Della Acosta, AICP, has been appointed Northern Section Events Program Manager. She had been the San Francisco Peninsula Regional Activity Coordinator (RAC). Acosta is a senior planner at Rincon Consultants, leading the comprehensive planning services for the firm’s long-range planning team. She holds a degree in city/urban, community, and regional planning from Sonoma State University.
Marielle (Mari) Hsu is the new Student Representative to the Northern Section Board from San Jose State University and expects to get her master’s in urban planning in 2022. She holds a BA in physics from Bryn Mawr College (Pennsylvania). Coming to planning from design and tech support, and with a physics degree, Hsu is planning to bring these skills together to focus on community engagement for mass transit planning.
Kate Sargent, senior associate and Oakland Office Leader at Sam Schwartz Engineering, has been named the firm’s National Practice Leader, Electrification. Over 14 years at the firm, she has led transportation electrification master plans and feasibility studies to help a number of transit agencies meet their sustainability and GHG reduction goals. Sargent is also one of three inaugural members of the firm’s Value Inclusion, Belonging, and Equity (VIBE) Council. She holds a master in urban planning from Columbia University and a BA in international studies from Miami University (Ohio).