Tunya Smith is director of the N.C. Department of Transportation's Office of Civil Rights.
RALEIGH – A N.C. Department of Transportation senior official has been named to a new federal advisory panel on equity, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg announced this month.
Tunya Smith, director of NCDOT’s Office of Civil Rights, is one of 24 people Buttigieg appointed to the Advisory Committee on Transportation Equity.
“I am honored to serve on this committee,” Smith said. “I look forward to working with Secretary Buttigieg to advance civil rights and expand everyone’s access to jobs and economic opportunities in transportation.”
The committee, which Buttigieg reestablished, will inform the nation’s transportation secretary on ways to institutionalize equity in the U.S. Department of Transportation’s programs and policies, and establish and strengthen partnerships with underserved communities, the USDOT announced in an Aug. 17 news release.
Smith said she hopes her background working for local governments on affordable housing and her work at NCDOT will help the committee advance its goals. At NCDOT, Smith has helped strengthen the agency’s workforce development and environmental justice initiatives. She also has helped lead NCDOT’s efforts to increase outreach to disadvantaged businesses seeking state transportation contract work.
“Our vision at NCDOT has been to ensure that everyone, especially those living in poor and disadvantaged communities, have access to reliable transportation and the jobs and economic opportunities that come with it,” Smith said. “With my involvement on this committee, I hope to share many of the great ideas we’re already using in North Carolina and use what I learn to advance transportation equity here.”
The Raleigh resident said the committee should add value to her work on the Governor’s Advisory Council for Hispanic and Latino Affairs and the Andrea Harris Social, Economic, Environmental and Health Equity Task Force.
Smith and the other 23 appointees will serve two-year terms. Smith was one of only two people from state transportation agencies named to the committee.
Other appointments included fellow North Carolina native and former U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx. Foxx, who also served as Charlotte's mayor, will serve as the committee's chairman.
For more information on the committee, read the USDOT’s news release.