American DBE Magazine Transit Update: SEPTA Hires Myrthil as First Chief Equity and Inclusion Officer

SEPTA Hires Myrthil as First Chief Equity and Inclusion Officer

By Peggy Beach

Emmanuella Myrthil joined the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) as its first chief equity and inclusion officer in December 2022. Myrthil’s role assumes responsibility for continuing to build and cultivate a culture within SEPTA that promotes inclusion, diversity, equity, and access for employees, customers, vendors, contractors, and diverse communities.

Myrthil will provide the vision, leadership, and direction for SEPTA’s diversity and equity programs, including the Diversity, Equity, and Belonging (DEB) strategy and Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) programs. She will also provide counsel and guidance to the SEPTA Board and management team, and report on SEPTA’s equal opportunity compliance and equityrelated statistics both to them and outside regulatory agencies.

SEPTA Chief Equity and Inclusion Officer Emmanuella Myrthil

Photo courtesy of SEPTA

As a member of SEPTA’s senior management team, Myrthil reports directly to General Manager and CEO Leslie Richards. “I am extremely proud of SEPTA’s diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. I am excited that Emmanuella will continue to build on that foundation to further strengthen SEPTA as an organization that is diverse, inclusive, and enables all people to get opportunities,” Richards said.

Myrthil comes to SEPTA from HNTB, a national infrastructure engineering and design firm, where she served as Division Diversity Director for the company’s Southeast Division. At HNTB, Myrthil worked to change business-as-usual practices to remove barriers and expand access for minority businesses, as well as diversify small business participation in transportation projects throughout the Southeast. she piloted an Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Allyship program at the company to create greater cultural effectiveness, shared learning, and increased engagement; and implemented a social responsibility employee resource group and adoption program to support Atlanta’s Thomasville Heights Elementary School community.

Myrthil has more than 18 years of experience in the transportation industry. Before her tenure at HNTB, she was the DBE manager for the Georgia Department of Transportation. She has also been active in the Conference of Minority Transportation Officials (COMTO), Women’s Transportation Seminar (WTS), the American Public Transportation Association (APTA), The American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC), and was named Engineering Georgia’s 100 Top Influential Women in 2021 and 2022.

Myrthil joined SEPTA soon after CEO Richards led SEPTA to become one of the first agencies to sign the Equity in Infrastructure Pledge (EIP), committing to create more contracting opportunities for historically underutilized businesses (HUBs). The EIP was created in April 2022 to improve public contracting practices by creating more opportunities for HUBs to build generational wealth and reduce the racial wealth gap. The agency joins a growing list of other infrastructure agencies that have signed the pledge.

(From left) Equity in Infrastructure Cofounder John Porcari, Chicago Transit Authority President Dorval Carter, Jr., SEPTA CEO and General Manager Leslie Richards and Equity in Infrastructure Cofounder Phillip Washington join in signing a “reciprocity agreement” on January 9, 2023. The agreement allows historically underutilized businesses certified with either agency to pursue work at the other agency without completing a certification process.

Photo courtesy of Equity in Infrastructure Project

“Who we contract with has always mattered in our efforts to advance equity. At this moment, we have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to create generational wealth for small, minority, and women-owned firms in the infrastructure space,” said SEPTA General Manager and CEO Leslie S. Richards in a press release. “SEPTA is not only committed, but we’re also excited to take this Pledge.”

An early result seeking more opportunities for HUBs led to SEPTA and the Chicago Transit Authority signing a memorandum of understanding agreement to allow both organizations to recognize each other’s certified Small Business Enterprises (SBEs). CEOs from both agencies signed the agreement in Washington, D.C. in January 2023, and the partnership begins immediately.

Myrthil says that the goal of this MOU is to move toward broader reciprocity throughout the states. Currently, businesses must go through a lengthy process that changes from state to state. Hopefully, the MOU will be the first of many such agreements that will eventually help to create a national database. “We hope that it sets the tone for the country,” says Myrthil.

SEPTA Silverliner V 834 leads a Warminster Line train bound for Center City Philadelphia towards the Hatboro Station in Hatboro, Pennsylvania.

Photo By Dough4872-Wikipedia

Myrthil’s role also focuses on increasing equity in SEPTA’s workforce and in how the agency interacts with the larger Greater Philadelphia community. She knows this is a significant task requiring a strategic approach for completion. “My first responsibility is to listen, not talk. I want to get the temperature of the employees —how do they experience culture,” Myrthil says. She feels what attracted her most to the position is the ability to work with both employees and small businesses to affect positive change across the entire organization. One of her first goals is to visit all the SEPTA offices to meet as many employees as possible.

Myrthil says that she is not charging in with new ideas. “I am taking the time to listen and discover,” she says. “I want to shake hands with everyone involved and figure out how to embed equity into every part of the business. We want to create a type of culture that emphasizes inclusion. It’s important to look at our communities as a whole and see how equity can best serve them.”

SEPTA CEO Richards says Myrthil is the right person to lead the effort. “Her experience and values make her the ideal person to take on this new role and advance our commitment to creating a more trusting and culturally competent environment for our employees, our customers, and the communities we serve.”