October 2026: Member Spotlight - Dr. Beverly Scott

Every day, millions of people step onto a train or a bus without thinking about who decided where it would go, who it would serve, or who would be left waiting at the curb.

Dr. Beverly Scott has spent forty years thinking about exactly that.

As the former CEO and General Manager of four of the nation's major transit systems (Boston's MBTA, Sacramento Regional Transit, the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority, and our own MARTA here in Atlanta), Dr. Scott has held the levers that move cities.

In every one of those roles, she asked the same question: who gets to move, and who gets to build?

For Dr. Scott, sustainability and equity are the same conversation. Transit that isn't affordable isn't sustainable. A system that doesn't reach every neighborhood isn't finished. Public dollars that never reach community businesses through procurement leave prosperity on the table.

Her approach weighs every decision against its full impact: economic, social and environmental.

That equity-centered lens has carried her from local transit agencies to the national stage. She was appointed to the National Infrastructure Advisory Council by President Obama and reappointed by President Biden. She co-chaired the Council's 2024 report Electrifying the Workforce, and she authored the Transportation chapter of the Fifth National Climate Assessment. Her peers inducted her into the American Public Transportation Association Hall of Fame in 2020.

Yet ask about her legacy, and the conversation turns quickly to young people.

In 2018, Dr. Scott founded Introducing Youth to American Infrastructure (IYAI+), a national nonprofit built on a simple belief: the people who will build tomorrow's cities should reflect the communities who live in them. Through innovation challenges, career webinars, paid fellowships and mentorship, IYAI+ opens the door for youth of color and young women to see themselves as engineers, planners and leaders: the next generation of community-builders.

The future of infrastructure is a workforce question. Dr. Scott is answering it one young leader at a time.

The Black Sustainability Network exists because sustainable communities aren't built by technology alone. They're built by people who are ready, represented and resourced. Dr. Scott's career is proof of that principle at scale: equitable systems, prepared workers, and a pipeline of young leaders who will carry the work forward.

We are honored to honor her voice within our Eco-Building Industry House.

Dr. Scott holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from Howard University and a B.A., magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, from Fisk University. Learn more about her work at iyai.org.