Karina Ricks is a Partner at Cityfi. She leverages her international, city, federal and private sector experience to bring together government, community and companies in collaborations that advance core values of equity, safety, climate preservation and economic growth. Karina’s background and expertise span and integrate transportation and mobility with physical and digital infrastructure, systems and data, land use planning and urban design, and community and economic development.
Her previous professional roles include serving as Associate Administrator for Innovation, Research and Demonstration at the Federal Transit Administration of USDOT; founding Director of Pittsburgh’s Department of Mobility and Infrastructure; Director of Transportation Planning for Washington, DC; and Office Director and Sector Leader for Nelson\Nygaard Associates.

Karina has led and championed a number of groundbreaking initiatives including Universal Basic Mobility, open interoperability specifications for transit data systems, integrated mobility payment systems, equitable telecommunications management, smart and adaptable traffic systems, and launching what was hailed as the nation’s first Mobility as a Service system (MovePGH) - among others. Karina has led both system and organizational transformations to modernize processes, better deliver projects and develop strategic roadmaps for planning, capacity building, and project funding. She is an experienced policymaker at both the municipal and federal levels. She brings entrepreneurial solutions to leverage public private partnerships for the public good.

Karina is rooted in a commitment to authentic collaboration, human centered design, and continuous learning.

Karina is a Fulbright Scholar, holds a Master’s Degree in City and Regional Planning from Cornell University and a pre-law degree from the James Madison College of Michigan State University. She has served as a strategic advisor to the World Bank and international observer with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).