Phil Washington grew up on the South Side of Chicago in public housing with a single mother caring for a family of six. “The people building infrastructure in my community didn’t look like me,” he says. “I asked myself, ‘Why can’t I get a job to help build my own community?'”
Washington, on the other hand, entered the US Army first. He then landed a prominent job at the Denver Regional Transportation District, where he was ENR’s News Editor for Innovation in 2014, and then landed the position of CEO at the Los County Metropolitan Transportation Authority angels In 2020, he was appointed to the Biden-Harris transition team working on transportation policy and helped draft the infrastructure equity executive order that President Biden signed on his first day in office . “We started thinking about how to make this executive order operational,” Washington said at ENR’s Los Angeles Infrastructure Forum last November.
Leaders of 12 state departments of transportation, posing with Washington, signed the Equity in Infrastructure project pledge at an AASHTO meeting last year. There are a total of 19 DOTs committed to the program’s goals.
Photo by Mario Olivero/AASHTO
The Promise
Working with John Porcari, former assistant secretary of the US Department of Transportation, he came up with the idea of what Washington calls “a coalition of volunteers” and the creation of a nonprofit organization called the Equity in Infrastructure Project. The program invites leaders from transit authorities, airports, ports, water districts, engineering and construction firms and building trades councils to pledge actions to boost hiring opportunities for historically underutilized firms. The movement now has 56 signatories in 17 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, 45 of whom signed on by 2023. Porcari, who calls Washington a “model public servant,” adds that the program helps build “bridges to the middle class.” helping companies win prime contracts, contracts that allow them to reinvest in jobs in their underserved communities while expanding the construction workforce. Signatories commit to measuring how many prime contracts they awarded to HUBs before and how many they awarded after joining.
Washington, who became CEO of Denver International Airport in 2021, notes that the effort comes at a time of historic infrastructure spending, both through federal legislation and local and state funding. “When you think about the potential spending and capital programs of pledge signatories so far and those who will pledge, we’re looking at probably a trillion dollars,” he says.
Dorval Carter, president of the Chicago Transit Authority, was one of the original group of signatories in 2022, along with Washington, signing on for DIA. Washington is a charismatic leader — “the epitome of someone who is committed to making a difference,” says Carter. Both have examples of translating the promise into action. Carter creates an “opportunity ladder” with training and mentoring, sizing jobs so HUBs can be successful in winning and executing major contracts. AT DIA, Lisa Buckley, CEO of American Automation Services, a certified MWBE contractor, says winning a $5 million prime contract means “more risk but more reward.” Thanks to leaders like Washington and others, he says, “we had a level playing field and we were able to execute. It allowed us to double our business.”
Dwight Pullen, Jr., SVP and global leader of aviation at AECOM, discusses the role of the engineers and contractors who sign: “The pledge is fully aligned with our ESG framework, particularly purchasing based on social values, including promoting the diversity of suppliers”. Washington really cares about people who don’t have a voice, Pullen adds. “We’re challenging the rules to improve the industry.”
