. Previously, Mr. Schneider co-founded and served as managing partner of InfraConsult LLC, an international consultancy providing advisory, development and management services to public authorities and private organizations focused on the development and financing of infrastructure projects and solutions. In 2012, InfraConsult became a part of the HDR family.
Mr. Schneider is a long-time member of the Board of Directors and Co-Chair of the Committee on Public-Private Partnerships of the American Public Transportation Association. He has been involved in numerous P3 and private sector infrastructure finance programs since 1984 as an owner, developer and advisor, most recently as project director of the advisory team for the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LA Metro) Public-Private Partnership Program.
Former Board Members
Geoffrey Yarema
Partner, Nossaman, LLP
Founder and former chairman of Nossaman’s Infrastructure Practice Group, Geoffrey S. Yarema has spent more than three decades developing national best practices for innovative procurement, contracting and financing structures that successfully move large transportation projects from concept to reality. These include design-build, design-build-operate-maintain (DBOM), toll concession, availability payment, pre-development and other types of public-private partnership (P3) contracts. His expertise covers the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA), Railroad Rehabilitation & Improvement Financing (RRIF), Private Activity Bonds (PABs) and other such tools.
