Ferries Conference is produced by Colibri Northwest. Thank you for joining us on October 16, 2025.
Ferries Conference is produced by Colibri Northwest. Thank you for joining us on October 16, 2025.
Stacey Crawshaw-Lewis is a partner at Pacifica Law Group LLP. Stacey serves as bond counsel to counties, transit districts, port districts and other municipalities. She advises municipalities on the range of financing tools available under state and federal law including with respect to passenger ferry projects. She is a past board member of the National Association of Bond Lawyers and has been recognized by Best Lawyers as Lawyer of the Year in Public Finance Law in Seattle, 2017, and in Municipal Law in 2025.
Terry Federer is a seasoned maritime leader and educator with a strong focus on team collaboration, workforce development, and industry partnerships. With a US Coast Guard Merchant Mariner Credential as a 1600-ton master and unlimited mate, Terry brings extensive hands-on experience and strategic insight to the marine industry.
He previously served as department director of the Alaska Maritime Training Center at AVTEC in Seward, Alaska—home to the state’s largest maritime training school and a division of the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development. During his 21 years in Alaska, Terry played a pivotal role in shaping maritime education and building career pathways for the next generation of mariners.
After relocating to Washington, Terry joined All American Marine in Bellingham as business development manager, where he helped drive innovation in shipbuilding and strengthen client relationships.
In October 2022, he was appointed Marine Division director at King County Metro Transit in Seattle. In this role, he leads efforts to deliver safe, efficient, environmentally responsible, and customer-focused, passenger-only ferry services connecting downtown Seattle with Vashon Island and West Seattle.
Madison Higginbotham is the senior director of government affairs at Accelerate Strategies. Before joining Accelerate Strategies, Madison worked on Capitol Hill for Senators Shelley Moore Capito and Lamar Alexander, handling appropriations and covering numerous issue portfolios, including sports, environment and public works, and foreign policy. Pulling from her previous congressional experience and leveraging her extensive relationships on Capitol Hill and in the executive branch, Madison helps Accelerate clients achieve positive outcomes through the legislative and regulatory process. Madison has extensive experience in transit policy and has played a key role in the development of existing federal grant programs that support public ferry systems. Madison earned her undergraduate degree in government at Wofford College
Lauren Gularte is the government and regulatory affairs manager for San Francisco Bay Ferry, a regional public transit agency responsible for developing, operating and expanding ferry service on the San Francisco Bay and coordinating emergency water transit when regional transportation systems are disrupted.
Since 2005, Lauren has worked in many positions at SF Bay Ferry and on an array of projects including the consolidation and takeover of municipal ferry services, overhauling the agency’s emergency response program and helping develop the agency’s fleet plan to transition to zero emissions. She currently manages the agency’s legislative program, federal civil rights programs, and specializes in building advocacy coalitions to support SF Bay Ferry’s programs and services. Lauren is also a co-chair of the Public Ferry Coalition, a national organization representing the interests of more than 30 public ferry operators across the country.
Lauren is a life-long Bay Area resident, receiving a BA in sociology and a Master of Public Policy from Mills College in Oakland.
Justin LeBlanc is a career federal government relations professional with more than 25 years of experience in marine affairs, maritime, and transportation policy and fisheries. Having worked for Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Justin focuses on clients from the Pacific Northwest including maritime interests such as the Pacific Northwest Waterways Association. Following his experience on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, Justin was the vice president of government relations for the National Fisheries Institute and served as the executive secretariat of the International Coalition of Fisheries Associations before beginning work as a contract lobbyist.
Emily Lubin Loper is a vice president of public policy at the Bay Area Council, a policy organization that has been shaping the future of the San Francisco Bay Area for more than 75 years. She originally joined the Bay Area Council in 2014 and now leads its transportation policy portfolio. In 2018, she advocated for the successful passage of Regional Measure 3, the largest regional measure in the history of the Bay Area to fund transportation improvement projects, and she led the advocacy to secure significant capital and operating funding to expand regional ferry service in that expenditure plan. She convenes private and public sector partners to facilitate the expansion of ferry service to new markets.
