Sacramento RT Board of Directors Selects New General Manager/CEO
After a nationwide search, the Sacramento Regional Transit District (RT) board of directors have announced the appointment of Henry Li as the new General Manager/CEO, effective July 1, 2016.
Li is already an executive management team member at RT. He joined RT in March as the Assistant General Manager of Administration, overseeing finance, human resources, procurement and information technology.
Prior to his arrival at RT, Li served as the vice president of finance and technology/chief financial officer for the Jacksonville Transportation Authority (JTA) in Jacksonville, FL. His 20 years of leadership in the transit industry include serving as chief financial and administrative officer for Hampton Roads Transit in Hampton, VA and chief financial officer (treasurer/director of administration) for the Georgia State Road & Tollway Authority in Atlanta, GA.
In addition, Li has held senior management positions at the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency and the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority.
“Henry Li is highly regarded in the transit industry as an operational efficiency expert and a strong change agent,” says Sacramento City Councilmember and RT Board Chair Jay Schenirer. “His track record demonstrates his financial management acumen and ability to lead an agency to success.”
During his career at the JTA, Li played a critical leadership role in various strategic initiatives, including a successful dedicated transit funding campaign, innovative cost control and aggressive performance management to improve service quality, and a comprehensive route overhaul initiative resulting in a significant ridership increase. As a result, the Jacksonville Business Journal named the JTA as “The 2014 Big Turnaround Organization.”
“RT has an incredible opportunity to transform itself,” says new GM/CEO Li. “In partnership with the RT board, riders, business and the community, we must make sweeping cultural and business changes, dramatically improve service quality and customer experience, and rebrand the agency. I am determined to work tirelessly alongside everybody to lead this transformation and create a new RT that the Sacramento region deserves.”
Li will be the ninth GM/CEO of the District and takes the place of Mike Wiley. Wiley, who will retire in December 2016 after nearly 39 years of service, will transition to the role of special assistant to the GM/CEO.
The recruitment process for the new GM/CEO began in December with the formation of an ad hoc recruitment committee. The committee members included Schenirer and a subset of the RT board; and leaders of the business community, Sacramento Area Council of Governments, Amalgamated Transit Union Local Division 256, and the RT Mobility Advisory Council. The committee interviewed candidates and forwarded the top three to the full RT board for consideration.
Li was selected and will be formally appointed as GM/CEO at the RT board meeting on June 13.