Transform Is Back, and the Work Continues

By Jenn Guitart, Executive Director (for just a little longer)

As I prepare to transition out of my role as Transform’s executive director later this month for personal reasons, it’s a good time to reflect on what the past three years have meant for me — and for Transform.

A time of growth

When I joined Transform three years ago as executive director, I already knew that this organization was special. I had long admired Transform’s bold, integrated vision for sustainable, just communities, and was blown away by its history of shaping the region’s transportation and housing to be more sustainable and equitable. But Transform had weathered some rough times after our founding E.D., Stuart Cohen, left, and I knew that it needed some nurturing to bring it back to health. Together with a passionate, talented staff, a collaborative and hardworking board, and a lot of love, we did it.

We’re visible again—in the press, in Sacramento, at MTC meetings, in coalitions and communities. We restructured, rebranded, and rebuilt. We created and began implementing our strategic plan not as a document that sits on a shelf, but as a roadmap we actually use.

Three years of accomplishments

Let’s take a look at what our amazing team has done in the past 3 years—because it’s kind of a lot.

In 2023, Transform co-led the coalition that secured $5.1 billion to avert the transit fiscal cliff. We pushed safety, equity, and climate to the center of the transit conversation. We helped pass bills to prevent traffic violence. And we launched a framework to make transit safer through alternatives to policing. We distributed benefits like free transit passes and EV car share through our Mobility Hubs pilots. Expanded Safe Routes to Schools across Alameda County. Partnered deeply with Black and Brown communities to meet real transportation needs.

In 2024, we led on getting the Transportation Accountability Act passed, forcing Caltrans to finally disclose how it spends $30 billion a year. We fought to protect Bay Area transit from devastating cuts. We helped pass the Complete Streets law. We wrapped up our multi-year Mobility Hubs program, kept youth engaged through Safe Routes, and won several community engagement contracts across the region.

And now it’s 2025. We’re still rolling.

Transform is on a roll

Just this year, Transform helped to block $1.1 billion in proposed transit cuts. We co-led a regional coalition preparing for a 2026 transit measure that could raise $1 billion annually—advocating to minimize highway expansion and push for progressive revenue. We’ve strengthened Cap-and-Trade reauthorization through deep cross-sector partnerships. And we pushed back hard on highway expansion, showing up with policy chops, public pressure, and seven major news hits to prove it.

When I hear people say this, it’s music to my ears—because it’s true: “Transform is back.”

And the person who’s going to carry this momentum forward is someone you already know: Zack Deutsch-Gross.
Zack is smart, strategic, humble, decisive—and one of the most effective people I’ve worked with. He leads with clarity. He builds trust. And he understands how to bridge our community work with our policy work in a way that few others do.
I’m thrilled that Zack is stepping into the Executive Director role. That clarity of leadership is what we need right now, and I know he’ll bring both vision and action to the work ahead.

This job has stretched me in ways I didn’t expect—sometimes exhilarating, sometimes exhausting, but always deeply engaging. I’ve grown a lot, and gotten to collaborate with brilliant, principled people. And I’ve felt genuinely supported through it all.

I’m very excited to continue supporting Transform in an advisory role through the end of the year. I believe deeply in our mission, in this team, and in the work ahead.