Lauren Streifer

In her own words

What I have discovered is that most people get into transport in a completely random way, and I am no exception.

I started my career managing regional trade programs for diplomats and public officials for the APEC Centre, funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. I took a year out to backpack and on my return needed a job. I saw a role at Roads Australia (RA) and initially thought I would be in the job for three months while I sorted out what I wanted to do next. I thought roads were boring, I didn’t even have a car and knew nothing about the industry. But when preparing for the interview I realised the size and diversity of RA’s membership and the organisation’s reach. I thought ‘wow, there is a lot of power here to make an impact.’ 

I became a big fan of member organisations at RA because you stay across the big issues, and you make a positive contribution to the lives of your members. You become the ultimate connector – which is my favourite role. 

After seven years at RA, I went for the CEO position and when I didn’t get the role I travelled for another year and pondered the meaning of life. Throughout that time people kept calling me asking: ‘what do you think about this policy position we are putting forward?’ or ‘we are trying to get into this market - what do you think?’ After giving away days and days of free advice, I thought ‘I should get paid to do this’ and I created a management consultancy. My first client was one of the biggest financial institutions in the world – who I met by chance at a cafe in Melbourne. I’m a big believer in serendipity presenting you with some of the most magical opportunities, if you stay open to them.   

While establishing my management consultancy, I recognised that we had a huge wave of work coming into transport and infrastructure, with so many new people entering this industry without being able to be easily inducted. I went to about 50 leaders and asked: ‘if we were to build an industry induction program for the infrastructure sector, would you send people?’ They said: ‘we would send them yesterday.’ So, Intro to Infrastructure by Skillsy was born, though it took two years to build. Skillsy has run more than six inductions to date, with more than 55 government and industry partners. We are also facilitating programs that industry has asked for – such as women in infrastructure leadership courses that empower young women to believe in themselves. We give away more than 10% of seats away on scholarships to attend Skillsy courses. I believe no one who really wants to join the industry should be turned away just because they don’t have the money at this point of time in their lives.

When I was approached to take on the Public Transport Association ANZ (PTAANZ) Chief Executive role, a key attractant was its incredible board and the fact that in the next few years the project pipeline will focus predominantly on public transport and energy. Public transport is at the intersection of that work with electric fleets, hydrogen buses, and zero emissions. I thought – ‘if we are really going to make a change in transport, this is our time.’ 

My best skills, which I will take to this role, are supporting a strong and passionate team and getting leaders on board for the bigger vision of where we’re headed. I am really proud of where we’re going – and the champions who will support it along the way

Growing our global connectivity

At PTAANZ our priorities are working towards zero emissions, building liveable cities and regional areas, and reinforcing the importance and power of public transport in our lives, particularly to support marginalised groups.

We link our members in Australia and New Zealand to leaders and exciting projects across the world so that we can learn from each other and build communities that we’re proud of. I really pride myself on building global connectivity in the roles I have undertaken throughout my career. I am excited to showcase the excellence of our public transport industry to the world.

We are building incredible infrastructure now and the investment pipeline is extraordinary. While people appreciate the sustainability benefits of using public transport, to increase patronage and get people out of their cars we need to provide services that are reliable, user friendly, accessible, and affordable. If you reflect on cities like London and New York, you don’t think twice about using public transport because of the reliability and useability of the different options provided. We have a big opportunity to make that structural, cultural, and psychological shift in Australia and New Zealand around our transport usage.

A big challenge is creating vibrant liveable cities, particularly in a constrained funding environment, and public transport has a huge role to play.  With good urban development, people can opt to live in regional hubs if connectivity via public transport is a reality.

It is never too late to start building this vision. When visiting the Milan Duomo I was struck that it took generations to build and those people constructing it knew they would never see it completed in their lifetimes. It is the same with cities and public transport networks. We need to be creating now for generations of the future. 

Surround yourself with the best 

The most valuable advice I have received is when building a team, to find the best people you can and pay them the most you can, because it will always deliver dividends. When you surround yourself with people better that yourself, everyone rises.

When people ask me for career advice, I say ‘find what makes your heart beat a little faster and be guided by that.’ You need to enjoy your work. I have taken this approach my whole career – looking for what would be fun to do next and going for it.