Rolling Rural EPISODE 3 LAURA CALDERON

Welcome to Rolling Rural: A Podcast from the Illinois Rural Transit Assistance Center. We are part of the Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs at Western Illinois University. This podcast is made possible with funding from the Illinois Department of Transportation. We tell the stories of thepeople behind rural transit, featuring interviews with leaders and frontline professionals working to connect communities across rural Illinois.Our guest today, Laura Calderon, is the Executive Director of the Illinois Public Transportation Association, where she has led the organization since 2009. A seasoned nonprofit association executive with 20 years of experience in the transportation industry, she brings expertise inadvocacy at the local, state, and federal levels, as well as association finance and membership management. Calderon previously served as a Program Manager at the Illinois Department of Transportation and as a transportation research and appropriations analyst for the Illinois House of Representatives. She holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Illinois, has completed graduate-level coursework in the field, and is a 2016 graduate of the Edgar Fellows Program.