Director of Development
As Director of Development for 128 Business Council, Lispeth Tibbits-Nutt plays a key role in shaping the organization’s strategic vision. She leads major data-collection initiatives to evaluate and refine 128 Business Council’s services while identifying broader regional transportation needs and opportunities. She also develops educational modules for staff, member organizations, and the public; oversees public-facing communications and design; and project manages many of 128 Business Council’s consulting projects, as well as the annual work plans of 128BC’s municipal members.
In 2020, Lispeth oversaw the research aspect of 128 Business Council’s total service reevaluation in response to the COVID-19 epidemic, including liaising with public health and epidemiology experts, and then transforming that expert input into processes that could be effectively communicated to the public within a public transit environment.
She plays a key role in communicating and advancing 128 Business Council’s unique business model which relies on cooperative route-building for shared shuttle services. She values the flexibility of working on a small, mission-driven team where excellence is rooted in shared values, including a shared commitment to data integrity.
Lispeth regularly contributes to industry research and dialogue, sharing expertise through publications and conference presentations. Past conference presentations include Exhaustive Data Collection & Innovative Modeling for Equitable Community Representation (WTS Annual Conference, May 2021) and If We Can Control It, Then We Have to Try (part of the Robust Supply Chain Stability and Operational Models session, MassDOT Transportation Innovation Conference, May 2021). She also collaborates with colleagues to produce industry white papers and other publications, including most recently Traffic congestion exacerbates economic woes (October 2024).
She is an engaged member of the American Planning Association (APA) and was recognized as one of the Association of Commuter Transportation’s (ACT) 40-Under-40 in 2021. Additionally, she serves as the Director of Curriculum & Program Development for the nonprofit YEP! Youth Engagement Planning, which introduces K-12 students to urban planning and civic engagement. As part of her work with YEP!, she co-authored Ava Tanner The City Planner (April 2024), the first in a planned series of picture books designed to introduce early elementary students to the diverse career paths within urban planning.
Lispeth joined 128 Business Council out of academia, where she pursued a PhD in medieval Arabic-language intellectual history, taught first-year Arabic, and worked in residential life, including work in advocacy and coalition-building. Her time in academia also included pedagogical coursework and research which directly informs her methods of educating transportation stakeholders at all levels.
Prior to her time in higher learning, Lispeth ran a community art gallery, worked at a hedge fund and taught high school mathematics. She is a graduate of Princeton University (AB) and Harvard University (MTS, MA, PhD ABD).