Lona Hankins

Lona Hankins is the New Orleans Regional Transit Authority’s deputy CEO of infrastructure and long-term planning. She brings over 30 years of experience in engineering and project management, from her time in the oil industry and most recently as director of major capital projects for the Recovery School District (RSD). There, Hankins spearheaded $2 billion worth of school rebuilding projects in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Committed to advancing equity and environmental justice, she is dedicated to using engineering and planning principles to improve children’s lives, specifically to build a more equitable and spatially just infrastructure in New Orleans. Hankins earned a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering from Southern University A&M College and completed the Effective Leadership Program at Duke’s Sanford School of Public Policy.