The Transit Citizen Leadership Academy (TCLA) is the Transit Alliance’s award-winning program designed to equip participants across the 10 counties of Middle Tennessee with the tools and resources to understand how transit intersects with our lives, contributes to a higher quality of life, sustains a vibrant economy, and builds pathways to equity.
The TCLA is now an eight-session program with presentations led by industry experts and leading professionals. Participants synthesize vital information about regional transit issues through presentations, panels, discussions, homework, and reports. Industry-leading experts lead compelling and fact-based conversations and give participants the knowledge and tools to become thought leaders on the vital role of transit in the region today and into the future.
TCLA participants learn about the following:
- the process of funding transit and infrastructure;
- the impact transit has on our economy, health, environment, and equity;
- the responsibilities of local, state, and federal players;
- the importance of regional, corridor, and other studies and plans; as well as
- the emerging mass transit options that can address our mobility needs today and well into the future.
Past presenters include regional mayors; Steve Bland, CEO of WeGo Public Transit; Michelle Lacewell, Greater Nashville Regional Council; Carol Westlake, Executive Director for Tennessee Disability Coalition; Toks Omishakin, former-Deputy Commissioner of TDOT; Pam Kordenbrock, Federal Highway Administration; and more.
Registration for TCLA 25 is open. Class sessions are held Wednesdays, 4-6:30 PM, August 15th-October 25th, 2023, with breaks on September 6th and October 11th. Classes are in-person at various locations, with some being experiential–meaning we WILL be riding the bus and the train. The class graduation is on 10/25. In-person classes are subject to change to virtual based on Covid protocols to protect the health and safety of all involved.
Thanks to past sponsors of this incredible program: Bank of Tennessee and Greater Nashville Realtors!
Apply for future Transit Citizen Leadership Academy Classes here.
The first five classes were done in collaboration with a founding partner the Nelson and Sue Andrews Institute for Civic Leadership at Lipscomb University. The Alliance is grateful for past support from Lipscomb University.
