Speakers

Currently the Director for NEORide, Katherine oversees the day-to-day needs of 17 transit members across Ohio, Kentucky, and Michigan, including executing special projects, grants, and marketing.  In 2019, she spearheaded the effort to launch EZfare the largest multi-county mobile ticketing system in the country.  Her focus is on expanding regional transportation and coordinated services.  She has been able to obtain over $5 million in state and federal funding for NEORide agencies to make this work possible. In 2020, she was awarded the APTA Annual Grand Prize for “Best Partnership to Increase Ridership” and first prize in 2021 for “Best Marketing and Communications on COVID-19”. 

Before joining NEORide, Katherine was the Director of Planning at the Portage Area Regional Transit Authority and SARTA for a combined ten years.   During this time, Ms. Conrad received millions in federal and state grants, lead a full transit redesign project and created innovative new marketing and transit programs that have been replicated across the country. In addition, Katherine has been involved on government and lobbying efforts on the state and national level. Before coming to transit, Katherine was a Vice President Burges & Burges the leading strategic planning and political consulting firm in the State of Ohio. 

Katherine is a graduate of the University of Akron with a master’s degree in Public Administration and an Undergraduate in Political Science.