Sam Schwartz Appoints Moriah Richardson, Kate Sargent, and Hugh Smith to Value Inclusion, Belonging + Equity Council

Sam Schwartz has announced Hugh Smith, Kate Sargent, and Moriah Richardson as the inaugural members of the firm’s Value Inclusion, Belonging, and Equity (VIBE) Council. Moriah, Kate, and Hugh will report directly to the President of Sam Schwartz on VIBE topics, and they will work closely with the senior leadership team to further integrate principles of inclusion, belonging, and equity across all dimensions of the firm’s work. The establishment of this Council will further the implementation of the firm’s Value Inclusion, Belonging, and Equity Strategy.

Hugh Smith is a Senior Associate and Director of Community Outreach based in the firm’s New York City office. He has over 18 years of professional experience and specializes in Community Outreach and Public Involvement services on large-scale construction and transportation projects across the tri-state area. Hugh has led and/or participated in the Community Outreach and Public Involvement efforts for a number of projects including projects on each of New York City’s iconic East River Bridges, the decade-long Belt Parkway Rehabilitation, and the Second Avenue Subway, Phases I and II. Hugh and the Community Outreach team engage with diverse communities across the area to ascertain their concerns, find innovative solutions, and facilitate productive communication and build lasting relationships throughout the life of a project and beyond. Hugh is passionate about the firm’s efforts to strengthen its culture of equity and inclusion.

Kate Sargent, AICP, is a Senior Associate, Oakland Office Leader, and leader of the firm’s Transportation Electrification Practice. She has 15 years of experience, 14 of which have been at Sam Schwartz. She has a breadth of experience in helping municipalities navigate the modernization of their transportation systems, complimented by her depth of knowledge in traditional transportation planning and operations. Kate has led transportation electrification master plans and feasibility studies for a number of transit agencies, as well as emerging mobility plans for cities such as Los Angeles and San Jose. She also has expertise in helping cities develop data-driven decision-making processes, pricing and incentive structures, and open data requirements. She worked with the city of Los Angeles to develop a new Mobility Data Specification (MDS) for taxis, is working with the City of San Jose to develop MDS for transportation equity, and is developing grant-funded guidance for cities on how to develop data requirements to support city goals. Within Sam Schwartz, she works to align the firm’s technical work to further equity and inclusion in the field of transportation planning.

Moriah Richardson, EIT, is an Engineer in the firm’s Jersey City, NJ office. She specializes in multi-modal transportation engineering and has integrated pedestrian and bicycle safety, environmental justice, and analytics into efforts throughout the region. Notable projects include designing New Jersey’s Pedestrian Safety Management System (PSMS), a first-of-its-kind safety scoring system that incorporates crash data as well as proximity to community resources and vulnerable communities in the prioritization of roadway segments for safety improvements. From design to outreach to implementation, Moriah continues to programmatically prioritize equity and inclusion in all aspects of her work.

“Meaningful change is needed to make our workplaces and our industry more inclusive, welcoming, and equitable” said Michael A. Shamma, PE, President of Sam Schwartz. “We must move away from the notion that responsibility for this lies with one person, one department, or one group. This Council will provide the necessary leadership and guidance to support this collective work.”

“I look forward to the Value Inclusion, Belonging, and Equity Council catalyzing our ongoing, firmwide efforts on building a culture that centers these values and ensuring our work aligns with them,” said Samuel I. Schwartz, PE, Founder and CEO of Sam Schwartz. “As an extension of the firm’s leadership team, they will be pivotal to our shared aim of infusing principles of inclusion, belonging, and equity into all our activities, tracking progress toward this objective, and communicating to the extended Sam Schwartz community.”