Erin Graham and JT Flowers join the Board and begin serving in new roles on Oct. 1
With confirmation by the Oregon Senate, TriMet’s Board of Directors welcomes two new members: Erin Graham and JT Flowers. Selected by Gov. Tina Kotek, the new members will fill seats vacated by former Board President and District 2 Director Ozzie Gonzalez and retiring District 5 Director Keith Edwards. In their current professional roles, Graham and Flowers hold high-level positions with local nonprofit organizations that have missions focused on engaging, educating and empowering the community. The new TriMet Board members are passionate about improving outcomes for youth and people who have been historically marginalized. Now, their volunteer roles with TriMet, which begin Oct. 1, 2024, will bring them together with the full seven-member TriMet Board, to carry out the important work that keeps our region moving.
Erin Graham, representing TriMet District 2
Erin Graham joins the TriMet Board of Directors as the representative of District 2, which covers a large swath of Portland, including neighborhoods in Northwest, South, Southwest and Downtown. Graham currently serves as President and CEO of OMSI. She has worked with the nonprofit in various roles, including COO, for more than a decade. She sees her role on the TriMet Board as a relationship-builder, engaging with and stewarding diverse partners and community relationships. Her vision for transit includes shared economic prosperity and environmental stewardship, driven by innovation.
“Investing in upgrading and electrifying public transportation and increasing ridership are critical to reaching our climate goals and reducing impacts on human health,” Graham said.
Before OMSI, Graham worked in nonprofit fundraising, operations and as in-house counsel for arts and technology industries. She holds a JD/MBA from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Oregon. Graham is a member of the American Leadership Forum of Oregon as well as the International Women’s Forum.
JT Flowers, representing TriMet District 5
JT Flowers will represent District 5 on the TriMet Board of Directors, which covers large portions of North and Northeast Portland. An inner Northeast Portland native, Flowers currently serves as the Director of Government Affairs and Communications at Albina Vision Trust. His work centers around placemaking, economic development and generational wealth-building for Black and historically displaced Portlanders.
“Transit is inherently a question of equity,” Flowers said in his application to serve on the Board.
As someone who spent his childhood riding TriMet bus lines 6 and 72 and the MAX, Flowers vowed to center his decisions on the region’s “most marginalized communities.” He believes transit creates opportunities, not only through connectivity but also with technology and innovation.
“I’m extremely interested in working creatively to leverage expansion and fleet electrification as a generational workforce development opportunity for working-class and under-represented Oregonians,” he said.
Flowers also serves on the board of Williams & Russell CDC. He previously worked in the office of Rep. Earl Blumenauer as a field representative, consultant for the nonprofit Campaign Zero and as a public lands coordinator for a nature conservation nonprofit.
At 30 years of age, Flowers will be the youngest member of the TriMet Board. He is a first-generation graduate of Yale University, the first Black Rhodes Scholar in Oregon’s history, a Truman Scholar and holds master’s degrees in U.S. History and Music Performance from the University of Oxford.
Graham and Flowers are fulfilling partial terms that run through May 31, 2026 and May 24, 2026 respectively. Board members serve at the pleasure of the governor and can be appointed for up to two, four-year terms.
About the Board of Directors
With Graham and Flowers’ appointments confirmed, all seven directors on TriMet’s Board have been seated:
- Thomas Kim, Vice President and District 1
- Erin Graham, District 2
- Robert Kellogg, District 3
- Tyler Frisbee, District 4
- JT Flowers, District 5
- Dr. LaVerne Lewis, President and District 6
- Kathy Wai, Secretary/Treasurer and District 7
TriMet’s Board of Directors provides financial stewardship of the agency’s annual budget, which totaled $1.9 billion for the 2025 Fiscal Year that began on July 1, 2024. In addition to fulfilling fiduciary responsibilities, Board members appoint the general manager, help set high-level agency policy, and implement legislation on transit operations. They also serve in liaison roles on special advisory groups and committees. For more information about the TriMet Board, visit trimet.org/board.
TriMet Board business meetings are typically held once per month. The next meeting – the first for the two new Board members in their official capacity – is scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 23.
