Salt Lake City (SLC), Utah, is working to implement a new City-wide Transportation Plan. One of the five goals of this plan is to address historical inequities and ensure that all residents, regardless of socioeconomic status, have equitable access to transportation options that are consistent with the community’s values and priorities. The FUSE Executive Fellow will work to develop strategic recommendations to equitably operationalize the updated City-wide Transportation Plan. Ultimately, this work will help Salt Lake City achieve tangible improvements in transportation equity, enhance access to opportunities for all residents, and foster a more inclusive and resilient community.

Fellowship Dates: April 28, 2025 – April 24, 2026

Salary: Executive Fellows are FUSE employees and receive an annual base salary of $80,000. Fellows can also access various health, dental, and vision insurance benefits. Compensation for this year of public service is not intended to represent market-rate compensation for the experienced professionals in our program.

ABOUT THE FUSE EXECUTIVE FELLOWSHIP

FUSE is a national nonprofit working to expand social and economic opportunities, particularly for communities that have been limited by a history of systemic and institutionalized racism. FUSE partners with local governments and communities to more effectively address pressing challenges by placing experienced professionals within city and county agencies. These FUSE Executive Fellows lead strategic projects designed to advance racial equity and accelerate systems change. Since 2012, FUSE has led over 250 projects in 40 governments across 20 states, impacting the lives of 25 million people.

When designing each fellowship project, FUSE works closely with government partners and local stakeholders to define a scope of work that will achieve substantive progress toward regional priorities. FUSE then conducts an individualized search for each project to ensure that the selected candidate has at least 15 years of professional experience, the required competencies for the role, and deep connections to the communities being served. They are data-driven and results-oriented and able to effectively manage complex projects by developing actionable roadmaps and monitoring progress to completion.

Executive Fellows are hired as FUSE employees and embedded in government agencies for at least one year of full-time work. Throughout their fellowships, they receive training, coaching, and professional support from FUSE to help achieve their project goals. FUSE Executive Fellows bring diverse perspectives and new approaches to their projects. They build strong relationships with diverse arrays of stakeholders, foster alignment within.

PROJECT CONTEXT

City-wide transportation plans are critical for promoting equity and improving residents' lives by prioritizing accessibility, resource allocation, health, and community engagement. These plans ensure that all residents, regardless of socioeconomic status, have equitable access to transportation options, such as public transit and pedestrian infrastructure. By targeting underserved neighborhoods and marginalized populations, transportation plans allocate resources to address disparities and empower communities to shape their transportation futures. Additionally, plans that promote sustainable transportation modes contribute to healthier environments and reduce social and health inequities.

In Salt Lake City, transportation infrastructure has historically been a driver of social inequity, with historically underserved communities, particularly those of color, bearing the brunt of inadequate access to transportation options. The Mayor’s office has adopted many city-wide transportation-focused plans in recent years to help address these disparities, including the 2017 Transit Master Plan and the 2015 Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan. In 2021, the Salt Lake City Transportation Division launched Connect Salt Lake City, an extensive process to update its last Transportation Master Plan from 1996. The newly approved resultant City-wide Transportation Plan from this initiative outlines a high-level, city-wide transportation policy.

Salt Lake City will partner with FUSE to develop strategic recommendations to operationalize the updated City-wide Transportation Plan across city agencies. Ultimately, this work will help local agencies work together to advance transportation equity and lay the groundwork for a safer, more accessible city-wide transportation network that ensures a more equitable, resilient, and livable city for all residents.

PROJECT SUMMARY

Beginning in April 2025, the FUSE Executive Fellow will work with local agencies, community, and other stakeholders to create and implement strategic recommendations to operationalize the new Salt Lake City City-wide Transportation Plan. This will help Salt Lake City achieve tangible improvements in transportation equity, enhance access to opportunities for all residents, and foster a more inclusive and resilient community.

The Executive Fellow will begin by conducting a comprehensive listening tour involving key stakeholders from the community and other city agencies outlined in the City-wide Transportation Plan. The stakeholders may include partners such as the Utah Transit Authority (UTA), the State of Department of Transportation (UDOT), local community-based organizations, and other Salt Lake City internal city agency offices such as Engineering, Streets, Compliance, Fire, Public Utilities, Economic Development, Finance, etc. This listening tour will aim to gather background insights, into attitudes, opinions, and needs of government agencies and the community related to operationalizing the City-wide Transportation Plan. The Executive Fellow will work to encourage diversity and inclusivity throughout this process to ensure a range of perspectives and expertise that center households with lower incomes and communities of color who are often most affected by inequitable transportation access.

