SDOT Director Grace Crunican - Biography

• Grace Crunican has been engaged in transportation issues for nearly 25 years, holding leadership positions at every level of government and a non-profit organization.
  
  
• Currently, Grace serves as the Director of the Seattle Department of Transportation. She was appointed to this position in early 2002 by Mayor Greg Nickels. In her short tenure, she has incorporated the city's strategic planning staff into the department, is streamlining the permitting process and is revamping the department's project delivery and customer service approach.
  
  
• Prior to moving to Seattle, Grace served as the director of the Oregon Department of Transportation for five years where she managed approximately 4800 employees and a budget of $1.8 billion. While director, Grace implemented Community Solution Teams around the state, integrated livability objectives into transportation planning and instilled a customer focus throughout the entire department.
  
  
• Her federal experience comes from her work as a deputy director with the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), where she helped realize 13 major rail projects worth more than $6 billion.
  
  
• Before joining the FTA, Grace led the Surface Transportation Policy Project, a non-profit coalition dedicated to implementing the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA).
  
  
• Grace has previous local experience working for Portland's Transportation Office as its capital program manager and deputy director.
  
  
• Her first transportation appointment was to the Presidential Management Internship Program in 1979. She worked for the U.S. Department of Transportation on policy and budget issues and served as a professional staff analyst for the U.S. Senate Transportation Appropriations Committee.
  
  
• She is a northwest native and holds a Bachelor's Degree from Gonzaga University and a Master's in Business Administration from Willamette University.
  
  
• Board of Directors for the Adoption Center of Washington.
  
  
• Grace is the mother of two children and resides in Seattle.