By Jan Peña Davis –

An eight-hour day and five-day work week is foreign to Maria Teresa Roman.
She juggles two positions in the public transportation field.

She is the government and community relations officer at the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), where one of her responsibilities is to coordinate and facilitate multicultural events throughout the city of Chicago.

She also is the first Latina president of the Chicago Chapter of the Conference of Minority Transportation Officials (COMTO). Although a national organization, the goal of Chicago’s COMTO chapter is to introduce awareness, membership and opportunities in transportation to minority young people. The group focuses on trains, buses, aviation and ports as well.

Roman is passionate in her mission to level opportunities in the field of transportation for minorities and women.

“Educating, volunteering and community service… is my passion,” she said.

From holidays trains to ethnic parades, Roman’s awareness and sensitivity to each dynamic community generally make these events a huge success, she said. After all Chicago is known as a city of neighborhoods and summer festivals.

Born in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, a community activist, Roman, 44, has seen traditional roles for Latinas change.

She smiles and then her brow wrinkles. “But many things have stayed the same, gravemente,” she said.

She said that the challenges Latinas face have lessened but not disappeared: assimilation, jealousy, ignorance, and stereotype especially for those Latinas who don’t fit into the ‘novela mode’ and specifically for those who look black.

So how are advancements and changes made?

“Starting with organizations like COMTO,” she said.

In order to accomplish this, COMTO’s Chicago chapter has designed a mentorship/intern/scholarship program for young people to ultimately culminate in employment.

Currently in Chicago 65 percent of senior management in transportation is 55 or older. “The need to create a succession plan is paramount,” Roman said.

The success for a new program like this is heightened not just by Roman’s position as a Latina at the CTA, but the role of other Latinas in positions of power in transportation as well.

Roman personally networks by reaching out to females through everyday encounters and traditional multicultural universities and colleges in Chicago with transportation programs and career fairs.

“Not enough minorities look at transportation as an industry,” she said

According to Roman, there’s a wide network of mentors within the industry so possible interns have their pick of where the best fit would be: RTA, CTA, PACE, IDOT and the Metropolitan Planning Commission. They can work in marketing to computer design.

And for those interested in law enforcement, CTA has the second largest transit security detail in the country, which included protecting Barack Obama in Grant Park on election night.

COMTO’s scholarship offers applicants a 10-week paid position at one of the transportation agencies, a mentor, and the opportunity to attend regional or national conferences with the minority Who’s Who in the transportation industry.

“Kids get the chance to see the good, bad, and ugly of transportation,” Roman said.

Also, another initiative offers scholarships for minority high school students.

Roman also is on the board of directors at Roberto Clemente Health Center, a volunteer position, providing her plenty of candidates for her high school initiative.

“We all wear multiple hats, starting from ‘mami’ to just fill in the blank, in this community” (Humboldt Park) states her friend, Sonia Cebellero. “But she outshines us all.”