Theresa Hutchins
Olympia,WA
Summary
Accomplished Community Planner with a proven track record at the Federal Highway Administration, adept in innovative capacity building and strategic planning. Expert in program management, fostering stakeholder partnerships, and driving significant process improvements. Mentored and led teams towards successful project implementations, demonstrating effective stewardship with a keen ability to adapt to change.
Overview
36
36
years of professional experience
Work History
Community Planner (GS-14)
Federal Highway Administration
07.2007 - Current
- Work with partner agencies and FHWA leadership to develop creative solutions to program implementation and project management challenges and hurdles.
- Lead and collaborate with cross-discipline and multi-agency teams to develop and deliver program guidance and resources;
- Manage subject matter teams and contractors to develop and deliver agency guidance, information, and resources including training, to build capacity internally within our agency and the capacity of our external partners.
- Lead and manage the strategic planning and daily activities of the FHWA Planning Discipline including the development and delivery of the Planning Discipline Succession Plan, Risk Assessment, three-year Action Plan and annual Work Plan; develop and deliver learning and development resources; produce a podcast; develop and maintain the Planning Discipline SharePoint site and Teams channels; and facilitate and manage leadership teams, including developing meeting agendas and member coordination. This assignment also includes the management of a contractor assigned to assist with the delivery of specific Action Plan products, with an annual budget of $503,000.
- Subject matter expert for transportation planning and programming topics including, Planning funds (SPR/PL); planning grant management; planning work programs; Tribal planning; Federal Land Management Agency coordination; Multi-modal/Intermodal Planning; Metropolitan Planning; Planning Collaboration with the Federal Transit Administration; Statewide Planning; Transportation Improvement Programs and Statewide Transportation Improvement Programs; and Transportation Management Area Certification.
- Serve as a Liaison for six FHWA Division offices (WA, OR, CA, HI, AK, MT), providing expert advice and technical assistance in support of Federal planning statutes, regulations and agency guidance;
- Manage the Planning Onboarding Program which includes welcoming new planning staff to FHWA; providing one year of monthly training courses; and mentoring with seasoned Planners. I also serve as a mentor within this program.
- Assisted in the development of new agency regulations based on new statutes. This included the development of language and vetting of language through legal and the Office of the Secretary and OMB to issue the Notice of Proposed Rule Making; reviewed and responded to comments received; and assisted in preparing the final regulations for publication.
Community Planner (GS-12)
Federal Highway Administration
01.2000 - 07.2007
- Provided technical assistance and expert advice to partner agencies (Tennessee Department of Transportation (DOT) and Tennessee Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs)) to ensure timely and effective delivery of the Federal-aid program.
- Met with DOT and MPO staff and leadership to support Federal compliance activities.
- Led and delivered program and process compliance reviews to ensure compliance of Federal Planning statutes and regulations; assisted partner agencies in developing action plans to resolve compliance issues; and facilitated completion of action plans to ensure compliance at close-out.
- Participated on national agency-wide teams to develop guidance and to delivery training.
- Managed FHWA planning grants program, including review and approval of grant documents; delivery of products and approved funding requests; and reviewed periodic and final reports; and reviewed vouchers and assisted with grant closeout.
- Identified planning risk and actions to minimize risk through annual performance planning processes.
- Recommended Federal action for approval of Statewide Transportation Improvement Programs; Transportation Management Area Certifications; and Unified Planning Work Programs and Statewide Planning Work Programs.
- Initiated and represented FHWA as the first President of Nashville, TN Chapter of Women's Transportation Seminar.
Community Planner (GS-13)
Federal Transit Administration
05.1996 - 01.2000
- Reviewed and approved Federal Transit grants including analyzing consistency with eligibility requirements; Federal regulations and statutes for each grant type and funding source; facilitated reviews through Dept. of Labor, EPA and FTA engineering (as appropriate) and legal staff processes.
- Facilitated creative solutions to assist with grantee challenges to meet eligibility and other Federal grant requirements.
