Stephanie Wiggins, chief executive officer of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, and Vivian Altman, head of Public Finance at Janney Montgomery Scott, are the 2024 public and private sector Freda Johnson Award winners.
The awards, given by the Northeast Women in Public Finance, are named after Johnson, a founding board member of the organization and executive vice president and public finance division head at Moody’s Investors Service for nearly two decades. The Freda Johnson Award is given annually to two trailblazing women — one in the private sector and one in the public sector — who exemplify the qualities Johnson brings to the industry.
“I am so grateful to be chosen for the award. To receive an acknowledgement from the industry is very humbling,” Altman said. “But to receive recognition in Freda Johnson’s name is particularly an honor. She’s not only a friend, but an icon in the industry.”
“I think about Freda Johnson and what she had to do to become successful — grit, perseverance and clever intellect — from the 1970s until today,” Wiggins said. “People like Freda Johnson blazed the trail for us — but not only that, they made it a point to lift other women up in this profession, to make real, lasting change in local government and finance.”
Along with Altman and Wiggins, 12 other honorees from the public and private sectors were chosen by the Northeast Women in Public Finance as Trailblazing Women in Public Finance.
“Each of these women are highly respected professionals in public finance, and epitomize the best in our industry,” the Northeast Women in Public Finance said in a statement.
Johnson and the Northeast Women in Public Finance will formally present the awards at The Bond Buyer’s
Altman’s career has included working at bulge bracket firms, minority firms, commercial banking platforms, and 15 years at Janney. Following her founding of a financial advisory firm, Altman moved to J.P. Morgan.
“Public finance chooses you,” she said. “I’m so glad to be able to work in this industry. For me, and I think for many people, it is the intersection of policy and business that keeps us here. It is so rewarding; you can see the result of your work, whether it’s a school, a hospital, a road, or a power plant that you helped to finance. What we do, it has such a tangible economic benefit to our society.”
According to Altman, the highlight of her career has been contributing to help to women and other underrepresented groups to progress in the municipal bond industry. She cites mentorship and networking for all groups as vital to creating opportunities to succeed. According to Altman, the highlight of her career has been contributing to help women and other underrepresented groups to grow in the municipal bond industry. She cites mentorship as vital to creating more networking and other opportunities for all groups to succeed in the field.
Wiggins currently serves as the CEO of LA Metro, the lead transportation planning, programming, financing, and construction agency for the 10 million residents of LA County, and the second busiest transit agency in the United States. Since becoming CEO in 2021, she has led the agency through its pandemic recovery and focused on improving customer experience on transit. Ahead of the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games, Wiggins is additionally in charge of opening some of the largest projects in the history of the LA Metro agency, including the LAX Airport Metro Connector and the Purple Line Subway Extensions, which will connect Westwood, Century City, Beverly Hills, Koreatown, and many other destinations to downtown LA.
Outside of her work to establish the Women & Girls Governing Council — a group of women and men who work together to examine Metro policies, programs, and services through a gendered lens — Wiggins is proudest of the steps her agency took during the height of the pandemic.
“The pandemic ushered in a paradigm shift in public transportation — and leading both Metro and Metrolink through this historic time really gave me a sense of pride in the thousands of people who keep Southern California moving every day,” Wiggins said. “Even during the height of the pandemic lockdowns, hundreds of thousands of people in southern California needed to use Metro and Metrolink to get to where they needed to go — to help support their families and loved ones. They relied on thousands of our bus and train operators, mechanics, custodians, and security personnel to get there, and we performed admirably despite the emergency. I couldn’t be prouder to work alongside them every day.”
Prior to her current role, Wiggins served as the regional programs director for the Riverside County Transportation Commission and as the deputy chief executive officer for the LACMTA. She left the authority in 2019 to serve as the chief executive officer at Metrolink before her return to the LACMTA in her current role.
“I’ve been in many rooms where I’m the only woman — and woman of color — working to bring projects and programs to life,” Wiggins said. “I know how important it has been to not only consider, but center, the perspectives of people like me in transportation, finance, and construction, and I’m elated that so many women now are joining the ranks of leadership in my industry, and industries all over the economy.”
The private sector trailblazers are: Lourdes Abadin, senior managing director at Estrada Hinojosa & Company, Inc.; Arlene Bohner, head of Public Finance at Fitch Ratings; Camille M. Evans, founder and attorney at Endow Law, P.A.; Kristin Stephens, managing director and head of the Northeast Region, Public Finance at Oppenheimer & Co., Inc.; Monika Suarez, head of Public Finance at Western Alliance Bank; and Grace Yuen, head of the West Region at Siebert Williams Shank & Co., LLC.
The public sector trailblazers are: Ronda Chu, managing director of Finance of the San Francisco International Authority; Kimberly Edwards, public finance manager of the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts; Pamela M. Frederick, CFO of the Battery Park City Authority; Alexandra Levin, Capital Formation and Investor Relations at Brightline Trains; Viola (Vi) Miller, CFO of the Utah Transit Authority; and Cathy Williams, CFO of Illinois Tollway.
The date marks the 15th anniversary of the Freda Award and the 10th year the Northeast Women in Public Finance, along with The Bond Buyer, expanded it to cover two public finance professionals, one each from the public and private sectors. This year marks the 23rd year of The Bond Buyer’s Deal of the Year awards Gala.