Regional Plan Association is privileged to welcome seven prominent leaders in infrastructure, public policy, renewable energy, community development, and real estate to our Board of Directors, which helps set the strategic direction for the organization. Our newest Board members have made their mark on the region and will continue to do so as members of the RPA community. We look forward to advancing RPA’s priorities together and building a more inclusive, resilient, and sustainable region. Get to know them below!
Rebecca Ashton, Senior Vice President, New York District Leader, WSP
Rebecca is the New York District lead for WSP, overseeing the business and operations for all WSP markets, including Transportation, Property & Buildings, Energy, Water, Advisory and Planning, and Environmental in New York. With multidisciplinary design management services and Future Ready® approach, she collaborates with the New York teams comprising over 900 people and regional leadership to promote WSP’s strategic goals to enhance projects and communities throughout New York.
After moving from WSP Australia, Rebecca settled in New York and has been an integral part of WSP’s Northeast leadership team ever since. Rebecca has led NY energy and infrastructure projects over her 14 years with the company, including serving as the project director of the design joint venture for the LaGuardia Airport Central Terminal Replacement project, where she was responsible for managing a multidisciplinary team including structural, architectural, mechanical, electrical and plumbing, fire protection, and IT and security coordination during construction, and the Consulting Construction Manager for the NYCT Emergency Signal Power Upgrade Project. Rebecca’s prior roles have included New York District energy business line leader and chief operating officer for WSP’s Earth & Environment national business.
Richard Bagger, Former PANYNJ Commissioner
Rich Bagger is a Partner and Executive Director of Christie 55 Solutions, a New Jersey based consulting firm that provides strategic counsel to assist clients with business strategies and opportunities and with complex public policy and regulatory challenges at the state, federal and international levels. Rich is also an Adjunct Faculty member at the Rutgers University Eagleton Institute of Politics and a member of the Board of Directors of Tonix Pharmaceuticals.
Prior to joining Christie 55 Solutions, Rich worked in the health sector for over 25 years, including as the senior most global Corporate Affairs executive for two major biopharmaceutical companies and as legal counsel for a large health plan. From 2012 through 2019, he was Executive Vice President of Corporate Affairs and Market Access for Celgene Corporation, as well as a member of the company’s Executive Committee. During a 16-year career with Pfizer Inc, Rich served from 2006 to 2009 on Pfizer’s senior most management team as Senior Vice President, Worldwide Public Affairs and Policy.
Prior to joining Pfizer, Rich was Assistant General Counsel of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of New Jersey and before that practiced law with McCarter & English. Rich has a record of public service that spans more than three decades. From 2012 until 2021, he served as a Commissioner and Finance Chair of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and was the founding Chair of the Gateway Program Development Corporation in 2017. Rich served from 2010 to 2012 as Chief of Staff for New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, responsible for managing implementation of the Governor’s policy agenda and priorities. He was also elected to serve five terms in the New Jersey General Assembly, where he chaired the Appropriations Committee and was elected by his colleagues as Majority Conference Leader. In 2001, Rich was elected to the New Jersey Senate and served there until 2003. Before his election to the Legislature, he was a Council Member, Planning Board Chair, and Mayor of Westfield, New Jersey.
Rich served as Board Chair of the National Pharmaceutical Council for 2019 and is a member of the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, where he chaired the Global Innovation Policy Center from 2014 to 2018. He is also on the Board of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and the Advisory Board for the Lerner Center for the Study of Pharmaceutical Management at Rutgers University Business School. He received an A.B. degree from Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs and a J.D. degree from Rutgers University Law School.
Shaun Donovan, Senior Fellow, Ford Foundation
Shaun Donovan has dedicated his life to public service focused on building opportunity and fighting for people and communities too often left behind. In August 2022, Donovan joined the Ford Foundation as a Senior Fellow where he is working with the Biden Administration and partners across the country to build community capacity to ensure the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law reaches its transformative potential, especially in historically disadvantaged communities. Donovan also joined the World Resources Institute as a Senior Fellow where he is working with international humanitarian organizations to incorporate climate resilience into their work.
In December of 2020, Donovan launched an ideas-driven campaign for Mayor of New York, his hometown. During that time, he also worked with residents and community organizations in New York City to deliver restaurant meals to families affected by COVID, to revitalize public housing, and to make sure every New Yorker was counted in the 2020 Census.
From July 2014 to January 2017, Donovan served as the 40th Director of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under President Obama. At OMB, Donovan increased investment in key domestic and national security priorities that grew the economy, protected our country and increased opportunity. And he oversaw regulations that increased innovation, protected health, improved education, and fought climate change.
From January 2009 to July 2014, Donovan was the 15th Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, where he led the fight against the nation’s unprecedented foreclosure crisis. Under his leadership, HUD helped families rent or buy affordable homes, revitalized distressed communities, fought discrimination, and dramatically reduced homelessness. Donovan also served as Chair of the President’s Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force, leaving a stronger, more resilient region than before the storm hit.
