Partner
Pittsburgh, PA

Karina Ricks is a Partner at Cityfi. She leverages her international, city, federal and private sector experience to bring together government, community and companies in collaborations that advance core values of equity, safety, climate preservation and economic growth. Karina’s background and expertise span and integrate transportation and mobility with physical and digital infrastructure, systems and data, land use planning and urban design, and community and economic development. 
Her previous professional roles include serving as Associate Administrator for Innovation, Research and Demonstration at the Federal Transit Administration of USDOT; founding Director of Pittsburgh’s Department of Mobility and Infrastructure; Director of Transportation Planning for Washington, DC; and Office Director and Sector Leader for Nelson\Nygaard Associates.

Karina has led and championed a number of groundbreaking initiatives including Universal Basic Mobility, open interoperability specifications for transit data systems, integrated mobility payment systems, equitable telecommunications management, smart and adaptable traffic systems, and launching what was hailed as the nation’s first Mobility as a Service system (MovePGH) - among others. Karina has led both system and organizational transformations to modernize processes, better deliver projects and develop strategic roadmaps for planning, capacity building, and project funding. She is an experienced policymaker at both the municipal and federal levels. She brings entrepreneurial solutions to leverage public private partnerships for the public good. 

Karina is rooted in a commitment to authentic collaboration, human centered design, and continuous learning.

Karina is a Fulbright Scholar, holds a Master’s Degree in City and Regional Planning from Cornell University and a pre-law degree from the James Madison College of Michigan State University. She has served as a strategic advisor to the World Bank and international observer with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

Education

  • Cornell University,
    Master’s Degree in City and Regional Planning

  • James Madison College of Michigan State University,
    Pre-law degree

Contact: karina@cityfi.co

1. What transportation innovation excites you the most?

Sidewalks! (and slow streets and pathways too!) People are built to walk. Walking makes us happier, healthier and have stronger communities. A good pedestrian network makes all the other transportation and mobility technologies work so much better. Walking is cheap, zero emission, and generally regarded as a basic human right.

(P.S. Ebikes are a close second - they bring such joy!)

2. How would you describe your career?

As a  scenic route. From Peace Corps volunteer in the South Pacific (harder than it sounds!), to democracy work in Eastern Europe (still a work in progress) to smart growth and environmental issues in the U.S.; all roads led to transportation and mobility. Those systems really determine who lags and who thrives, how we come together as a community (or not!), and how safe and healthy people and planet are. I am fortunate to have been able to work with a great number of entrepreneurial governments, companies and leaders along the way and hope to still do more.

3. Where is your happy place?

Standup paddleboarding on the lake at my husband’s family cabin in western Michigan.