- Worked with State DOTs, MPOs and transit agencies to improve transit alternatives in transportation planning and programming processes.
- Subject matter expert for transportation planning topics including Statewide and MPO long-range and short-range transportation planning and programming; multi-modal and alternative mode planning; programming in transportation improvement program and statewide transportation improvement program; annual FTA appropriations, sub-allocations, grants and congressional earmarks.
- Established and led Region 10 Intermodal Planning Group designed to share information about projects, planning and activities within Region 10. Participating agencies included: FTA, MARAD, NHTSA, FHWA, EPA, FRA, FMCSA, FAA.
- Built relationships with FHWA Division planning staff and partnered to delivery consistent messages and assistance to partner agencies (State DOTs and MPOs).
- Recommended Federal action for approval of Statewide Transportation Improvement Programs; Transportation Management Area Certifications; and Unified Planning Work Programs and Statewide Planning Work Programs.
- Participated with multi-disciplinary, multi-agency team throughout Washington state in development of the first Planning Environment Linkages process to streamline National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) processes by addressing elements of NEPA in transportation planning processes.
Transportation Planner
Thurston Regional Planning Council
04.1992 - 05.1996
- Managed the Transportation Improvement Program, including development of selection criteria and project scoring processes for various funding sources; worked with State DOT and local agencies to identify and select projects to program in four-year document; demonstrated and documented fiscal constraint; conducted public participation; and documented planning and programming processes in a public document.
- Assisted with and created materials for Technical Committee, and Policy Board meetings including summary documents and information to assist in their decisionmaking processes.
- Assisted with developing and running the travel demand model including adding nodes, traffic analysis zones, entering data, and analyzing model results against real-time data.
- Assisted in development of the metropolitan transportation plan. This included working with various subject matter experts to establish long-range goals and policies; forecast future travel demand; economic forecasts; population forecasts; revenue forecasts and estimates; identifying transportation needs based on goals and policies; and develop alternative scenarios to address needs. I assisted in discussions with technical committee members and Policy Board members to review and analyze alternatives to finalize the most appropriate alternative for the region. Assisted in presenting draft Metropolitan Transportation Plan to the public as part of our public involvement program.
Transportation Technician
Washington State Department Of Tranpsortation
01.1989 - 12.1991
- Assisted in developing on-demand transit program for disadvantaged and disabled users.
- Assisted in delivery of training on transportation planning process for transit providers.
- Provided technical support and conference management for the annual transit providers conference.
- Laid tubes for traffic counts and conducted manual traffic counts.
- Conducted intersection analysis and calculations to determine signal warrants and forecasted travel demand on state routes (without assistance of a computer).
Education
Bachelor of Arts - Operations Management
The Evergreen State College
Olympia, WA12.1989
Skills
- Program and project management and implementation
- Innovative capacity building
- Effective stewardship and oversight
- Team development and management
- Strategic planning and risk assessment
- Building stakeholder partnerships
- Budget management
- Identifying and implementing effective process improvements
- Adapt to change and reflect positive support
Accomplishments
Outstanding Performance Rating:
- 2023
- 2022
- 2021
- 2005
- 2004
Exceeded Expectations Performance Rating:
- 2020-1997
FHWA Leadership Award: 2015
Superior Achievement Award: 2014
Secretary's Team Award: 2004
Secretary's Team Award: 1998
Secretary of Transportation's Career Strategies Seminar Award: 1997
Timeline
Community Planner (GS-14)
Federal Highway Administration
07.2007 - Current
Community Planner (GS-12)
Federal Highway Administration
01.2000 - 07.2007
Community Planner (GS-13)
Federal Transit Administration
05.1996 - 01.2000
Transportation Planner
Thurston Regional Planning Council
04.1992 - 05.1996
Transportation Technician
Washington State Department Of Tranpsortation
01.1989 - 12.1991
Bachelor of Arts - Operations Management
The Evergreen State College
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