TransWest, a leading tech-enabled mobility services operator, today announced the addition of three key new executives: Christie Perrott as Vice President, Marketing & Communications; Andrew Glass Hastings as Vice President, Strategic Partnerships; and Janet Zimmermann as Vice President, People & Culture. The three positions are set to prepare the company for its next stage of growth.
The appointments continue to strengthen TransWest’s leadership team. Over the last two years, the company added key leaders with Russell Nickel, Chief Financial Officer; Stephanie Cook, Vice President, Operations; and Justin Pate as Chief Revenue Officer.
In addition to helping move commuters, workforces, residents, and students via shared mobility solutions, the company has played a critical role during COVID, working with corporate clients including Expedia and T-Mobile to use passenger vehicles for on-demand food transportation to local communities, delivering over 1.2 million meals to families in need. Additionally, TransWest played key roles in vaccine distribution and access to BIPOC communities, transport and logistics support of front-line workers, and early-on transportation of manufacturing workers to boost the production of personal protective equipment (PPE). Now, the company is helping its clients prepare to return to their offices.
“We’ve been rapidly growing amidst a very challenging operating environment,” said Andrew Janison, founder and CEO of TransWest. “We stepped up for the community and our clients when they needed us. Now, they’re relying on us to find innovative mobility solutions to get their employees back to their buildings and campuses safely and quickly.”
As the company prepares for continued rapid growth and scale, key hires were required to grow its talent, lines of business, and geographic footprint.
Perrott joins TransWest from moovel, a global provider of multi-modal mobility solutions, where she served as Chief Marketing Officer for North America carving out a global category leadership position in the emerging mobility-as-a-service market. Prior to moovel, Perrott was instrumental in creating disruptive growth for environmental, health, and safety Software-as-a-Service provider SafeTec, where she served as Chief Marketing Officer. Perrott was influential in achieving market transformation for the NW Energy Star program and has launched myriad marque technology products for companies including Microsoft, Intel, Samsung, AT&T, and Facebook. “I’ve spent my career at the convergence of technology and sustainability and am incredibly excited to join the TransWest team as we embark on defining the next generation of urban mobility solutions,” stated Perrott.
Glass Hastings brings extensive transportation experience from both the public and private sectors. He previously worked for the City of Seattle where he led some of the region’s biggest transportation initiatives and worked in close partnership with King County Metro and private mobility providers to expand mobility options and achieve one of the best commute mode splits in the country. More recently as a founding member of the policy team at the civic-tech start-up Remix, he worked in partnership with cities and transit agencies around the country to develop better systems to manage mobility. He comes to TransWest most recently from the urban mobility planning and design firm CDM Smith where he managed strategy and client relationships. “Joining TransWest is an incredible opportunity to continue to help cities and employers manage mobility by providing more options for travelers to leave their personal cars at home and rely on climate-friendly and multi-modal mobility options. We will lead by working with our clients and partners to reimagine urban mobility solutions,” stated Glass Hastings.
Zimmermann comes from Amazon where she held multiple roles in her four-year tenure including as the HR leader for North America Consumer business and the Prime Video team. Prior to Amazon, Zimmermann held HR leadership roles at Philips Healthcare, Microsoft and Sun Microsystems. At Microsoft, Zimmermann led HR for Xbox during high growth leading to the successful Xbox One launch. This followed previous roles as the GM of HR for Windows and leading several teams within the compensation and performance management function. Throughout her career, Zimmermann has specialized in working closely with business leaders to develop their talent management strategy and the people practices that power their businesses and culture. “I’m energized by the opportunities and growth ahead for TransWest and humbled to join such a talented team that is dedicated to client service, our core values, and our people,” stated Zimmermann.
“We’ve built a successful model for operating mobility services at scale. Now, we’re ready to aggressively scale nationally,” explains Janison. The new appointments will join Russell Nickel, Stephanie Cook, and Justin Pate.
Russell Nickel joined TransWest in April 2020 with nearly 25 years of experience as a finance and operations leader. Nickel, who started his career as a CPA in public accounting, has spent most of his career focusing on building scalable foundations and teams to support high-growth businesses. Before joining TransWest in 2020, Nickel had spent the previous six years as Chief Financial Officer of the rapidly growing consumer products company Funko. During his tenure as CFO at Funko, he helped guide the company through an explosive period of growth from $35 million in revenues to over $800 million, helping to oversee multiple capital raises, four acquisitions, and an IPO in 2017.
Stephanie Cook, a well-respected operator, change agent and team builder, joined TransWest in June 2020 from Lyft where she was Head of Driver Service Operations, enabling the success of 800+ field team members across North America. She joined Lyft in 2015 as the founding field operations leader for the Pacific Northwest. Cook was instrumental in growing the Seattle market to a national leadership position and pioneered in-person driver support by launching the first Lyft Hub. Prior to joining Lyft, Cook spent 10 years leading operations learning and development functions to build capacity to scale at Amazon, PACCAR, and AAA Washington. Cook is drawn to mission-driven organizations that address the needs of vulnerable communities and contribute to a more sustainable planet. She currently serves as Vice President, Operations for TransWest.
Justin Pate joined TransWest in January 2021 from First Transit where he led the business development, strategy and marketing efforts globally for First Transit’s $1.4 billion business including transit, shared autonomous vehicles (SAV), mobility-as-a-service, fleet vehicle services and emerging markets growth. Before his role at FirstGroup, he served as Vice President of Business Development at MV Transportation. Pate quickly earned a reputation as a forward-thinking innovator with a keen eye on creative partnerships and product offerings. Prior to entering the mobility space, Justin honed his vast customer service and experience skills while serving in a variety of roles at Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts.
Perrott, Glass Hastings, and Zimmermann will join Nickel and Cook based in TransWest’s Seattle office.
Pate is based in Dallas, Texas.
