Champions of Change

Engage and Connect

President Obama is committed to making this the most open and participatory administration in history. That begins with taking your questions and comments, inviting you to join online events with White House officials, and giving you a way to engage with your government on the issues that matter the most.

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Latest News

  • Urbal Growth Through Rapid Transit

    Posted by Jacque Whitsitt on July 30, 2012 at 3:46 PM EDT

    Jacque Whitsitt is being honored as a Champion of Change for her time and effort developing innovative ways to help grow and expand the transportation industry.  

    The Roaring Fork Transportation Authority (RFTA) is extremely honored to be chosen as a White House Transportation Innovators Champion of Change. Currently, RFTA is constructing VelociRFTA, the first rural Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system in the United States. The VelociRFTA BRT fleet will operate on compressed natural gas (CNG), an affordable, abundant, and domestically produced fuel that will help make RFTA a more energy-independent and sustainable transit organization. While other BRT systems operate in urban areas, which typically span 5-10 miles, VelociRFTA BRT will connect five towns from Glenwood Springs to Aspen, Colorado, along a 42-mile stretch of Colorado State Highway 82 (SH82). SH82 is one of the most congested rural highways in Colorado, and it serves as a critical travel artery for thousands of workers in our area who serve the resort communities of Aspen, Snowmass Village, and Glenwood Springs.

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  • Being an Impact Player

    Posted by Beverly Scott on July 30, 2012 at 3:28 PM EDT

    Beverly Scott is being honored as a Champion of Change for her time and effort developing innovative ways to help grow and expand the transportation industry.  

    I am deeply honored and humbled to be recognized by the White House as a Transportation Innovator Champion of Change.

    For the better part of thirty-plus years, I have been privileged to work at public transportation systems serving diverse communities across the United States. At the end of the day, regardless of size and complexity, geography, economics, race, ethnicity, gender, or age, the availability, overall quality – safety, convenience, choices -- and affordability of our transportation systems and services matters!

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  • Transportation: A Promise for America

    Posted by Susan Martinovich on July 30, 2012 at 2:54 PM EDT

    Susan Martinovich is being honored as a Champion of Change for her time and effort developing innovative ways to help grow and expand the transportation industry.  

    Working in the transportation industry for many years, I know the impact and the promise that a thriving transportation system can provide. Not only does transportation connect each of us with our communities and livelihoods, it provides the lifeline for the daily necessities, goods and services on which our modern society and economy is built. Transportation is vital to each and every one of us, and there are many outstanding and dedicated individuals committed to enhancing the system. I am honored to be among those named as a White House Transportation Innovators Champions of Change.

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  • Advocating for Women Moving America

    Posted by Ellen Voie on July 30, 2012 at 2:20 PM EDT

    Ellen Voie is being honored as a Champion of Change for her time and effort developing innovative ways to help grow and expand the transportation industry.  

    When you hear the words “truck driver,” you probably imagine a big, burly guy wearing a ball cap, with a tattoo below the sleeve of his t-shirt. While it is true that 95 percent of professional drivers are men, there are nearly 200,000 female big rig drivers in the United States.

    We don’t often associate women working in the very male dominated trucking industry. However, women not only drive the trucks, many design the trucks, fix the trucks, dispatch the trucks and own the trucks. Many others work in various roles within the trucking industry.

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  • Reaching Out, Making a Difference

    Posted by Rebecca M. Townsend on July 30, 2012 at 2:07 PM EDT

    Rebecca Townsend is being honored as a Champion of Change for her time and effort developing innovative ways to help grow and expand the transportation industry.  

    I am honored to be selected as a Champion of Change.  The honor is shared with nearly 100 of my students, who fanned throughout their neighborhoods and did the civic work of facilitating transportation planning deliberation.  Together, we worked with community organizations and a regional planning agency to help people share their voices on matters that affect them every day.

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  • Bridging the Technical Gap

    Posted by Veronica Davis on July 30, 2012 at 1:53 PM EDT

    Veronica Davis is being honored as a Champion of Change for her time and effort developing innovative ways to help grow and expand the transportation industry.  

    Being selected as a White House Champion of Change is an incredible honor. From the time I was a little girl, my dad encouraged me to consider civil engineering as a profession. At the time, I did not know what it meant to be a civil engineer; I simply knew was I wanted to improve people’s quality of life and make a difference in the world.  During my junior year at the University of Maryland, College Park, I took a class that taught me being a good civil engineer is more than designing civil infrastructure; it is also about considering the concerns of the people. That same lesson was reinforced in my involvement with the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE). That class and NSBE helped me find my passion in using transportation as a tool to positively affect people’s lives.

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  • Making Federal Resources More Accessible for Rural Communities

    Posted by Doug McKalip on July 30, 2012 at 10:00 AM EDT

    Federal agencies often get requests from local governments and organizations—especially those in rural America—to make information about available grants and resources easier to access and understand. The HUD-DOT-EPA Partnership for Sustainable Communitiesand USDA have just released a publication that does that. Federal Resources for Sustainable Rural Communities is a guide to programs from the four agencies that rural communities can use to promote economic competitiveness, protect healthy environments, and enhance quality of life. It provides key information on funding and technical assistance opportunities as well as examples of how rural communities across the country have put these programs into action to achieve their goals. With this menu of options, local leaders can more easily identify federal resources that support community planning, cost-effective infrastructure, economic development, brownfields revitalization, and other activities that are part of achieving sustainable communities. They can also see program eligibility and matching requirements at a glance.

     The White House Rural Council has heard from many stakeholders that keeping track of federal funding availability, researching program requirements, and completing applications can be a heavy burden for communities, particularly small rural communities with limited staff capacity.

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  • U.S. Department of State Hosts Spanish-language Twitter Briefing

    Posted by Luis Miranda on July 27, 2012 at 6:48 PM EDT

    Acting Assistant Secretary of State Mike Hammer responds to #AskState questions

    Acting Assistant Secretary of State Mike Hammer responds to #AskState questions during the U.S. Department of State's first Twitter Briefing in Spanish in Washington, D.C., on March 1, 2012. (State Department)

    This week, the U.S. State Department held a Spanish-language Twitter Briefing covering a wide range of U.S. foreign policy issues. The Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Public Affairs, Mike Hammer, answered questions from the podium in the Department’s press briefing room.

    You can find the transcript and video online here. The transcript is also available in Spanish here.