2026 Summit Speaker Bios - Publish - Flipbook - Page 7
Monica Téllez - Fowler
LIT Board Member | President/CEO at Central Ohio Transit Authority
(COTA)
Monica Téllez-Fowler is the President/CEO of the Central Ohio Transit
Authority (COTA), the regional mobility organization providing service to
Columbus and the Central Ohio region. Since joining COTA in March 2023,
she has served as Chief Operating Ofûcer before she was promoted to
Deputy CEO in May 2023. In May 2024, she became COTA’s new
President/CEO, after a unanimous vote by the Board of Trustees.
During her time at COTA, Monica successfully negotiated an
industry-leading labor contract with Transport Workers Union 208,
implemented and oversaw the organization’s transformative Paid Family
Leave Policy, and led improvements to transit service following a national
workforce shortage. She also leads COTA in the LinkUS Mobility Initiative,
which is the region’s mobility plan to bring rapid transit solutions and
transportation options to accommodate major population growth in Central Ohio.
Prior to COTA, she served as the Deputy CEO/Treasurer of Clark County Public Transit Beneût Area
Authority (C-TRAN) in Vancouver, Washington. While at C-TRAN, Tellez-Fowler was responsible for more
than $100 million in annual operations and capital budgets and represented the authority on a $3.5 billion
Interstate 5 bridge replacement megaproject across the Columbia River on the Washington Oregon
border. While at C-TRAN, the organization earned Outstanding Transportation System of the Year twice,
ûrst in 2019 and again in 2022.
Before joining C-TRAN, Téllez-Fowler was the Chief Financial Ofûcer and Vice President of Trinity Metro in
Fort Worth, Texas, where she oversaw the New Starts Federal Transit Administration grant application
process for TEXRail, a $1 billion, 27-mile commuter rail between downtown Fort Worth and the Dallas/Fort
Worth International Airport.
In 2025, Monica was appointed to the American Public Transportation Association’s Board of Directors and
also serves on the Finance, Budget, and Audit Governing Committee for Latinos in Transit. Tellez-Fowler
earned a Master of Business Administration from Texas A&M University and a Bachelor of Business
Administration from Tarleton State University, graduating as a distinguished scholar. She lives in Gahanna.
Raquel Olivier, CEO, Olivier Inc.
Raquel Olivier is the Founder and President/CEO of Olivier, Inc. (MWSBE),
a professional consulting ûrm supporting the construction and
operational sectors in the public transit, aviation, K12, higher education,
municipalities, and healthcare industries. Ms. Olivier received her dual
undergraduate degree from the University of Houston with a BBA in
Accounting and Management (Cum Laude) and obtained her CPA
license in 1997 from the State of Texas. She also holds an MBA from Texas
A&M University’s Executive Program. Her passion to positively impact her
community led her to start a value-added, solution-focused ûrm with a
vision of building an organization with workforce development, client sustainability, and quality assurance
delivery as its core focus. She currently employs over 110 team members.
Ms. Olivier serves on the American Public Transportation Association (APTA)’s Business Member Board of
Governors (BMBG) as Vice Chair, and the Immediate Past Chair of the APTA Foundation (APTF), and V.P. of
Finance of the AMAC Houston Chapter Board. She is also the President of the Alief ISD Education
Foundation (Houston). In 2021, she was appointed by Governor Abbott to the Texas Board of Veterinary
Medical Examiners (TBVME) and reappointed in 2025. She is also a member of Latinos in Transit (LIT),
Women’s Transportation Seminar (WTS), Conference of Minority Transportation Ofûcials (COMTO), Regional
Hispanic Contractors Association (RHCA), and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. (AKA).
