BuildOUT California and our global brand BuildIT wish to thank Ms. Terri Mestas for her years of transformational leadership at Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) and we celebrate her selection as Seattle Sound Transit’s Deputy CEO of Mega-Project Delivery.
While at LAWA she streamlined the previously cumbersome procurement process to one that has generated ‘record high’ participation rates as evidenced by the recent Design, and Program Management, Multiple Award Task Order Contracts (MATOC). Championed by Ms. Mestas, these MATOC opportunities included the historic inclusion of LGBT businesses as Los Angeles, and LAWA, continue to prepare for the FIFA World Cup in 2026 and the Olympic/Para-Olympic Games in 2028.
BuildOUT California and our Global Brand, BuildIT, look forward to engaging our Pacific Northwest (PNW) Associates and Stakeholders to support Ms. Mestas in her new role. We also look forward to growing our engagement with Seattle’s Sound Transit which currently has the largest transit expansion program in the United States, including ST3 capital projects, totaling an estimated $54 billion.
A special ‘shout out’ to Ms. Grace Crunican who was a former General Manager of the San Francsico Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) District who was part of the selection process in hiring Ms. Mestas at Sound Transit. Ms. Crunican, along with BART’s Board of Directors, were champions of LGBT inclusion within BART’s procurement programs where funding allowed outreach to Small/LGBT/Minority firms.