Staff

Richard A. Dimino has served as the President and CEO of A Better City (ABC) since 1995. Under his leadership ABC has achieved major organizational accomplishments such as helping to keep Boston open for business during the construction of one of the country's most complex highway projects. In addition, he significantly influenced the planning, design and development of a twenty-seven acre corridor along Boston's waterfront and successfully launched ABC's Sustainability and Climate Change Initiative. Through Mr. Dimino's guidance, A Better City recently played a key role in shaping Massachusetts' Transportation Reform Legislation which led to the launching of the new Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT). ABC has won numerous awards during Mr. Dimino's tenure, including: the History Makers Award for Innovation in Historic City-Building and Big Dig Civic Participation, the WalkBoston Golden Shoe Award, the Move Massachusetts Construction Achievement Award and the Boston Harbor Islands Governor's Award.

Prior to his time with A Better City, Mr. Dimino served as the Vice President and Deputy Manager of Stone & Webster Engineering Corporation's Transportation Business Sector. This position followed nearly a decade of service as Boston's Commissioner of Transportation. From 1985-1993, Mr. Dimino oversaw a 400-plus member department that developed and implemented all transportation policies and projects for the City. His responsibilities also included representing the City on the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Advisory Board and acting as Vice Chairman of the Board's Executive Committee. And serving as the Chairman of Boston's Air Pollution Control Commission and the Central Artery/Tunnel Project Interagency Committee.

During his tenure as Commissioner, Mr. Dimino had the opportunity to publish articles detailing the city's success in improving its transportation network. These articles include: "A Successful Traffic Relief Program," which appeared in an edition of the Institute of Transportation Engineers Journal, and "Transportation for Boston: A Framework for Improved Access." Mr. Dimino's accomplishments as Boston Transportation Commissioner earned him the 1988 Engineer of the Year Award from the New England Chapter of the Institute of Transportation Engineers. In addition, Mr. Dimino was honored by the U.S. Junior Chamber as one of the Ten Outstanding Young Leaders of Boston in 1989. " Under Mr. Dimino's leadership A Better City has frequently contributed towards and published articles and opinion editorials in area publications such as the Boston Globe, the Boston Business Journal and the Boston Herald*. A Better City has also commissioned the publication of numerous reports which highlights the organization's work as it relates to transportation, land development and the environment*.

Mr. Dimino received his Master's in Business Administration from Boston University in 1994 and is a 1978 Magna Cum Laude graduate of Northeastern University. In 1991 he completed a Loeb Fellowship at Harvard University's Graduate School of Design, focusing on urban policy and design, transportation planning, architecture and economics. Mr. Dimino is a lecturer and studio critic at Harvard University where he currently teaches "Transportation Planning and Development", and has been an adjunct professor at Boston University.

Mr. Dimino currently serves as a Vice Chairman for the Boston Harbor Association and Chairperson of the Harbor Use Committee, Chairman Emeritus of the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) and member of the region’s Metro Future Steering Committee, is a member of the Freedom Trail Foundation, and serves on the Massachusetts Department of Transportation Advisory Committee and Co-chairs its Best Practices Subcommittee. In addition, he has served as an advisor to: St. Louis regarding the major reconstruction of Interstate 64 (U.S. Highway 40), the Downtown Alliance and the Lower Manhattan Construction Consortium regarding the rebuilding of ground zero, the City of Belfast regarding the development of the Belfast Strategic Master Plan and to the Director of Policy for the Premier of New South Wales, Australia, on approaches to public/private partnerships and tolling facilities.

** Recent articles and Opinion Editorials

• 11/30/09 — Boston Globe Op-Ed, "Don't Give Up on the T"
• 11/10/09 — Boston Herald, "On Track for the Future"
• 06/26/09 — Boston Business Journal, "MBTA support is essential"
• 05/04/09 — Boston Globe, "Transit woes bad for business, executives say"
• 02/10/09 — Boston Globe, "A transportation roadmap for the state"

** Reports

• April, 2009, "Building Massachusetts' Economy through Transportation Investment, A Review of Potential New Funding Sources for Transportation"
• January 2009, "The Urban Ring, Connecting the Spokes"
• January 2009, "The Silver Line Phase III, The Missing Link Between People and Jobs"
• Fall 2007, "Connecting With Our Economic Future, A Transportation Investment Strategy for the Life Sciences Cluster"

Shannon Garber oversees member services, outreach and special events for the organization. She comes to ABC from a background in nonprofit operations and development, most recently as the Development Coordinator at Pioneer Institute. A resident of Cambridge, Shannon also administers a blog for Cambridge-based nonprofits.

Since 1989, Mr. Nally has served as Planning Director of A Better City and its predecessor organization, the Artery Business Committee. Previously, Mr. Nally served as Deputy Director of the Corrections Special Unit of the Massachusetts Division of Capital Planning and Operations which was responsible for overseeing the planning, design, and construction of state and county correctional facilities valued at $750 million.

Prior to this assignment, Mr. Nally was responsible for design excellence initiatives of DCPO and served as liaison with the State Designer Selection Board. He also managed the work of the planning and community liaison coordinating consultant for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's Southwest Corridor Project. From 1995 to 2001 he was co-chair of the Major Investment Study Working Committee for the Urban Ring project. Mr. Nally was a volunteer faculty member and thesis advisor at the Boston Architectural Center for over five years. Mr. Nally also serves on the Economic Development Advisory Board for the Town of Brookline (co-chair from 1995 to 1998).