Prior to joining the Obama Administration, Donovan served as Commissioner of the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development. He also served in the Clinton administration as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Multifamily Housing at HUD and as acting FHA Commissioner during the Clinton/Bush presidential transition.
Donovan sits on the Board of Trustees at the Urban Institute, the Advisory Board of Opportunity Insights, and the Boards of Directors of Greater New York and the National Public Housing Museum. Donovan holds a B.A. and Masters degrees in Public Administration and Architecture from Harvard University. Shaun is married to Liza Gilbert, a Landscape Architect who has designed and restored parks in New York City and across the country. Shaun and Liza live in Brooklyn, where they raised their sons Milo and Lucas.
David Garten, Senior Vice President, Corporate Affairs, RXR
David Garten is the Senior Vice President for Corporate Affairs at RXR. Headquartered in New York with a national platform strategy, RXR is an innovative investor, developer, and place-maker committed to applying a customer and community-centered approach to building properties, services, and products that create enduring value for all stakeholders. With an aggregate gross asset value of $22.6 billion, comprising approximately 30.4 million square feet of office space and over 10,000 multifamily units under operation or development, RXR seeks to build and create stronger communities within its buildings and in the areas in which it operates.
David oversees RXR’s corporate communications, government relations, ESG platform, and the implementation of the company’s social impact and community engagement programs. Before his role at RXR, David served as the Chief of Staff to the Vice Chair at the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, the Director of Federal Relations at the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), and a Senior Policy Advisor to then-U.S. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (NY) and the late U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg (NJ).
Born in Orlando, Florida, with roots in West Virginia, David currently resides with his wife and son in Dobbs Ferry, New York.
Jee Mee Kim-Diaz, City Executive, NYC Region, Arcadis
Jee Mee Kim-Diaz is a City Executive for Arcadis -- a global design and engineering firm that works with public and private sector clients to develop sustainable solutions that improve quality of life. As City Executive for the New York metro area, Jee Mee oversees the firm’s client relationships in the region, pursues new business development opportunities and partnerships, and shapes strategic growth initiatives.
Jee Mee brings 20 years of experience in managing complex urban development and transportation projects across the United States. Prior to joining Arcadis, Jee Mee was appointed by Mayor Bill de Blasio to serve as the Chief Strategy Officer for the New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT) where she oversaw the Policy, Intergovernmental Affairs, Press/Communications, and Safety Education teams. During her tenure at the NYCDOT, she advanced Mayor de Blasio’s 2021 transportation commitments, developed a strategic plan for the BQE triple cantilever (including the conversion of the roadway from three lanes to two lanes), and helped author Delivering Green, a progressive vision for freight movement in the city. She is a recognized thought leader and practitioner on urban transportation and mobility issues, real estate and economic development, transit-oriented development, and infrastructure funding and financing. For nearly 20 years, Jee Mee led a range of complex transportation, land use, real estate, and community planning projects at consulting firms HR&A Advisors and Sam Schwartz Engineering. She began her career as a social justice leader, whose work ranged from organizing New York City’s Asian immigrant communities around workers’ rights and housing issues at CAAAV to advocating for clean water and recycling at the Natural Resources Defense Council’s Urban Program.
Christina PioCosta-Lahue, CEO, Rensselaer Commercial Properties
Christina PioCosta-Lahue is Founder and President of Vivaria Ecologics, a startup focused on reimagining food systems and food waste, and also serves as CEO of Rensselaer Commercial Properties, her family’s commercial real estate business. Previously, Christina served as Expansion Director at the Rising Academy Network where she led growth of Rising Academies’ high-impact work in existing and new markets through private schools, government partnerships, and advisory services in East and West Africa. Before her time at the Rising Academy Network, she worked across the globe for organizations including the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change and the World Wildlife Fund and major brands including Chiquita. Christina was a consultant at HR&A Advisors, a real estate and economic development advisory firm, where she contributed to projects in the US and abroad ranging from city resilience strategies to designing transaction structures for mixed use developments to creating real estate strategies for public institutions. She holds a B.A. in Growth and Structure of Cities from Haverford College and a Master in City Planning from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Justin Rodgers, President & CEO, Greater Jamaica Development Corporation
Justin is a recognized leader with over 20 years’ experience in the private and not-for-profit sectors. His expertise includes real estate development as well as construction management for both private and publicly funded projects.
Justin has experience in affordable housing, hospitality and commercial markets. In June 2022, Justin was unanimously voted President & CEO of Greater Jamaica Development Corporation (GJDC) by the Board of Directors. He is responsible for promoting growth and development in Downtown Jamaica, Queens; including creating strategies and initiatives to expand and enhance Jamaica’s retail, industrial and economic base. Justin has facilitated more than a billion dollars of development projects in the area including commercial, mixed-income housing and hospitality.
Justin graduated magna cum laude in economics from Florida A & M University. He earned a Master’s Degree in management and business from Adelphi University. Justin has received numerous awards including, the Queens Courier Rising 40 Under 40 Stars, The Network Journal Under Forty and City and State’s Queens Borough Influential 50.
