Two leading lights on PSRC’s staff are moving on to well-earned retirements after decades of service to the region.
Diana Lauderbach, the agency’s Chief Financial Officer, is retiring after 20 years as the PSRC Finance team leader. In this role, she has led accounting, budgeting, and contracting for the agency and leaves a legacy of strong fiscal systems.
Diana with Finance staff
“In Diana’s tenure, PSRC has developed an excellent reputation for financial stewardship, with nine consecutive clean audits,” said PSRC President Claudia Balducci, who recognized Diana at the Executive Board’s July 22 meeting.
“It’s easy to take for granted how well run our financial shop is. We owe a lot to her leadership, integrity, and kindness in supporting board members and staff. Diana leaves us in a strong position, with strong internal controls, great financial systems, and sound fiscal management. Thank you so much and congratulations,” President Balducci said.
PSRC Executive Director Josh Brown also thanked Diana for her contributions:
“Diana has been an amazing contributor to our agency and wonderful mentor to our finance team. Over the last seven years that we’ve worked together, I’ve learned so much from Diana and wish her all the best as she moves on to the next chapter.”
Diana responded that she was thankful for her experiences at PSRC and that she will “miss the people – staff and board members. What I found here at PSRC was this spirit of ‘let’s all band together and make our region the best it can be’ and I am going to miss that.”
Diana is looking forward to spending less time in meetings and more active time with her kids and grandkids, traveling, and enjoying her hobbies.
Neil Kilgren has been a Senior Planner in the Data Department for more than three decades. A proud legacy is his role developing and managing a program of innovative transportation surveys dating back to 1989.
Neil with data department colleagues
The first was the Puget Sound Transportation Panel Survey, which surveyed the same households (with some replacements) in 10 waves conducted every 1-3 years between 1989 and 2002.
Following the Panel Survey, Neil managed or co-managed subsequent Household Travel Surveys, the most recent one in spring 2021. Collecting this real-world information on how people travel is key to the success of the agency’s long-range transportation and land use models used for regional and local planning. Neil is also one of PSRC’s resident Census data experts.
“Neil’s institutional knowledge of PSRC’s Census and travel survey data programs is unparalleled. His dedicated work over the years has supported countless regional and local planning efforts as well as national and international researchers with these rich data resources,” said Carol Naito, Program Manager.
“Over the years I’ve greatly admired and appreciated how Neil approaches his job – with extraordinary attention to detail and a constant willingness to put in the hard behind-the-scenes work involved in building information out of raw data files. In that, he embodies what the PSRC Data department strives for – commitment to produce the highest quality datasets possible,” said Mark Simonson, Program Manager.
Neil shared: “It’s been a blast being part of one of the best MPOs anywhere. I’ll miss the camaraderie, the stimulating work environment, and most of all, diving into a raw data survey data file and pulling and pushing it into shape.”
Neil’s plans for retirement include traveling and taking up painting.
Congratulations, Diana and Neil! Thanks for your service and helping to make the region a better place.