AKRON, Ohio — Dawn Distler’s career at METRO Regional Transit Authority started by chance. After she was laid off her job, friends suggested she join them in driving busses for METRO RTA. With nothing to lose, Distler applied and got the job in 1987, and the rest is history.
Distler fell in love with the job, sharing that the position made her feel like she was able to give back to the community.
“It's a job where everything is very inclusive and kind of equitable because you don't ask them, you know, 'What's your race? What's your gender? How much money do you make?' You don't ask any of that. It's just, you know, get on, pay up, sit down, hold on,” she said.
From there, Distler moved up the ranks in METRO and into management roles. After 17 years with METRO RTA, she took a role for a transportation system in Tennessee, where she learned more about the national transportation scene.
But after years away from Northeast Ohio, Distler and her wife wanted to return home to be with family. It just so happens that at that time, METRO was looking for a new CEO.
“We brought in I think it was about four candidates,” said Robert DeJournett, then board chair of METRO and current board member. “When they introduced themselves, Dawn was like, ‘I'm Dawn Distler, I'm your next CEO.’ I'm like, who is this lady?”
DeJournett said that Distler’s experience starting her career as a bus operator at METRO gave her an edge, and said he appreciated her insights and willingness to bring new ideas.
"People like to follow people who have walked in their shoes, and Dawn is not the leader that's going to tell you what to do. She's going to roll up her sleeves, she's going to be in the trenches, right. And from her past experience and being a bus driver, being a union steward, being in management, I mean, she knows all those lanes,” he said. “Her empathy, her compassion and just her experience of knowing, of having done that, I mean, that speaks volumes.”
In 2018, Distler got the job, and has served as CEO ever since. Reflecting on career, she said she still can’t believe she’s heading the organization she started driving buses for years ago.
“Whether I talk to a new bus operator, mechanics class, even a new admin person, whoever it might be, you know, I tell them if I can do this, anybody can do it,” she said.
Distler acknowledges the challenging schedules and hours worked by those at METRO, and said she likes helping people understand the impact they’re making.
“This isn't just a job, it's not just a paycheck. I'm actually helping people,” she said. “That helps, that helps you feel like what you're doing is worth something, and possibly that you're maybe leaving something behind.”
That passion was recognized this year with the Outstanding Chief Executive Officer Award from the American Public Transportation Association. Distler said she was nominated by her colleagues at METRO.
“Some of the people who have won this award are just people I've always looked up to,” she said. “For me to be in the same sentence with those people, to me it's unreal.”
“We have a jewel in Dawn,” DeJournett said. “I don't think people know just what a jewel she is, because across transit, when we go to those conferences, everybody knows Dawn, everybody wants to tap into what she's doing and get her knowledge.”
Distler said looking ahead, she hopes to impart the importance of public transit across the region.
“My goal going forward is to continue to help this region understand how important public transportation is,” she said. “It's an economic driver, as well as something that just kind of levels the playing field for everybody.”