Janet Malley has had a long and illustrious career in public service at WTA - 24 years! Janet has accomplished more than we can list here, but some of her standout achievements are:

Goodwill Ambassador Award- this award goes to those who make invaluable connections and contributions to community, and Janet is the only WTA employee who’s won the award twice-

First in 2015 when she developed a public/private partnership to transport riders to a difficult to reach location so they could participate in the County’s only Adult Day Health program. The ADH Partnership was selected by the NCMM (National Center for Mobility Management) as one of its first demonstration projects after Janet wrote a grant to support the work. 

Janet won the award again in 2021 for her help coordinating food bank deliveries during Covid and for developing a three-day ADA Proficiency Training for WTA Operators. She’s taught the class 4 times a year for the last 5 years. 

Janet has served the community as a member of multiple boards and committees including:
Whatcom County’s Developmental Disabilities Advisory Board, Whatcom Council on Aging, Healthy Whatcom (a steering committee that partners with the health department on health improvement plans) and Aging Well Whatcom.

Early in Janet’s career, she created a peer-to-peer travel training presentation with a student intern from Community Transitions. This presentation was offered to all Whatcom County school districts and at a state conference. Janet later worked with Easterseals Project Action to vision the current travel training program at WTA.

Janet has hosted and co-hosted the WA State ADA conference numerous times, has presented at the WSTA conference, presents continually at senior centers and schools, and has been WTA’s CTANW representative for 20 years.

Janet is a respected collaborator, and she thinks outside the box to continually support her coworkers, WTA’s customers, and all of Whatcom County. There’s a poster in her office that states, “All the human services in the world are useless if people can’t get to them”. Janet has lived by these words for the last 24 years, administering WTA’s paratransit eligibility program and providing referrals and support to riders needing additional services. 

Please accept this nomination for Janet Malley, ADA Professional of the Year.

Sincerely,

Chris Gray
Paratransit Manager, WTA