Prior to joining the Council, she worked on transportation, environmental, and land use issues facing the San Francisco Bay shoreline, and has experience working in federal and local legislative offices. Loper holds a Master of Public Administration degree from the USC Price School of Public Policy, where she was a Dean’s Merit Scholar, and received a BA in political science and international relations from UCLA. An East Bay native, she lives in Oakland with her husband and young children.
With more than 40 years in the ferry and maritime sectors, Captain Sean Meagher has advised governments, private operators, and international developers on connecting communities through waterborne transit. He has consulted for numerous companies worldwide on ferry operations, fleet strategy, and integrating new technologies into legacy systems. He also convened a high-level panel in Monaco with the heads of the major classification societies to address how to implement emerging maritime technologies. A USCG master unlimited in sail and power and a maritime expert for the US Department of Justice, Sean now applies expedition-hardened systems and real-world operational insight to scalable, future-ready marine transit.
Peter and his team work with transit agencies, municipal administrators, elected officials and associations to develop policy, communicate policy to stakeholders and successfully implement public policy in the field. Areas of particular expertise include marine transit policy, industrial and urban land use, print communications and public relations. Peter has more than 40 years of experience in maritime publishing, conference production, industrial and marine lands policy, and advocacy for the maritime and commercial fishing industries. From 1999-2020 Peter was president of Philips Publishing Group and publisher of Fishermen’s News, Foghorn and Pacific Maritime Magazine, monthly magazines for the commercial fishing, marine transit, and maritime transportation industries.
Nousheen is an urban planner from Pinellas County, Florida, working at the intersection of land use, transportation and economic development. In her role at Forward Pinellas, she leads local and regional planning initiatives to advance projects from vision to implementation, connecting people to opportunities through data-driven decision-making, strategic policy and community engagement. Her experience includes crafting context-driven development standards, aligning local land use plans and regional transportation priorities and translating community feedback and technical data into strategies that expand mobility options and create opportunities for all.
Matt Robinson is a partner at Shaw Yoder Antwih Schmelzer & Lange (SYASL), as well as the lead legislative advocate for the California Transit Association. Matt joined SYASL, and the Association, in 2013 and has since spent more than a decade advocating for some of the most pressing transportation and transit issues in California, including the passage of multiple funding measures, reforms to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), transit safety and security legislation, and bills providing alternative procurement tools for transportation agencies.
Prior to his work at SYASL, Matt was an appointee of Governor Jerry Brown where he served as deputy director of legislation at the California High-Speed Rail Authority (Authority). Matt was responsible for managing the Authority’s legislative program, working with the governor’s office, the California State Transportation Agency, Caltrans, the legislature, local agencies, and stakeholders to ensure successful planning and implementation of the state’s rail modernization program.
Before joining the Authority, Matt was an analyst at the California Department of Finance, where he oversaw the Authority’s budget, as well as Caltrans, the California Transportation Commission, and various rail and transit programs. While at the Department of Finance, Matt worked extensively on transportation funding legislation, which provided billions in funding to begin construction of the high-speed rail system and upgrade and expand existing transit, commuter, and intercity rail systems throughout California.
Matt also worked as a legislative representative at the Department of Fish and Wildlife (DFW) under Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, and in the State Capitol as legislative staff for two senators, including the Senate Budget Committee chair.
Matt and his family reside in Sacramento, CA.
CDR Sarah Rodiño has been assigned as Prevention Department head at Sector Puget Sound since July 2025. In her current position she is responsible for ensuring the safe, secure, and efficient movement of more than $70 billion of commerce annually in the nation’s 5th largest port complex which spans 3,500 square nautical miles of commercial waterways. Duties include management of the marine inspections, investigations, waterways management, and aids to navigation team Seattle. Additionally, her department includes the Coast Guard’s largest and only bi-national Cooperative Vessel Traffic Service.
CDR Rodiño graduated from the United States Coast Guard Academy in 2009 with a bachelor of science degree in naval architecture and marine engineering. Her first assignment was to Coast Guard cutter Seneca (WMEC 906) homeported at that time in Boston, MA. While onboard she served as the auxiliary assistant, damage control assistant and training officer.
Following her two-year assignment at sea, CDR Rodiño transitioned to being a prevention officer and reported to Sector San Francisco as an apprentice marine inspector. While in San Francisco she served as the Port State Control branch chief in one of the nation’s busiest international ports.
