Our Board of Directors

The Operation Lifesaver, Inc, (OLI) Board of Directors is to be made up of no more than eleven members, and is to be composed of “representatives of the primary interests involved in the conduct of Operation Lifesaver programs.”

Three positions on the Board of Directors are reserved for representatives of its founding organizations: the Railway Progress Institute (RPI), the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak), and the Association of American Railroads (AAR).

Two positions on the Board are reserved for the Chair of the OLI Program Development Council (PDC) and the Chair-Elect of the PDC.

One position is reserved for an Operation Lifesaver State Coordinator, who is nominated by his or her peers. One position on the Board is to be a representative of a Class 1 freight railroad. The other positions are to be held by representatives of entities critical to the success of the national Operation Lifesaver program.

At this time, the membership of the OLI Board of Directors is as follows:

• Reilly McCarren, Chair
  Co-CEO, Partners Rail Group and Chairman, Arkansas & Missouri Railroad; Former President, Wisconsin Central Railroad; representing the American Association of Short Line and Regional Railroads.
• Clyde Hart, Jr., Vice-Chair
  Senior Vice-President for Government Affairs, American Bus Association.
• Thomas D. Simpson, Secretary-Treasurer
  Executive Director, Railway Supply Institute - Washington.
• Lonnie Blaydes
  Rail Transit Consultant, representing the American Public Transportation
  Association.
• James E Champagne
  Past Chairman of the Governor's Highway Safety Association, Executive Director of the Louisiana Highway Safety Commission
• Gary Fitzpatrick, State Coordinator on the Board
  Florida Operation Lifesaver
• Shelly Harshaw, PDC Chair
  Nebraska Operation Lifesaver
• Ralph Mitchell, Jr., PDC Chair-Elect
  Major, Louisiana State Police      
• Alvin Richardson, Sr.
  Senior Safety Coordinator, Amtrak                                                     
• Otto Sonefeld
  Program Director for Intermodal Affairs, American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials (retired).
• Peggy Wilhide
  Vice President, Communications, Association of American Railroads.
• Helen M. Sramek, President, Operation Lifesaver, Inc. is a non-voting, ex-officio member of the OLI Board of Directors. The offices of Operation Lifesaver, Inc. are at 1420 King Street, Suite 401, Alexandria, VA 22314.