Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Centennial Symposium Series
December 7, 2021 | 8:30 am – 12:00 pm
Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
Special Events Forum
33 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick, NJ 08901
Register at: bit.ly/PANYNJ-Symposium
Click here for the event flyer
This event will be the final in a series of four symposiums convened to celebrate the Port Authority’s Centennial. The symposium will bring together leaders from the public, private, non-profit sectors, and academia to consider the issues and opportunities that will shape the future of the New Jersey-New York metropolitan region in the decades ahead. Two topics will be showcased: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and Emerging Technologies.
The event will include a keynote address by Tom Wright, President and CEO of the Regional Plan Association, and two panel discussions.
Please note: This will be an in-person event with the program livestreamed via webinar for an online audience.
KEYNOTE:
The Port Authority at 100: A Civic Vision for the Future
Tom Wright, President & CEO, Regional Plan Association
Over the past century, the Port Authority has contributed significantly to development and prosperity in the New York metropolitan region. The agency’s entrepreneurialism and collaborative model has delivered vital investments for the seaports, airports, highways, transit, and economic development of the region, including the rebuilding of Lower Manhattan after 9/11. This talk will highlight the new challenges and opportunities facing the region in the current century and explore how the agency can position itself to lead the New York/New Jersey region forward in an era of rapid climate change, clean energy, and radically expanded mobility needs.
PANEL SESSION #1: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: Port Authority as Global Leader
Issues related to diversity, equity, and inclusion and social equity and inequality have gained prominence in the media, government, and business over the past several years. In April 2021, the Port Authority released a 25-point plan to address and improve race dynamics across the agency and raise standards for workplace
fairness and diversity within the agency. Moving forward, these topics will continue to shape the region, its institutions, and how we build communities and conduct business for decades to come. This panel will explore how communities, institutions, and businesses nationally are meeting these issues head-on and
how the Port Authority can cement its role as a global leader in this important area.
- Nancy DiTomaso, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor of Management and Global
Business, Rutgers Business School - Midori Valdivia, Chief Operating Officer, Coro Center for Civic Leadership
- Moderator: Ronald Quincy, Ph.D., Professor of Professional Practice, John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development, Rutgers University
PANEL SESSION #2: Emerging Technology and the Changing Mobility Landscape
Innovation in the transportation sector is accelerating. Over the past several years, advances in technology have encouraged significant investments in electric vehicles, new forms of personal mobility such as micromobility, and driverless vehicles are being tested in deployed throughout the world. Robotics, artificial
intelligence, and machine learning may significantly change how we move people and goods in the decades to come. This panel will explore how emerging transportation technologies may shape and reshape the region and how the Port Authority’s infrastructure and services may need to evolve to keep up with
rapid change.
- Beth Bernitt, Senior Vice President, Buildings + Places Group, AECOM
- Solomon Caviness, Department Head, Department of Transportation,
Middlesex County, NJ - Vivek Jaikamal, Perrone Robotics Autonomous Shuttles
- Aruraag Jain, Founder, Zensors Inc.
- Suzanne Murtha, Vice President Global Transportation, AECOM
- Moderator: Dan Corey, Deputy ITS Practice Leader, AECOM