Mr. Nally is a Registered Architect and received a Bachelor of Architecture degree from Cornell University and Master of Architecture in Advanced Studies and Master in City Planning degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He leads ABC's work related to the Urban Ring, the Central/Artery Tunnel Project, and the Rose Kennedy Greenway.

Aileen O’Rourke promotes ABC's commuter programs, which provide incentives for alternative commuting. She comes to us from a varied background that includes managing multi-million dollar budgets as an officer in the Air Force and, most recently, managing the staff that processes all donations to Brandeis University. Her interests have long been in transportation; she worked to reduced single occupancy drivers to Brandeis on the Brandeis Environmental Sustainability Team (BEST) while frequently commuting by bike a round trip of 30 miles. During the fall and winter months, she used her evening commute home as a way to prepare for her marathon training and ran the 15 miles home. Aileen strongly believes that transportation is linked to quality of life and that people are ultimately happier, healthier and less stressed if they can leave their cars at home. Aileen holds a Master’s degree in Urban & Environmental Planning and Policy from Tufts University and an undergraduate business degree from the University of Portland (Oregon).

Mihir oversees the expansion of ABC’s Challenge for Sustainability into the City’s Main Streets Districts. Mihir comes to ABC from a varied background that includes residential energy auditing with the MassSave Program, market analysis work on renewable technologies, and climate change policy within Massachusetts. In 2009, Mihir attended the United Nation’s Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark to conduct international environmental policy research.

Although a lifelong Boston-area native, Mihir holds a bachelors degree in Environmental Studies and Policy from Ithaca College (Ithaca, NY) where he helped to determine the feasibility of the country's first LEED certified neighborhood.

Mr. Parr is responsible for ABC's policy and legislative agendas, as well as its membership development efforts. He also staffs the several of ABC's committees: South Boston Stakeholders, Project Development, Young Leaders, Transportation Finance and Policy, and the Real Estate and Land Development Forum.

Mr. Parr comes to ABC with a background in media and politics. He worked at the PBS public affairs documentary series Frontline, producing the companion web sites to reports on a wide range of policy issues. Before that, he was a staffer in media operations at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. A lifelong Boston-area resident, Mr. Parr graduated from Harvard College in 2001 and lives in Lower Allston with his wife, Molly and their cat, Rooster.

Megan Ramey is the Sustainability Coordinator for A Better City, a non-profit organization that improves the economic competitiveness and quality of life of the Boston region by advancing significant transportation, land development and environmental policies, projects and initiatives. She holds a Master in Business Administration from the University of Wisconsin in Madison and a Bachelor of Science in Consumer Sciences from the University of Georgia in Athens. Mrs. Ramey joined A Better City in 2010 after spending two years in service, volunteering for LivableStreets Alliance, a non-profit transportation advocacy organization; and, in addition to serving on their board, she sits on the advisory board to Mayor Menino for Boston Bikes. Prior to moving to Boston, her career spanned the food, retail and hospitality industries. In 2006, Megan claimed her entrepreneurial spirit and opened MoCo Market, a modern general store that promoted walking and biking, community and sustainable business practices. Megan designed the interior of MoCo to LEED gold standards and it was the first Green Restaurant Certified establishment in the state of Wisconsin. Although achieving great marketing success (20 pieces of local and national press in less than a year), MoCo was too new a concept and coupled with the economic downturn, Megan closed the doors in July 2008. Mrs. Ramey's trade in sustainability is mirrored at home where her new family (Annika born in 2009) enjoys cooking with local food, spending the weekends playing outside and redefining the mini-van as a couple of vintage bikes and a burley trailer.

In this role David serves as Executive Director of ABC's Transportation Management Association (ABC TMA), which aims to stimulate the development, implementation, and use of Transportation Demand Management (TDM) programs by employers, property managers, and commuters. David also oversees ABC's Sustainability & Climate Change Initiative, which has recently launched the Challenge for Sustainability, a program designed to leverage the private sector's ability to influence change and make Greater Boston a leader in sustainable building and transportation practices through detailed tracking and hands-on assistance. David joined A Better City in 2000. David serves on the board of several national and local transportation related organizations.

In addition to his work at ABC, David is actively involved with local and national organizations. He currently serves on the National Board of the Association for Commuter Transportation (ACT); the Board of WalkBoston; is the Assistant Managing Director of MassCommute, the TMA Council of Massachusetts. Outside of his professional activities, David also serves as the Town of Sharon's representative to the MBTA Advisory Board and as a member of the Town's Transportation Advisory Board.

Originally from Portland, Oregon, David received a degree in Community Development and Transportation from Portland State University. He cherishes time with his wife and two kids, Maiya and Maksim.

Elizabeth A. Sullivan has been with A Better City since 1995 and serves as the Administrative Director. Elizabeth is responsible for managing administration, finance, human resources and facility management. Ms. Sullivan has a bachelor's degree in Business Management and a Master of Science in Adult & Organizational Learning from Suffolk University.