GridMatrix Announces Inaugural Advisory Board Chaired by Bob Bennett
Cities Today Chairman is joined by seven other expert-leaders in transportation, smart cities, data science, artificial intelligence, and advanced sensing
SAN FRANCISCO, CA, April 24th, 2023 — GridMatrix is proud to announce the formation of its inaugural Advisory Board, a collection of luminaries renowned within their fields. The Board will advise the company’s executive management on all aspects of GridMatrix’s business from sales and marketing to technology and product development. Combined, the board has overseen public agencies with more than 8 million constituents, founded eight companies, taught at 12 institutions of higher learning, and sat on 17 boards of directors. Led by Chairman Bob Bennett, the Board’s vision is to develop GridMatrix into cities’ preferred partner for Intelligent Transportation Systems. Founding board members include:
Bob Bennett brings a wealth of experience with public service, and is currently the Chairman of the Cities Today Institute and Ward 2 Alderman of Parkville, Missouri. Previously, Bennett served as Chief Innovation Officer for Kansas City, Missouri. Bennett is also the founder and CEO of B Squared Civic Solutions, a civic tech consulting firm with public and private clients.
Amy Ford is Vice President of Global Surface Transportation and Mobility Innovation at AECOM and brings experience in the public and private sector and associations meant to bridge the gap between them. Ford was previously Vice President of Public Policy and Mobility on Demand at ITS America, providing strategic policy direction and analysis for transportation technologies sectorwide. Ford brought six years of public sector experience with the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT), including four years as Chief of Advanced Mobility. She chaired the state’s Autonomous Mobility Task Force.
Dr. Donald Lee is an expert in statistical learning techniques and has already provided extensive support to the Data Science team at GridMatrix. He has experience developing data-driven tools for a range of problems, from financial planning to patient mortality. His research has been published in leading journals in management, healthcare, and statistical sciences. Donald holds a joint appointment in the Department of Biostatistics & Bioinformatics at the Rollins School of Public Health and previously worked as an associate professor at Yale, with appointments in the School of Management and the Department of Statistics and Data Science.
Gordon Feller will leverage his extensive background in policy advising to provide trend analysis in the civic technology ecosystem. Feller currently advises Parsons Corporation and Transit Screen. Feller is a Global Fellow for the Smithsonian Institution — Wilson Center, and was a board member at the Alliance for Innovation. Feller has written extensively and has been published hundreds of times in publications such as CFO Magazine, Urban Land, TIME Magazine, and Financial Times.
Dr. Jonathan Reichental is the founder of Human Future, a global business and technology advisory, investment, and education firm. Previous roles have included senior software engineering manager, director of technology innovation, and he has served as chief information officer at both O’Reilly Media and the City of Palo Alto, California.
In 2013 he was recognized as one of the 25 doers, dreamers, and drivers in government in America. In 2016, he was named a top influential CIO in the United States and in 2017, he was named one of the top 100 CIOs in the world. He has also won a best CIO in Silicon Valley award and a national IT leadership prize.
Reichental is a recognized global thought leader on a number of emerging trends including urban innovation, smart cities, sustainability, blockchain technology, data governance, the fourth industrial revolution, and digital transformation.
He holds several degrees including a Ph.D. in Information Systems. He is an adjunct professor in the School of Management at the University of San Francisco and instructs at several other universities. Reichental regularly creates online video courses for LinkedIn Learning.
He is a popular global keynote speaker and writer, including authoring a bestseller on the future of cities.
Many of his videos and articles can be found at https://www.reichental.com.
John Rossant is the founder of CoMotion & Chairman of the Newcities Foundation. Public-private transportation initiatives have also been his career’s focus. CoMotion brings together innovative transportation firms and civic mobility champions to form partnerships to improve public infrastructure. Rossant also serves as the Chairman of the New Cities Foundation. Rossant previously led the Publicis Live team in charge of producing the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland and has produced WEF events around the world. In his time as a journalist for Business Week, Rossant received the Overseas Press Club Award and the Peter Weitz Award for Distinguished Reporting. He is on the Board of Directors for international educational organization Humanity in Action.
Dr. Mina Sartipi brings the board multifaceted research experience as Founding Director of the Center for Urban Informatics and Progress (CUIP), Guerry Professor of the Computer Science and Engineering Dept. at the University of Tennessee Chattanooga, and faculty member at the Bredesen Center for Interdisciplinary Research and Graduate Education. As the director of CUIP, she coordinates Smart City research and the strategic vision for Urban Science across the entire campus. Sartipi will advise GridMatrix on opportunities for partnership and coordination with research institutions. Sartipi’s research interests include smart cities, cyber-physical systems, data integration, data interoperability, big data analytics, modern error control coding, and information theory.
Tim Papandreou serves as the founder and CEO of Emerging Transport Advisors; a strategic advisor for X, The Moonshot Factory; a senior partner at Monaco Foundry; and a strategic advisor at StakeBorg. Prior to these roles, Papandreou was the CIO of SFMTA, the public transportation network of San Francisco with a daily ridership of 725,000 at the time, and Transportation Planning Manager at the LA County MTA, with a daily ridership of 1.5 million.
“This board is unlike any other organization in the intelligent transportation space,” said Nicholas D’Andre, CEO of GridMatrix. “ We’re privliged to bring the board’s collective experience and insight to bear on our product, operations, and ultimately to the customers we servce. GridMatrix will immensely benefit from having these experts advising our leadership team.”
“This Board is an incredible force for growth and development for our team,” said Austin Wilson, Vice President of Business Development at GridMatrix. “This particular group of advisors brings complementary skillsets, professional excellence, and intellectual diversity to GridMatrix. We look forward to partnering with this talented group of individuals.”
“This advisory board brings together a range of exceptionally talented individuals,” said Advisory Board Chairman Bob Bennett. “We were all drawn to the technological prowess of the GridMatrix team and the potential it holds. The Advisory Board is excited to catalyze and accelerate the further development of this breakthrough technology.”
The Board will hold ongoing meetings with GridMatrix’s leadership team as well as convene annually with senior GridMatrix leadership to provide support and guidance for the year to come. Board members will also provide sector-wide insights in the form of thought leadership pieces. Most critically, the board will strategize with GridMatrix staff on how their experience and networks can best serve the needs of the company and its clients.
About GridMatrix
GridMatrix’s award-winning software platform for real-time traffic analytics combines edge data from existing roadway sensors and cloud-based data sources to eliminate urban traffic congestion, accidents, and emissions.
The Intelligent Transportation Society of America has recognized GridMatrix’s software as a leading new solution for sustainable and resilient infrastructure.
GridMatrix is headquartered in California with operations across the United States. The company was founded in 2021 by a group of former Apple engineering and operations colleagues. The company’s recent work has been featured in Bloomberg, the Associated Press, and Government Technology.
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Kyle Pickett
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