Leadership

Our Collective Passions Guide the Road Ahead

At COTA, we are proud of our strong leadership team that is dedicated to improving the quality of our community’s transit system and the lives it touches. The COTA team includes our executive leadership, directors and board members. At every level, COTA is committed to helping you get where you’re going.

Steering us Toward Transportation Innovation, Quality and Equity

COTA’s leadership is committed to excellence in serving all of our stakeholders – customers, employees and taxpayers. We deliver quality transportation services and conduct business courteously, safely, ethically and reliably. Every day, we demonstrate fiscally responsible and environmentally conscious leadership.

Joanna M. Pinkerton

President/CEO

A licensed professional engineer with a history of implementing solutions to capitalize on Ohio’s rich legacy of transportation, manufacturing and technical resources, Pinkerton joined COTA in April 2018.

She previously served in roles at the state’s top automotive technology institutions – Honda, Ohio State University and Transportation Research Center Inc., where she was chief operating officer. She also served in leadership roles at the Ohio Department of Transportation and in Union County, which is home to the state’s first connected vehicle corridor, the U.S. 33 Smart Mobility Corridor.

Monica Tellez-Fowler

Deputy CEO

Monica Tellez-Fowler has a decade-long track record of excellence in transit and in fiscal operations, human resources and information technology. She joined COTA as Chief Operating Officer in March 2023, following her tenure as Deputy CEO/Treasurer of Clark County Public Transit Benefit Area Authority (C-TRAN) in Vancouver, Washington where she fully embraced innovation and collaboration. Tellez-Fowler also served as Chief Financial Officer of Trinity Metro in Fort Worth, Texas prior to C-TRAN. She earned a Master’s of Business Administration from Texas A&M University and a Bachelor’s of Business Administration from Tarleton State University, graduating as a distinguished scholar.