Cambridge Forum for Infrastructure Leaders

Ms. Vander Valk is the Chief Commercial Officer for Vinci Concessions North America, focusing on the development of large complex transportation infrastructure. She has over 20 years’ experience working with global developers and contractors like ACS Group, HOCHTIEF, Turner Construction, Flatiron, ASTM North America, and Halmar International, as well public sector champions. Throughout her career, she has garnered the confidence and trust of executives in both the public and private sector, both nationally and internationally. More than ten years ago, she orchestrated and led more than sixty roundtables across the US within the highest levels of government as part of our industry’s first platform aiming to hurdle challenges via collegial means as founder and chair of the Executive Infrastructure Club under the British Foreign Commonwealth Office using Chatham House Rules. Melanie has a Bachelor of Economics from Laurentian University in Canada, a Master’s in Public Administration-International Development from NYU and holds multiple certifications in Project Finance with Infrastructure-UK, Mazars, the UNDP, and the International Ex-Im Bank. She has been a member of the National Governors Association (NGA) Infrastructure Advisory Council, the Forbes Business Council, and the American Road Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) P3 Board of Directors.

Transurban Role   
Amanda Baxter, Senior Vice President for Transurban North America, oversees the daily operations, including the dynamic-pricing, of Transurban’s $4 billion High-occupancy Tolled (HOT) Express Lanes on 495, 95 and 395 – a growing 53-mile network in the Greater Washington Area. She is also responsible for the development and construction for end-to-end customer operations―including network enhancements and maintenance.  

Career Highlights   
For the last 25 years, Amanda has worked on infrastructure projects across the US. Over two decades of that experience include both public and private sectors providing leadership on complex transportation projects working directly for the owner agency and as owner’s representative. She is a proven leader in the strategic development, negotiation, commercial/financial close and delivery of Public Private Partnerships (P3) within transportation.  

Under Amanda’s leadership, the Virginia Department of Transportation delivered their first dynamically-priced Express Lanes along 66 Inside the Beltway and Transurban North America has broken ground on approximately $1.5 billion of new construction to extend the benefits of Express Lanes’ travel choices an additional 2.5 miles along 495 north towards Maryland and 10 miles south towards Fredericksburg, Virginia to the south. Amanda currently serves on several Board of Directors including the International Bridge, Tunnel, and Turnpike Association and the Greater Washington Partnership Leadership Council.  

Education   
Amanda is a graduate of George Mason University and recently received her MBA from the University of Virginia - Darden School of Business.  

William Gorham is a Vice President within the Business Development and Partnering Group at Plenary Americas. In this position, Will’s primary role is to identify and cultivate new projects, serve as the initial contact with public sector clients, and to assemble the optimal project team to successful win and deliver projects. In addition, Will often provides ongoing client relationship, stakeholder management, and strategic insight during the procurement, delivery and operations phases of projects.  

Prior to joining Plenary, Will worked at an LA-area public and government relations firm providing energy and environment clients with strategic planning, media relations and community outreach assistance. He started his career as an analyst for a strategy consulting firm providing strategic market analysis across a variety of industries.  

Will graduated from UC San Diego with a BA in International Studies, Economics, and from the UC San Diego School of Global Policy and Strategy with a Master of International Affairs with a focus on International Management and Latin America.

Greg Slater is the Executive Director/CEO of the Tampa Hillsborough Expressway Authority (THEA) - a dynamic transportation agency that owns, manages and operates the Selmon Expressway, Meridian Avenue, Brandon Parkway, and the Selmon Greenway. With over 200,000 daily expressway commuters and thousands of pedestrians utilizing the agency's network of urban trails, Slater oversees an agency focused on adding value to the community and offering transportation options that enhance the quality of life.  

Slater is a transportation leader committed to serving people with passion, integrity, and trust. He has over two decades of public service experience in various transportation modes, most recently serving as Secretary of the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT). He oversaw 17,000 lane miles of highways, 2,500 bridge structures, and tolled facilities, including two tollways, two tunnels, and four major bridge structures: a local and commuter bus network, a light rail metro system, commuter rail, and paratransit services.  

At THEA, he continues to serve the community and organization with the values that have guided him over the last 25 years of his professional career. Greg is committed to building a transportation system foundation for the next generation, a roadway of the future, and creating partnerships that make transportation in Tampa Bay safer and more efficient.  

Under Slater's leadership, the agency continues its legacy of implementing connected vehicle technology as an autonomous vehicle testbed site. THEA is instrumental in helping move safety technologies from the testing phase to real-life applications.  

Slater is a key leader in public-private partnerships for multimodal transportation, transit-oriented development, and walkable neighborhoods as a community champion. His vision for the Selmon Greenway as a vital connection for the areas around the urban core to accommodate pedestrians and cyclists with Vision Zero safety assurances for seamless mobility and create community gathering spaces - mostly under the shade of the expressway - is helping to map out a better Tampa poised for growth. 

Throughout his distinguished career, Slater has built a legacy of organizational leadership and fiscal acumen, along with a commitment to building a foundation for the transportation system for the next generation. At THEA, he is committed to bringing the best technology and most progressive concepts possible to address transportation challenges.  

