Meet Grecia White

Meet Grecia White - a Fisheries and Aquatic Biology Major on the Move 

Grecia’s goal is to Advance Public Transportation Systems in the Region through Focusing on Gender Disparities in the Access to Transportation. Her 2020 Fellowship was with the MBTA Regional Rail Transformation. Read More about her interests and insights below:

“…Communication plays such a big role. There are people with great ideas everywhere, but they are not always connected to each other. “I think when communication is easy and fast among people looking to advance similar causes, that's when we can expect change to happen.” - Grecia White

Where did you attend undergraduate & graduate school, and what was (were) your program(s) of study? 

I went to undergrad in a small state school in Western KY- Murray State University where the nearest cornfield was a 10min walk from campus. I studied fisheries and aquatic biology. Currently I'm a student at Northeastern University, pursuing my master’s [degree]  in urban informatics.

What inspired you to get involved, and learn more about politics and public policy?

Listening to NPR and working at an affiliate NPR station, WKMS, my senior year of college made a big impression on me and opened my eyes to local politics and regional issues.

What have you been up to since your time at CAP ended?

Since the fellowship, I have interned with the ITDP Boston office working on advancing Bus Rapid Transit in the region. I've also gotten more involved with the Latinos and Planning Division of the American Planning Association where I serve as a student rep and am kickstarting our very own podcast in hopes of bringing more visibility to the issues that matter to us individually and as a collective.

What have you been doing to keep busy or motivated during this time of social distancing? Did you watch or read anything worth sharing? What advice do you have for those who may be alone- or without their support systems nearby?

I'd say take it easy on yourself. I went through a really hard time this past winter. Things just seemed to pile on and I constantly felt like I was barely staying above water. Some days I felt tired, but some of those days I honestly just felt lazy and that's okay too. That didn't mean I didn't have goals or causes I cared about, but that I'm a person and sometimes we just don't feel like doing anything. In those times, just remember to take it easy and that you're not a bad person if you don't always feel motivated or at 100%.

If you could travel safely anywhere, where would you go? Who would you bring and how long would you stay?

I'd go to Iran with my mom and stay for a year visiting all the cities, small towns and trying out all their public transit lines.

What is your go-to comfort food? Who makes it, where do you get it - why is it special?

I really like corn bread, especially sweet corn bread. I love that it's so easy to make!

What policy issues and areas interest interest you?

My main area of interest is transportation policy, particularly public transportation and the role gender plays in how accessible or inaccessible it is for folks. I've made this the topic of my summer research project, "Waiting time variability at bus stops and perceived safety through a gender lens." My hope is to begin to document the transportation experiences of people who identify as women and use this as an advocacy tool and perhaps a way to bring us together and find ways to push for the policy reforms we need so that we may all have better experiences as we move through our cities.

In your opinion, what are the major challenges faced by our country, state, or city? What do you think can be done to to fix it? Where would you start?

Honestly, I think communication plays such a big role. There are people with great ideas everywhere, but they are not always connected to each other. I think when communication is easy and fast among people looking to advance similar causes, that's when we can expect change to happen. For example, right now I don't have a community of other Latina women in transportation, but imagine if this existed and we got organized and supported each other's efforts. Just being part of a group like this would be such a great source of support and validation in itself. So I think we need to find ways to facilitate conversations among us so that we can start organizing and pushing our causes forward together

Self Care is important, but not often discussed. How do you decompress after a challenging day or week? What do you do to recenter yourself in difficult moments?

I go on walks! But on days when I'm too tired to even do that I scroll through reddit. My favorite subs are r/liminalspace and r/poolrooms. I find the photos people share there to have a calming and soothing effect. Almost like ASMR.

Who are your role models? Why?

too many to name! And they change all the time. I feel like I rotate through them. If a peer says something I connected with then they become my role model for the week. If I come across an article that really spoke to me then that author becomes my role model for the next few days. I think it's helpful to have a range of different people we look up.

Do you have any advice for younger leaders or innovators who are looking to make a change or get involved, but don't know where to start?

I'd say just start. With whatever idea you have, whatever issue you're curious about, start digging and also start creating. I've found that having something to share, like an article, a blog post, a video, or photo essay can really help facilitate connections and conversation. It gives folks something tangible to discuss and gets the conversation going. Many folks use Medium to share short blog posts. This makes it easy for people to interact with your ideas and share them with others.

Where can folks contact you, follow you, or learn more about you? ( Facebook, Instagram, State webpage, Twitter, etc.)

Follow me on the twitterz! @grecia_white or my website, greciawhite.com