Henry Li is a visionary and transformational leader with a proven track record of strategic innovations. During his extensive transportation career, he has successfully led a variety of industry cutting edge initiatives in highly political, complex and dynamic metropolitan regions, with a successful history of building strong alliances both internally and externally to promote multi-modal mobility options for the future.
Since becoming Sacramento Regional Transit District’s (SacRT) General Manager/CEO in early 2016, Henry has been credited for the solid, rapid and comprehensive transformation/overhaul of SacRT that has been praised by the Sacramento community and the transit industry nationwide. Some of his achievements include: 1.) Cultivated a solid culture of “Customers First and Running SacRT as an Effective Business Enterprise,” and dramatically improved all key aspects of operational performance, including safety, security, reliability, customer services and on-time performance; 2.) Developed and inspired a top-notch leadership team and agency-wide staff to pursue excellence on all fronts with an inclusive and diverse culture; 3.) Developed an innovative transportation vision, including shared mobility, bus electrification, on-demand microtransit and autonomous vehicles; 4.) Led capital region rail system modernization and system expansion initiatives, including a new Downtown/Riverfront Streetcar Project; and 5.) Made substantial progress in collaborating and uniting eight suburban transit agencies within the greater six-county Sacramento region to develop a customer-friendly, integrated mobility solution for regional economic growth.
Known as a game changer in the industry, Henry is continuously driving for dramatic improvements in leadership, culture and performance at SacRT. Henry is committed to building a world-class transit system that serves as the catalyst for economic growth in the capital region of the world’s 5th largest economy.
A recognized and respected industry leader, Henry has been an active participant in various prestigious leadership programs and boards such as: American Public Transportation Association; California Transit Association; State of California Transit Strategic Planning Committee; National Transportation Learning Center; Leadership Atlanta; Leadership DeKalb; Leadership Jacksonville; Virginia Senate Transit Advisory Committee; and Sacramento Downtown Partnership Board.
Henry has been an active participant in various prestigious leadership programs and boards such as: American Public Transportation Association (APTA); California Transit Association (CTA); California Transit Strategic Planning Committee; Leadership Atlanta in Georgia; Jacksonville Mayor’s Asian American Advisory Board; Leadership Jacksonville in Florida; Virginia Senate Transit Advisory Committee; and Sacramento Downtown Partnership Board. Most recently, Henry was selected as a new Board Director of APTA, and appointed to the finance committee representing the APTA Board.
Henry came to SacRT from the Jacksonville Transportation Authority (JTA) in Jacksonville, Florida where he made historic improvements with JTA team which received recognition as the “Outstanding Public Transportation System” by APTA in 2016. Prior to that, Henry held various leadership positions in other transit agencies, such as: Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) and San Francisco Muni (SFMTA).
A Certified Public Accountant, Henry received his B.S. degree and Master’s degree in liberal arts from China and a Master’s of business administration from Georgia Southern University.