Leslie Richards (born April 3, 1967) is the current General Manager of

SEPTA The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) is a regional public transportation authority that operates bus, rapid transit, commuter rail, light rail, and electric trolleybus services for nearly 4 million people in five coun ...

, the public transportation agency serving the

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

area. She previously served as a member of the

Montgomery County Board of Commissioners The Montgomery County Board of Commissioners is the legislative council and executive arm of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. Currently, it has 3 different members. Members of the Board of Commissioners are tasked with managing the county's pr ...

and as Secretary of the

Pennsylvania Department of Transportation The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) oversees transportation issues in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The administrator of PennDOT is the Pennsylvania Secretary of Transportation, currently Yassmin Gramian. Presently, Pe ...

, from 2015 to 2019 under Governor

Tom Wolf Thomas Westerman Wolf (born November 17, 1948) is an American politician and businessman serving as the 47th governor of Pennsylvania since 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, he defeated Republican incumbent Tom Corbett in the 2014 guber ...

Personal life and education

Richards earned a bachelor's degree in economics and urban studies from

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

, and a master's degree in regional planning from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

. She has three children with her husband, Ira: Rebecca, Benjamin, and Sophie.

Career

Richards was elected to the Whitemarsh Township Board of Supervisors in 2007, and became chairwoman of the board in 2008. Richards was elected to the

in 2011. Her election, along with that of fellow Democrat

Josh Shapiro Joshua David Shapiro (born June 20, 1973) is an American politician and attorney who has served as the Pennsylvania Attorney General since 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he is the governor-elect of Pennsylvania. Raised in Montgomery ...

, marked the first time in over a century that Democrats controlled the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners. Richards served as Montgomery County's representative on the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission. Richards also serves on the board of

. Pennsylvania political operatives had mentioned Richards as a potential Congressional candidate in

Pennsylvania's 6th congressional district Pennsylvania's 6th congressional district is a district in the state of Pennsylvania. It includes all of Chester County, the city of Reading, and Reading's southeastern suburbs in Berks County. The district is represented by Democrat Chrissy Houl ...

. Richards declined to run for the seat after incumbent Congressman

Jim Gerlach James W. Gerlach (born February 25, 1955) is the former U.S. Representative for , serving from 2003 to 2015. He is a member of the Republican Party. Gerlach retired from Congress after completing his sixth term. Early life, education and caree ...

retired in 2014. In 2015, following the

election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...

of Democratic Governor

, Richards was nominated to serve as Secretary of Transportation of Pennsylvania. She was subsequently confirmed by the

Pennsylvania State Senate The Pennsylvania State Senate is the upper house of the Pennsylvania General Assembly, the Pennsylvania state legislature. The State Senate meets in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. Senators are elected for four year terms, staggered ev ...

in May 2015. In 2017, Richards was appointed the first female chair of the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission as well as the Public Private Partnership (P3) Board. On November 21, 2019, Richards was named as SEPTA's new General Manager, replacing Jeff Knueppel in January 2020.

Awards

References

External links

PennDOT BiographyTwitter account
{{DEFAULTSORT:Richards, Leslie Living people SEPTA general managers Montgomery County Commissioners (Pennsylvania) Pennsylvania Democrats County commissioners in Pennsylvania People from Montgomery County, Pennsylvania State cabinet secretaries of Pennsylvania 1973 births Brown University alumni University of Pennsylvania School of Design alumni