Strategic Advisory Team
Pictured (left to right): Paula Wolff, Tollway Board Chair; Kristi Lafleur, Tollway Executive Director;
David Mosena, Strategic Advisory Team Chair
In 2010, Illinois Tollway Executive Director Kristi Lafleur created the Strategic Advisory Team to assist with a comprehensive review and evaluation of the agency and identify potential for improved service to Northern Illinois. The team examined Tollway policies, assessed opportunities and challenges, and offered input to refocus the agency on the customers and the communities it serves.
The Strategic Advisory Team was given a tremendous challenge. They were asked to think creatively, not only about current Tollway roles and responsibilities, but also about new ways in which the agency can contribute to the economic and social well-being of the region and the state.
The team released its final report to the Tollway Board of Directors. The report, titled "A Roadmap for the Future," is the culmination of five months of work by the 33-member team.
- Maximize the use of existing Tollway assets to ensure efficiency and effectiveness in carrying commerce and people
- Actively promote opportunities for disadvantaged populations
- Lead the industry in innovation and best practices
- Support a transportation system that preserves and enhances the environment
- Stimulate the state's economy
- Be responsible and innovative in its approach to finance
- Create transportation solutions in collaboration with other public agencies
- Use a data-driven approach to grow and manage the Tollway system
With these guiding principles in mind, the Strategic Advisory Team developed specific recommendations in the following five priority areas:
- Promote the regional economy
- Foster environmental responsibility and sustainability in roadway and agency operations
- Increase collaboration with regional transportation and planning agencies
- Further transparency and accountability
- Enhance customer service for its 1.4 million daily drivers
Strategic Advisory Team Members
- Strategic Advisory Team Chair, David Mosena, president and CEO, Museum of Science and Industry
- Gerald W. Adelmann, president and CEO, Openlands
- MarySue Barrett, president, Metropolitan Planning Commission
- Frank Beal, executive director, Chicago Metropolis 2020
- Tom Berliner, director, M.B.A. Program Aurora University
- George Billows, executive director, Illinois Trucking Association
- Randy Blankenhorn, executive director, Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning
- Gail Bradshaw, associate vice president for Human Resources and Diversity, Governors State University
- Brian Caputo, finance director, City of Aurora
- Paul Cerpa, executive director, HACIA
- Florence B. Cox, executive director, Black Contractors United
- Beth Doria, executive director, Federation of Women Contractors
- Jacky Grimshaw, vice president of policy, The Center for Neighborhood Technology
- Christine Jeffries, president, Naperville Development Partnership
- Tom Johnson, president, Taxpayers Federation of Illinois
- Jan Kostner, deputy director, Illinois Bureau of Tourism, DCEO
- Howard Learner, executive director, Environmental Law and Policy Center
- Michael Moskow, former president of Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago
- Steve Nailor, chairman, Rockford-Winnebago County Better Roads Association
- Sheila O'Grady, president, Illinois Restaurant Association
- Ed Paesel, executive director, South Suburban Mayors and Managers Association
- John Puscheck, president, Prager Moving and Storage
- Jorge Ramirez, president, Chicago Federation of Labor
- Brad Roeber, regional president, AAA Chicago
- Jerry Roper, president and CEO, Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce
- Michael Sands, executive director, Liberty Prairie Foundation
- Don Schaefer, executive vice president, Midwest Truckers Association
- Steve Schlickman, former executive director, Regional Transportation Authority
- Michael Sturino, president and CEO, Illinois Road and Transportation Builders Association
- Jim Sweeney, president and business manager, Local 150 International Union of Operating Engineers
- Doug Whitley, president and CEO, Illinois Chamber of Commerce
- Joseph Williams, chairman, The Target Group
- Andrea L. Zopp, president and CEO, Chicago Urban League
