ATLANTA – Goodwill of North Georgia President and CEO Keith Parker will serve as the keynote speaker for the Transportation Research Board Conference, on Monday, September 16, 2019, at Omni CNN from 1:15 to 1:45 p.m. The conference addresses the methods and practice of performance-based planning, programming and management in the transportation industry.

A recognized thought leader in the transportation industry, Parker will focus on how performance data can turn an agency around. In his five years at MARTA, Parker paved the way for MARTA expansions in Atlanta and Clayton County and significantly improved the trajectory of transit in Georgia.  

The conference strives to bring together practitioners and research professionals from various backgrounds and organizations to explore the methods and practice of data-driven decision making in an engaging forum.

As the president and CEO of Goodwill of North Georgia, Keith Parker utilized essential performance data to lead the organization in creating a strategic plan that aims to make Goodwill of North Georgia the number one workforce development organization in the southeast with 130,000 individuals placed with jobs by 2023. The agency is also targeting a 70% increase in revenue.

Parker is a native of Petersburg, Virginia and received his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and his Master of Urban and Regional Planning from Virginia Commonwealth University, where he is a member of the Board of Visitors. He received his MBA from the University of Richmond. His business career has progressed through increasingly important roles in Richmond, Virginia; Vancouver, Washington; Charlotte, North Carolina; San Antonio, Texas; and most recently, Atlanta, Georgia. He has also served on the Board of Directors for Goodwill.  

About Goodwill 

The mission of Goodwill of North Georgia is to put people to work. The nonprofit has provided services in the region for more than 90 years. In fiscal year 2019, Goodwill of North Georgia provided job training and employment services to 51,915 people and helped 25,688 people find jobs or start new businesses. The organization currently operates 64 stores and 54 attended donation centers. Revenues generated from Goodwill’s retail program help fund job training and placement programs. For more information about Goodwill of North Georgia, visit GoodwillNG.org.  

About Transportation Research Board

The Transportation Research Board (TRB) provides innovative, research-based solutions to improve transportation. TRB convenes experts that help develop solutions to problems and issues facing transportation professionals and provides advice through its policy studies that tackle complex issues of national significance. The Board is a program unit of the National Academy of Sciences. For more information about the Transportation Research Board, visit trb.org.

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