Capital Area Transportation Authority (CATA) CEO/Executive Director, Sandy Draggoo, is one of ten contemporary women whose accomplishments will be honored through induction into the Michigan Women’s Hall of Fame in Lansing. The group was selected by independent juries and will be honored October 19th at the 27th Annual Michigan Women’s Hall of Fame Awards Dinner and Induction Ceremony at the Kellogg Hotel and Conference Center in East Lansing. Over the years, more than 250 women have been named to this esteemed group. Some are firsts, founders or experts in their fields.
One of the first women to lead a public transportation system in the country, Draggoo has been the CEO/Executive Director of the Capitol Area Transportation Authority (CATA) since 1985. Under her leadership CATA received the American Public Transportation Association’s Outstanding Achievement Award in 1991 and again in 2007. She has received numerous awards for her leadership in the transportation field.
Draggoo said that she hopes her career and personal life demonstrate that women can be business leaders and good mothers at the same time. Draggoo has three grown children. “You can have a career and have a family and the kids can learn from you in both of those roles,” she said. “Children growing up in a home where mom is working see how dedication and having a work ethic are important.”
In 1974, Sandy Draggoo began her CATA career as Executive Secretary. Hard work, great instincts and a superb relational style moved her up the ranks. When the CEO/Executive Director spot opened up in 1985, she was selected, despite the national search firm’s warning that “a woman could never do the job”. In 1985, she became one of the first women to lead a public transportation system in the country.
In 2003, the American Public Transportation Association saluted her leadership; naming her Outstanding Public Transportation System Manager. She was only the third woman to ever win this prestigious award – - one that is typically reserved for CEO’s of the larger transit systems in the U.S. The Governor and Senate proclaimed it “Sandy Draggoo Day” upon her return to Lansing. In January of 2006, Sandy Draggoo was chosen as the recipient of the Sharon D. Banks Award for Innovative Leadership in Transportation. This National Transportation Research Board (TRB) award, recognizes sustained leadership accomplishments and innovations that exemplify caring nature and depth of character in areas such as community-sensitive facilities and services; the education, training, and mentoring of transportation professionals; or comparable people-oriented initiatives. This award recognizes the “…remarkable growth in Ingham County public transportation under Sandy’s guidance, and her ability to stay connected with her employees, constituents, those she mentors and the community.”
Sandy has served in leadership capacities for many area boards and service organizations and was named 2004 South Lansing Business Person of the Year. That same year, the Lansing State Journal named her one of the “Top 100 People to Watch in the 21st Century”. Sandy has served as a Meals-On-Wheels volunteer since 1990.
Soon after being appointed CATA CEO/Executive Director, Sandy felt it was important to get her Bachelor’s Degree and signed up for the accelerated program at Spring Arbor College. She graduated with a 4.0 while working full-time at the Authority. She received the 1987 Distinguished Leader Award from her class and was featured in Who’s Who in American Universities and Colleges. In 1996 she was honored as the Alumni Person of the Year for Professional Excellence for “Outstanding Professional and Community Contributions and Achieving Honor and Distinction for Spring Arbor College”.
ABOUT THE MICHIGAN WOMEN’S HALL OF FAME
The Hall of Fame, established in 1983, was the brainchild of the Michigan Women’s Studies Association (MWSA), a professional organization of academicians concerned with what is thought and taught about women in the state’s schools, colleges, and universities. “It was a natural extension of our work in the classroom,” explained former MWSA President Gladys Beckwith, “and another means of disseminating information about Michigan women, past and present.”
Patterned after the National Women’s Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls, New York, the Michigan Hall was the first of its kind to recognize high-achieving women of an individual state.
Over the years, more than 250 women have been named to this esteemed body. Some are ‘firsts’ or ‘founders’; that is, the first females to assume a particular role of leadership, such as Michigan’s first female U.S. senator Debbie Stabenow, or the founders of new entities like Bina West Miller, who established the first life insurance company for women. Another category of women are considered experts in their fields: for instance, Catherine Carter Blackwell is a recognized authority on African history and culture. And many inductees are Michigan’s proud representatives on a national stage. An example of this is Lily Tomlin, whose creative abilities have earned her two Tonys, six Emmys, a Grammy, two Peabody Awards, and an Academy Award nomination.
Biographical information, photographs, and lesson plans relating to the inductees may be found at www.michiganwomenshalloffame.org , and a commemorative plaque for each woman hangs in the Michigan Women’s Historical Center in Lansing. This center houses a museum dedicated to Michigan women’s history and art, a library of women’s history materials, and public meeting spaces