THEA processes 58 million toll transactions and serves almost 2 million customers annually, with an investment plan to deliver over $1.2 Billion in capital improvements to the community over the next 10 years.  

Slater is a proud Towson University alumnus.

Mariana Torres is a Senior Investment Officer at the International Finance Corporation (IFC), where she leads new business investment opportunities in the transportation sector. Prior to IFC, Ms. Torres was responsible for deal origination, execution, and related asset management activities on large-scale public private partnerships (P3s) across a wide range of infrastructure sectors at Shikun & Binui USA Concessions (S&B) and John Laing (a KKR company). She was part of the closing team for the Hurontario LRT (Canada), Ruta del Cacao (Colombia), and I-77 Express Lanes Additional Equity Stake (USA) transactions, and held Board of Director positions in various toll road projects. Ms. Torres also served as Director of Infrastructure Economics advisory practice at Louis Berger (now WSP) and held roles at the World Economic Forum and the World Bank.  

Ms. Torres is passionate about supporting the P3 industry and its future leaders: she’s a former Co-President for Young Professionals in Infrastructure, is on the Advisory Board for the Cornell Program in Infrastructure Policy (CPIP) and holds the Co-chair position for the Transportation Research Board’s P3 Subcommittee, in addition to her position as Board Member of the Women’s Infrastructure Network (WIN) NYC Chapter. Ms. Torres holds a Master’s degree in City and Regional Planning from the University of California, Berkeley.

Francois Wasselin is a Senior Vice President at American Global, LLC and leads their Alternative Delivery Practice. In this role, Francois leads insurance structuring and placements for major projects and helps contractor developing risk management solutions. He also assists American Global’s clients evaluating their contractual risk exposure based on the project’s technical features and supports them in their risk allocation discussions internally and with owners. Francois was trained as a civil engineer and has 17 years of experience in the infrastructure development and financing industry having held various roles from leading project investment teams to executive leadership of equity investments in US infrastructure projects with a focus on transportation projects. Prior to joining American Global, he was the SVP of Project Development at ACS Infrastructure Development, a US subsidiary of the ACS Group, a $36B+ international contractor.

Dr. Shawn D. Wilson is a transformative leader who is well-versed in navigating the dynamics of leadership, motivational speaking, and executive roles in government under multiple parties regardless of political ideology. He is known to foster collaborative work environments, and as a skilled visionary, he uses his diverse skills to translate strategy into execution and help fulfill corporate missions that yield measurable impact in infrastructure, transportation, and policy.

For over 25 years, Shawn has been at the forefront of change. He has held leadership positions as Secretary of the Louisiana Department of Transportation & Development and President of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials where he has excelled in budget management, successfully managing over $10B over the course of his career. As a candidate for governor of Louisiana in the 2023 election, he generated over $3M for his campaign and garnered 26% of the vote finishing second.

He has experience working at varying levels, in all of which becoming a key contributor towards success. He began working in the office of Lieutenant Governor on the Louisiana Serve Commission as the Executive Director, where he authored, awarded, and managed over $20M dollars in annual grant programs. He soon moved to the Office of the Governor as a Deputy Legislative Director, appointed to assist with state-level legislation and policy matters, and from there was quickly promoted to Chief of Staff and then Secretary of the Louisiana Department of Transportation & Development where he led a 4,200- strong decentralized workforce with an annual budget exceeding $2.4B. In 2016, he was the first African American to be the President of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials in its 107-year life.

Shawn finds his passion in using his skills to create sustainable change and innovation. He sees his public service as a ministry, relating his faith to civic engagement and highlighting his commitment to the diverse, multigenerational bipartisan base he supported during his campaign. During his role as AASHTO President, he developed policy initiatives aimed at achieving equity in delivering transportation policies and ensuring implementation of bipartisan infrastructure law, resulting in the first 6 DOT's to sign on the Equity in Infrastructure Project (EIP).

Shawn lives in Lafayette with his wife of 28 years, Rocki. They have two children, Joshua and Shawn Denise Arceneaux, one son-in-law Mike, and two grandchildren, Laila Rose and Mike III (Pop). As a role model for his children and grandchildren, he strives to continue to break cultural and professional barriers as he advances in his career.

Caity is an MBA graduate from the Schulich School of Business in Toronto. 

Prior to joining Cambridge Forums, she worked for the Government of Canada in various communications, website and research analyst positions. She has a passion for continuous learning, strategy development and relationship building. 

In her spare time, Caity enjoys hiking, being in nature and spending time with her Australian Shepherd pup.

Brenna joins Cambridge Forums with 20 years of experience in events, fundraising, and development. She has spent most of her career in the music industry, working for the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, overseeing the planning of high-profile events like the JUNO awards. Most recently, she launched a successful national advocacy campaign for the live music sector resulting in significant relief funding from the federal government. 

Her early career involved raising funds and executing events for non-profit organizations and foundations, including the University of Toronto and the Ireland Fund of Canada. Brenna looks forward to her role as Forum Director to blend her experience and passion for bringing people together and fostering meaningful connections. 

She is a mother of two, a fitness enthusiast, and is best known for her sense of humour.