Emmanuella Myrthil has been appointed as SEPTA’s first Chief Equity and Inclusion Officer. She will be reporting to Leslie S. Richards, the General Manager and CEO of SEPTA. 

This new role shows SEPTA’s commitment to ensuring a positive environment for everyone who does business with or works at SEPTA. 

Part of her role will be giving direction for SEPTA’s diversity and equity programs. This includes the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) and the Diversity, Equity, and Belonging (DEB). 

Another part will be giving guidance to the management team and the SEPTA Board. SEPTA’s equal opportunity compliance and equity-related statistics to those groups and outside regulatory agencies. 

“I am extremely proud of SEPTA’s diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. I am excited that Emmanuella Myrthil will continue to build on that foundation to further strengthen SEPTA as an organization that is diverse, inclusive, and enables all people to get equal opportunities,” said Richards. 

Myrthil worked most recently at HNTB, a national infrastructure engineering and design firm, where she was the Division Diversity Director for the Southeast Division. While there, she worked to remove barriers and expand access for minority businesses. 

She also diversified small business participation in transportation projects. Myrthil led an Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Allyship program at HNTB. 

In addition to her work at HNTB, Myrthil brings 18 years of experience in the transportation industry to SEPTA. 

Before working at HNTB, she was the DBE Manager at the Georgia Department of Transportation. 

She has also been involved with the Conference of Minority Transportation Officials (COMTO),The American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC), the American Public Transportation Association (APTA), and Women’s Transportation Seminar (WTS). 

She received a Bachelor of Science in Journalism from SUNY New Paltz.  

Richards remarked that, “Her experience and values make her the ideal person to take on this new role and advance our commitment to creating a more trusting and culturally competent environment for our employees, our customers, and the communities we serve.”