Port Authority Touts Female Leadership as Trump Blasts DEI

For the first time in its 104-year history, the agency that runs the New York City-area airports and seaports will have an all-female leadership team, and says it is underscoring its commitment to diversity despite mounting pressure from President Donald Trump to dismantle diversity, equity and inclusion programs. 

With the appointment of Sarah McKeon as aviation director, all six key departments at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey will now be headed by women. The agency said it is reaffirming the importance of DEI practices, and senior staff have been informed of its ongoing dedication to these initiatives despite criticism from conservative groups that diversity programs don’t value individual merit.

McKeon joins Clarelle DeGraffe, who runs the PATH train — the rail that shuttles commuters between New Jersey and Manhattan — Beth Rooney, who is the port director; Jolene Yeats, who is in charge of the World Trade Center; Jacquelene McCarthy, the head of aviation redevelopment; and Diannae Ehler, who runs tunnels, bridges and terminals.

“I’m here among these women because we deserve it and have earned it,” McKeon said in an exclusive interview. “There’s nothing that can be said in Washington or can be said elsewhere that can take that away.” 

Highlighting this milestone makes the Port Authority an outlier in an era where leaders are increasingly wary about publicly discussing diversity. Since taking office, Trump has signed an array of executive orders that aim to erase DEI from the government, federal contractors and beyond, leading agencies and corporations to scrub mentions of such programs from websites and eliminate DEI teams. 

“I think this is a key time,” said DeGraffe. “I think it brings a lot of discomfort but to see five women within the agency heading up line departments, it creates a safe space.”

‘Bring It’ 

Trump has also blamed DEI for the recent midair collision between a passenger jet and military helicopter at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, saying the most deadly U.S. commercial airline accident in over a decade was because standards for air traffic controllers had been too lax. He signed an executive action directing federal agencies to undo DEI practices at the Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration. 

Asked whether the women worry that publicly celebrating an all-female leadership team could cause backlash if anything were to go wrong, McKeon said the agency values preparedness and regularly tests skills. “Bring it,” she said.

“Although we have programs that are intentionally looking at building our representation across the board, we’re not sacrificing quality for that,” McKeon said.

All of the women are Port Authority veterans. Ehler has spent more than four decades with the agency, starting as a summer intern in the engineering department and rising through the ranks. DeGraffe and Rooney joined more than 30 years ago, DeGraffe leads the $430 million PATH Forward program to revitalize the system, while Rooney oversees the East Coast’s largest and busiest seaport.

McCarthy and McKeon, who have been there for roughly 20 years, oversee aviation operations, ensuring safety and leading major airport redevelopments. Yeats transitioned from consulting at Sam Schwartz to managing the World Trade Center complex more than a decade ago.

“It’s important to celebrate that we chose the most qualified person,” Yeats said. “It is a woman, and we’re proud of that and it signals to others that it is important.”