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U.S. Department of Transportation U.S. Department of Transportation Icon United States Department of Transportation United States Department of Transportation

Panel 3: Project Acceleration for the Public Good

News and Video

The recap and recording for this event will be available soon.


Panel Details

Opening Remarks

Mariia Zimmerman, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy, U.S. DOT

Panelists

Gregory Byres, Deputy Director/State Engineer, Arizona Department of Transportation

Stephen Roe Lewis, Governor, Gila River Indian Community 

Kurt Kionka, I-70 Floyd Hill Project Director, Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT)

 


About the Speakers

Photo of Mariia ZimmermanMariia Zimmerman serves as the Principal Assistant Secretary for Policy at the U.S. Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT). Prior to this, she served as the Department’s Senior Advisor for Technical Assistance and Community Solutions helping to stand up several new technical assistance initiatives including the DOT Navigator and Thriving Communities Program.

Mariia comes to U.S. DOT from MZ Strategies, LLC, the national urban planning and policy firm she founded in 2012. She brings deep experience leading a range of technical assistance, policy, and research projects focused on transportation’s role in supporting equitable community development. Mariia previously held senior positions at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, on Capitol Hill, and with national non-profit organizations including Transportation for America and the National Center for Transit Oriented Development. She started her federal career at the Federal Transit Administration. Mariia has advanced degrees from Penn State and the University of Minnesota. She previously served on the Virginia Passenger Rail Authority Board of Directors and on the Shared Use Mobility Board, in addition to holding leadership positions with the American Planning Association, the American Public Transportation Association, and Women’s Transportation Seminar. 

Photo of Gregory ByresGregory Byres has worked at the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) for 10 years. Prior to joining ADOT, he worked as a geotechnical/materials engineering consultant for 10 years and as a consulting engineer on transportation, airport, and utility projects for 10 years. He also started his own engineering consulting firm, which provided design services for transportation, airports, utilities, and development projects for both private and public sectors, for about 12 years. After selling his firm, Byres began working for ADOT as a senior project manager, the State Roadway Engineer, the Director of Multimodal Planning Division, and currently as Deputy Director/State Engineer. 

Photo of Stephen LewisStephen Roe Lewis was raised in Sacaton, "Gu-u-Ki", on the Gila River Indian Community. He is in his fourth term serving as Governor of the Community, having previously served as Lt. Governor. Prior to serving in elected leadership, Governor Lewis served the Community as a member of the Board of Directors for the Gila River Healthcare Corporation, as a Gaming Commissioner for the Gila River Gaming Commission, and as a member of the Board of Directors for the Gila River Telecommunications, Inc.

Governor Lewis currently oversees the implementation of the Community’s Water Settlement of 2004 (at that time the largest water settlement of its kind in United States history). Governor Lewis advocates for renewable and green technologies guided by O'odham agricultural history and cultural teachings. His vision is to support a new generation of Community member agriculturalists with the goal of promoting and protecting the Community's shudag (water) and agricultural development.

During his tenure as Governor of the Gila River Indian Community, Governor Lewis has brought innovative solutions to long-standing issues that will create long-term gains for the Gila River Indian Community. One of these projects, Management Aquifer Recharge sites, brings together the need for access to water while restoring the return of the Community’s riparian area, which is vital for farming and the return of wildlife to the Community. Governor Lewis also oversaw the development of the Solar-Over-Canal project, which is the first of its kind in the Western Hemisphere. The Community broke ground on this project in 2023 and will generate power and reduce evaporation, thereby conserving water. Bringing back the Gila River and water conservation projects is critical to the culture and identity of the Gila River Indian Community. The projects have been key milestones during Governor Lewis’ Administration and will lay the foundation for future projects across the Community.

In addition, Governor Lewis’ innovation can be seen in his approach to providing educational opportunities for the youth of the Gila River Indian Community. The Community was the first tribal community in the Nation to utilize the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act to create a program that revolutionized how infrastructure is constructed and maintained throughout Indian Country. This program, the Section 105(1) program, was utilized for education construction in the Community, and the Community is working to expand the program’s use to other infrastructure in the Community and throughout Indian Country.

Governor Lewis has also prioritized the Community’s Veterans and youth by working to establish its first Veteran’s and Family Services Department. In 2023, the Community received accreditation as a Veterans Service Organization, only the second to receive such accreditation in Indian Country. Governor Lewis has also committed resources to protect the Community's children by advocating for the protection of the Indian Child Welfare Act both at home and nationally.

Governor Lewis serves as President of the Arizona State University’s American Indian Policy Institute Board of Directors, on the Executive Board for the National Indian Gaming Association (NIGA), and on the Board of Trustees for the Heard Museum of Phoenix.

Governor Lewis graduated from Arizona State University with a Bachelor of Science degree and pursued graduate studies at John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

Photo of Kurt KionkaKurt Kionka is the CDOT Floyd Hill Project Director who is responsible for leading the delivery of the I-70 Floyd Hill to Veterans Memorial Tunnels Project. This 7-mile stretch of I-70 is one of the most congested locations on the I-70 Mountain Corridor and is heavily impacted by adverse weather conditions. 

Kurt brings over 21 years of multi-discipline CDOT experience to the project. He started his career with CDOT in 2003 as a student intern completing public outreach for the I-70 East EIS and has since worked on numerous large, complex projects including recently leading the US36 Emergency Rebuild. 

Kurt is a Colorado native and currently lives in Arvada with his wife and two kids. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering at Colorado State University in 2003.