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2026 TRB Annual Meeting: Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti—Recipient of the Sharon D. Banks Award
The 2026 Sharon D. Banks Award for Humanitarian Leadership in Transportation recipient is Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti, Senior Vice President, National Practice Consultant, HNTB. Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti is recognized for her career-long efforts to ensure that transportation systems truly serve the people who rely on them. Through her leadership, Gutierrez-Scaccetti has advanced a clear philosophy: that transportation is the circulatory system of the economy, connecting communities, enabling opportunity, and enriching quality of life. She has consistently emphasized transparency, customer service, and the principle that a safe, reliable, and efficient transportation system should be something the public can take for granted—not because it is forgotten, but because it is expected.
The Sharon D. Banks Award is a biennial award established in memory of Sharon D. Banks, the former General Manager of AC Transit in Oakland, California, and chair 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, that exemplify Banks’ ideals of humanity and service.
The award will be presented on Wednesday, January 14, 2026, during the Chair’s Plenary Session portion of the TRB Annual Meeting, January 11-15, 2026, at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C.
Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti began her public service in the Mercer County, New Jersey Affirmative Action Office, where she expanded opportunity by helping minority contractors learn how to prequalify and bid on county contracts. She then joined the New Jersey Treasurer’s Office, gaining a broad understanding of how state government operates and developing the skills that would underpin her leadership in years to come.
Her career path next took her to the New Jersey Turnpike Authority, where she spent more than two decades learning the business from the ground up. Rising through the ranks to Executive Director, she led one of the state’s most important transportation facilities with a deep commitment to accountability, operational excellence, and the traveling public. It was also during this time that she developed a strong appreciation for the labor-intensive nature of transportation work and the importance of ensuring that every employee understands the critical role they play in serving the public.
In 2011, she brought her talents to Florida as Executive Director and CEO of Florida’s Turnpike Enterprise. There she managed more than 500 centerline miles of roadway, oversaw $1 billion in revenues, led a capital program that more than doubled in size, and secured three separate credit rating upgrades from national agencies. Her tenure was marked by innovation, fiscal discipline, and a focus on users of the system.
Returning to New Jersey as Commissioner of Transportation, Gutierrez-Scaccetti championed the needs of transportation users above all else. She oversaw major capital programs, refreshed the New Jersey Department of Transportation’s organizational structure to ensure efficiency and performance, and launched the Commitment to Communities initiative to help local governments deliver projects that directly improve residents’ daily lives. She also advanced the Transportation Infrastructure Bank to provide low-cost loans for local projects, expanded the Department’s social media and communications presence to engage more effectively with the public, and embraced technologies that enhance safety, reduce congestion, and extend the life of critical infrastructure.
Particularly meaningful to Gutierrez-Scaccetti is her collaboration with the charitable organization United for ALICE, which stands for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed. ALICE populations live above the poverty line yet cannot afford basic living expenses. Many hold multiple jobs but still lack essentials such as reliable transportation, which limits access to employment, health care, and shopping. In reviewing the department’s projects, she consistently considers how they might benefit ALICE—such as adding sidewalks to bridges for safer pedestrian crossings or incorporating opportunities for light rail or bus rapid transit in major reconstruction projects. She emphasizes practical improvements that enhance daily life, from placing sidewalks where they are most needed to pairing roadway resurfacing with ADA-accessible mobility improvements.
Gutierrez-Scaccetti was a member of the TRB Executive Committee from 2019 to 2022 and served as chair in 2023. She also served on several other TRB committees and panels, including the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s TRB Division Committee; the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Panel on Administration of Highway and Transportation Agencies; and the NCHRP Panel on Collective and Individual Actions for State Departments of Transportation Envisioning and Realizing the Next Era of America’s Transportation Infrastructure.
Gutierrez-Scaccetti received her B.S. in business administration from the University of Connecticut, and a M.S. in human resources and industrial relations from Rutgers University-New Brunswick.
For her exceptional leadership, her vision for connectivity, and her unwavering commitment to the users of transportation systems, Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti is recognized with the TRB Sharon D. Banks Award for Humanitarian Leadership in Transportation.
This Summary Last Modified On: 10/15/2025
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