Monica Tellez-Fowler Named New COTA President/CEO

The Central Ohio Transit Authority (COTA), Columbus, OH, has named Monica Tellez-Fowler as its new President/CEO, upon the departure of Joanna M. Pinkerton May 6. Tellez-Fowler joined COTA in 2023 as chief operating officer, before being promoted to deputy CEO. While with the agency, Tellez-Fowler led negotiations with Transport Workers Union Local 208, reaching a three-year contract agreement and avoiding a work stoppage.

Prior to joining COTA, Tellez-Fowler was deputy CEO/treasurer of Clark County Public Transit Benefit Area Authority (C-TRAN) in Vancouver, WA, where she represented the agency on a $3.5 billion Interstate 5 bridge replacement megaproject across the Columbia River on the Washington-Oregon border. Before C-TRAN, she was chief financial officer of Trinity Metro in Fort Worth, TX, where she oversaw the New Starts FTA grant application process for TEXRail, a $1 billion, 27-mile commuter rail between downtown Fort Worth and the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.

For APTA, Tellez-Fowler is a member of the Bus Operations and Planning and Program Development committees and Transit Operations Planning and Scheduling Subcommittee.