Larisa N. Escalle
39, Rail and Transit Lead, Northern California
GHD Inc.
Concord, Calif.

After 15 years working in rail and transit sector design, Larisa Escalle has reached a level in her career when her experience and portfolio of work speaks for itself, and she says it “feels great.”

Escalle has led multiple landmark projects, including the $12.2-billion Bay Area Rapid Transit District Silicon Valley Phase II, that transit system’s $1.1-billion District Communications Based Train Control program and the $128-billion California High-Speed Rail program.

“It’s such a weird feeling.,” she says. “I remember the day when I said something in a meeting and people were just like, ‘OK, we’re going to go with that.’ I was like, ‘Wait, what?’ Because I was making the decision at that point.” 

She says that was the moment she knew she had graduated from being an early career professional to a trusted leader. 

“That was that change,” Escalle says. “You go from this earlier career professional into ‘now you know what you’re talking about’ and there are decisions that need to be made. It’s so funny how it kind of hits you all of a sudden.” 

After earning a Bachelor’s Degree in architecture from the University of California, Berkeley, she began her career at design firms WSP and Parsons, where she eventually oversaw more than $110 million in contracts under BART’s $3.5-billion bond for capital transit programs. While at Parsons, she also completed a Master’s Degree in project management at Golden Gate University. She then spent a year at Hill International before joining GHD in 2022

Escalle says her role now is less about going through lots of work and more focused on “strategy, business development, recruitment.” 

She says “It’s all about the these softer skills. We still have to do a lot of work, but it’s less so.” 

Escalle serves on several American Public Transportation Association committees and is a longtime member of the Women in Transportation Seminar and Conference of Minority Transportation Officials.

She has also been a community service advocate since the industry ACE Mentor program inspired her in high school to pursue architecture. She returned to it as a professional, serving in numerous roles. As part of her dedication to empowering future women leaders in STEM, Escalle participates with the Girls Lead the Way STEM Summit, Femineering and Bay Area LEEDS.

As company employees return to the office and start using more public transportation, Escalle says she is optimistic about how her work will develop to serve the country.

“Obviously, there are uncertainties about federally funded projects,” she says, “but I am confident that’s all going to work itself out because we cannot forget about the aging infrastructure we have. It needs to be repaired. It needs to be replaced. Otherwise, we can’t move our people—and if we can’t move our people there is no economy. I feel optimistic that we are going to continue in the right trajectory in the transportation space.”