Upon departing San Francisco, CDR Rodiño served as a journeyman marine inspector at Sector Puget Sound in Seattle, WA. During her time in Seattle, she was a domestic inspection section leader and the Facilities branch chief. As a domestic vessel inspector, CDR Rodiño frequently focused her inspections on the nation’s largest passenger ferry fleet, the Washington State Ferries.
After successful completion of a master of science degree in fire protection engineering, CDR Rodiño was assigned to the Coast Guard’s Office of Design and Engineering Standards and worked in the Lifesaving and Fire Safety Division. While at Headquarters, she focused primarily on performing technical evaluations of fire safety marine equipment and developing domestic and international regulations and standards affecting 1.3 million vessels in the global shipping industry.
Prior to arriving at Sector Puget Sound, CDR Rodiño served as the Prevention Department head at Sector Upper Mississippi River in St. Louis, Missouri, where she was responsible for ensuring the safe, secure, and efficient movement of over $44 billion of commerce annually on over 2,200 miles of inland rivers including the Mississippi, Illinois, and Missouri Rivers. In this position, she managed marine inspections, investigations, and waterways management for eleven states and oversaw three marine safety detachments and five inland river buoy tenders.
CDR Rodiño’s awards include five CG Commendation Medals, two CG Achievement Medals, two Letters of Commendation and numerous team and unit awards, she also has a permanent Marine Safety Insignia.
CDR Rodiño is married to LCDR Phil Rodiño and together they have two children, Caroline and Charlie.
Amina Teouri joined the Gordon Thomas Honeywell Government Relations (GTH-GOV) team in 2024, where she represents a range of local government clients, including the City of Bainbridge Island.
Before joining GTH-GOV, Ms. Teouri served as an in-house lobbyist for more than 5,000 adult family homes in Washington State. In this role, she tackled a myriad of complex issues affecting adult family home providers. Ms. Teouri’s work involved not only engaging with state agencies but also influencing legislative processes and negotiating through collective bargaining. As a result, Ms. Teouri’s efforts were instrumental in driving impactful change, and empowering adult family home providers to better serve their communities.
Prior to her tenure with the Adult Family Home Council, Ms. Teouri was an advocate for grassroots organizations, where she focused on pressing issues that affected marginalized communities. Through her advocacy work, Ms. Teouri has consistently demonstrated her ability to amplify voices that often go unheard, making her a formidable force in the realm of public policy and advocacy.
David is a co-founder and the managing director of Artemis Technologies, North America, based in New York.
Prior to moving to the US, David was instrumental in the creation of the Belfast Maritime Consortium, including securing a £33m grant from UK Research and Innovation’s Strength in Places Fund to develop the company’s transformative eFoiler® technology and launch the world’s first 100% electric foiling commercial vessel. He was chair of Maritime UK’s Regional Council, a member of the UK Department for Transport’s Maritime Council which was established in 2023 to provide the top level of governance across all themes and drive delivery of the UK government’s Maritime 2050 recommendations, as well as a member of Operation Zero working groups, a UK government initiative launched during COP26 with the mission to accelerate the adoption of zero-emission vessels for offshore wind operations and maintenance in the North Sea’s wind farms.
David holds a law degree from the University of Birmingham, and prior to co-founding Artemis Technologies, was commercial director for the Artemis Racing America’s Cup challenge.
James is an executive vice president at New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) and serves as the executive director for NYC Ferry. He began working at NYCEDC in 2014 in a planning role for passenger ferries. Since then, James has overseen the planning, implementation, and launch of the NYC Ferry system, which opened in May 2017 and now serves more than 6 million riders annually. He grew the ferry department and leads an agency-wide team to ensure the safe and efficient operation of ferries. Today, he oversees NYC Ferry policy, contracting, finance, operations, and the fleet of vessels, while coordinating other NYCEDC work in connection with landing maintenance and delivery of new ferry facilities.
A transportation planner and engineer by education, James previously consulted on street design, transit operations, and corridor planning projects for cities around the United States and abroad. He has published multiple peer-reviewed research articles on transit data, operations, and system management. James has a bachelor of science degree in engineering from the University of Pennsylvania and master’s degrees in civil engineering and city and regional planning from Georgia Tech. He lives in Brooklyn and is an avid cyclist and volleyball player.
