Bacarra Sanderson Mauldin has been selected by the Chatham Area Transit (CAT) Board of Directors to be the agency’s new CEO/executive director.
Mauldin currently serves as director of policy and innovation with the New Orleans Regional Transit Authority (RTA), which has a fleet of 130 vehicles, a streetcar system, ferry boat operations and an annual budget of $109 million.
Mauldin is a senior executive with 15 years of diverse experience in public transit, public administration, municipal government, grants administration and business operations. She brings to CAT the unique perspective of having been a transit CEO and a transit board member on two different boards.
As a senior New Orleans RTA team member, she developed policies for the authority’s newly recreated structure and recommended innovative solutions to increase operational efficiency. Major accomplishments included designing an innovative paratransit and micro-transit service model that New Orleans RTA submitted for the FTA-sponsored Mobility for All pilot grant program; developing a federal grants strategy to fund future innovation; serving as a vendor liaison for operations technology systems; successfully negotiating training to increase operational efficiency; and launching a non-emergency medical transportation taskforce that included community stakeholders and inspired the design of the new, New Orleans RTA Alternative Modes Division.
Prior to her role at New Orleans RTA, Mauldin served as executive director for the Birmingham Regional Paratransit Consortium where, after having served on its board for three years, she managed its fleet of 46 vehicles and its annual budget of $5 million. Other positions include her roles as board member (vice chair); secretary/treasurer; and chair of the Operations Management Oversight Committee with the Birmingham Jefferson County Transit Authority, where she grew the budget from $30 million to $42 million by approving innovative service models, bringing progressive partners to the table, and leveraging the agency’s investment portfolio. She also served as chief service officer/grants administrator and senior member of the Mayor’s cabinet, Office of the Mayor, for the city of Birmingham, Ala., where she advised on civic engagement and transportation-related strategies.
Mauldin is active in the American Public Transportation Association and the Conference of Minority Transportation Officials and she has held leadership positions and received numerous association and civic awards for her service and accomplishments. She holds a Master of Science in Management and a Bachelor of Business Administration from Faulkner University Montgomery, Ala. She is expected to begin work at CAT on June 29, 2020.
