The Sharon D. Banks Award is a biennial award established in the memory of Sharon D. Banks, who was the former General Manager of AC Transit in Oakland, California, and who chaired the TRB Executive Committee in 1998. She passed away in 1999. The award recognizes innovative and successful leadership in people-oriented initiatives in transportation, sustained over an extended period of time, that exemplify Banks’ ideals of humanity and service.
The 2022 recipient of the Sharon D. Banks Award is Jacquelyne D. Grimshaw, Vice President for Government Affairs, Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT). Ms. Grimshaw is recognized for championing the interests and concerns of, and the impacts felt by, those not usually at the decision table. She is acknowledged for her thoughtful, effective, and people-oriented leadership style, her groundbreaking implementation of practical environmental justice initiatives, and the hundreds of colleagues she help mold into more effective professionals and better people.
The award will be presented on Wednesday, January 12, 2022, during the
Chair’s Plenary Session portion of the TRB Annual Meeting, January 9-13, 2022, at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C.
Ms. Grimshaw's areas of expertise include public engagement, environmental justice, and transportation policy research. During her 30 plus years at CNT, Ms. Grimshaw has created many initiatives in the areas of public participation in transportation planning, environmental justice, air quality, and water quality. She advocates for and provides expertise to increase transit service in the Chicago region.
Advocating for those who are often not included in decision-making “rooms” has been the setting in which Ms. Grimshaw has dedicated her energies, knowledge, and skills. She fights for equity in funding, and she staunchly tries to ensure that benefits and opportunities afforded by transportation policies and investments improve outcomes for all.
Ms. Grimshaw’s work has included advising former Chicago Mayor Harold Washington on policy and strategic actions. Her advice was based on reflecting the concerns of neighborhood organizations as well as those of elected officials.
Ms. Grimshaw advocates for passenger-focused travel regionally and nationally. These efforts have included location-based mortgages to help keep housing near transit more affordable, and the development of the widely respected “Housing + Transportation Affordability Index.” Her passion for “everyone to benefit” has motivated her support of this innovative tool.
Her work has included advocacy for equitable transit-oriented development in core communities as a part of the Steering Committee for Elevated Chicago. She has served as a member of the Chicago Transit Authority’s Board of Directors where her leadership focused on access to employment of Disadvantaged Business Enterprises (DBE). Ms. Grimshaw led CNT’s Transit Future campaign in the fight for mass transit funding reform in the state legislature and a few years later sought to help the Cook County Board identify a dedicated revenue stream to expand transit in Cook County.
In her service to the Transportation Research Board, Ms. Grimshaw has been a leader on the Committees on Women’s Issues in Transportation, Public Involvement in Transportation, and Environmental Justice in Transportation. She has been a strong voice for environmental and social justice within the committee structure especially regarding the importance of inclusion and the consideration of equity impacts. She has advocated and led through example on ways to incorporate the voices of those who are traditionally underrepresented in transportation discussions and decision-making. Her work at CNT has effectively demonstrated the importance of transportation as part of quality of life in neighborhoods.
Jacquelyne D. Grimshaw completed requirements for her M.A. in public policy from Governors State University and received a B.S. in biology from Marquette University.
This Summary Last Modified On: 11/30/2021