The Executive Fellow will also conduct a landscape analysis of current practices and policies that affect the current city transportation network, some of which are inconsistent with one another and with the newly adopted plan. The listening tour will inform the reasons that underlie those inconsistencies, as these will need to be addressed to achieve reconciliation. The Executive Fellow will also research similar, successful operational programs from across the country to assess local applicability. An understanding of the State and City legal landscape will be necessary to inform that assessment. The Executive Fellow will then develop specific project goals and deliverables for the Transportation Division to review and approve before they begin working towards these goals for the remainder of the Fellowship period.

The Executive Fellow will use the collected information and insights to develop strategic recommendations with specific goals and deliverables to ensure efficient and equitable operationalization of the City-wide Transportation Plan. These recommendations will include, among other things, how to streamline internal processes, foster collaboration across departments, and amplify community voices in decision-making processes to ensure equitable program delivery. The recommendations will also include plans for engaging with stakeholders to ensure buy-in for the proposals, processes, and recommendations the Executive Fellow has identified, including how these will impact real and perceived accountability and transparency to the public.

The Executive Fellow will then work to begin implementing recommendations and program strategies. This may involve launching pilot projects, conducting outreach campaigns, and coordinating interdepartmental efforts to advance key initiatives outlined in the plan. An important element of this effort will be a review and potential update of various City code, policy and process documents.

By the project’s conclusion, the Executive Fellow will have identified an operational plan as well as effectively engaged with stakeholders to achieve buy in and connect city departments to begin implementing the plan. By providing support and guidance to city agencies, the Executive Fellow will help translate the strategic recommendations into actionable steps, driving progress toward a more accessible, sustainable, resilient, and equitable transportation system.

Lastly, the Executive Fellow will work to identify long-term program implementation goals, milestones, and activities to ensure sustainable operationalization in the future. This will include identifying ongoing monitoring and evaluation efforts to ensure that implementation efforts are responsive to community needs and aligned with the overarching objectives of the City-wide Transportation Plan.

PROJECT DELIVERABLES

By April 2026, the Executive Fellow will have overseen the following:

  • Developed Strategic Recommendations – Work with stakeholders to develop a clear list of strategic recommendations to ensure optimal and equitable operationalization of the new City-wide Transportation Plan across all relevant city agencies, ensuring the ability to address community needs and equity for historically disinvested neighborhoods is centered in all efforts.
  • Built Cross-Agency and Community Partnerships – Effectively engage with communities and other stakeholders to gain buy-in for the operational plan/recommendations as well as for the City-wide Transportation Plan itself.
  • Supported Program Implementation – Begin implementation of activities that will operationalize the goals and objectives of the City-wide Transportation Plan as well as ensure its long-term sustainability and success. This will likely include draft new and/or revised process policy documents.

KEY STAKEHOLDERS

  • Executive Sponsor – Jon Larsen, Transportation Division Director, and Megan Yuill, Deputy Chief Administrative Officer, Salt Lake City Mayor’s Office
  • Project Supervisor – Heather McLaughlin-Kolb, Transportation Planning Manager

QUALIFICATIONS

  • Synthesizes complex information into clear and concise recommendations and action-oriented implementation plans.
  • Develops and effectively implements both strategic and operational project management plans.
  • Generates innovative, data-driven, and result-oriented solutions to complex challenges.
  • Respond quickly to changing ideas, responsibilities, expectations, trends, strategies, and other processes.
  • Communicates effectively verbally and in writing and excels in active listening and conversing.
  • Fosters collaboration across multiple constituencies to support more effective decision-making.
  • Establishes and maintains strong relationships with diverse stakeholders, both inside and outside of government, particularly community-based relationships.
  • Embraces differing viewpoints and implements strategies to find common ground.
  • Demonstrates confidence and professional diplomacy while effectively interacting with individuals at all levels of various organizations.

FUSE is an equal-opportunity employer with core values of diversity, equity, and inclusion. We encourage candidates from all backgrounds to apply for this position.