Transportation Coordinator Spotlight: Kelli McGowan

by | Nov 25, 2025 | Business Owners, News

We spoke with Kelli McGowan of Mithun, where she serves as an Employee Transportation Coordinator (ETC).

Welcome to our Transportation Coordinator Spotlight Series! We’re celebrating the work of Employee and Building Transportation Coordinators across the city. ETC and BTCs do more than just implement programs and benefits to reduce traffic — they make the lives of working people better by saving employees time and money and improving the air quality for all who call Seattle home.

Read on for our spotlight Q&A with Building Transportation Coordinator, Kelli McGowan.

Note: Kelli McGowan will be joining us for Commute University: Tips to Keep Teams Moving During the Big Dark on December 2nd! Register now!

Q & A with Kelli McGowan, Employee Transportation Coordinator for Mithun

What is your job title? 

HR Coordinator (and ETC)

How long have you been an ETC or BTC? 

About a year and a half!

What does a typical workday look like for you?

Because my primary job is HR, I do a lot of internal communication-type work, answering questions about benefits, facilitating professional development conversations, and onboarding new hires. Since I already work with our other benefits, managing transit benefits across all three of our offices and being the ETC for the Seattle office gel nicely with the rest of my role.

What’s one success or positive experience you’ve had in your role as ETC or BTC? What made it successful?

Within my first few months at the company, I had to tackle the 2024 CTR Survey and proposed a switch from the ORCA Business Choice program to the ORCA Business Passport program. That meant putting myself in front of people who had no idea who I was and asking them to spend time and money. I think what made both the survey and the ORCA switch successful was keeping communication straightforward and backing it up with data and/or incentives as the situation warranted.

What’s one challenge you’ve faced in your role as an ETC or BTC? What strategies did you use to face that challenge?

Our architects and designers are always incredibly busy, so it’s difficult for them to carve out time for non-project work. I’ve found it most effective to lean into my marketing background and create multi-pronged “campaigns” when making big announcements that require them to take action. For the CTR survey, we made live staff meeting announcements, posted the QR codes in the most-frequented locations around the office, and sent out a series of emails with attention-grabbing subject lines and images. We’re also an extremely food-motivated bunch, so including a prize drawing for local restaurant gift cards convinced a lot of people to participate!

What’s one thing you’ve learned as an ETC/BTC?

People are more passionate about their commutes than you might think! And bikers are often the most passionate of all.

What advice would you give to a brand new ETC/BTC?

Figure out how your employees like to communicate and what topics are most important to/have the most impact on them. The more tailored your communication is, the more people will engage with it. (And when all else fails, fun incentives go a long way.)

Is there anything else you want to share?

Commute Seattle has been an invaluable partner on the ETC role, CTR requirements, ORCA business offerings, and more. Don’t hesitate to lean on them for support when you need it! I’ve never spoken to someone there who wasn’t gracious, pleasant, and a delight to work with.
Are you an ETC or BTC that wants to be featured in a future spotlight? Fill out our form!

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