Who's new?
Donna Berry, deputy director for Project Delivery and chief engineer
Donna Berry
Donna had been serving as the acting chief engineer and deputy director for Project Delivery since February. In this position, Donna is responsible for all guidance and policy for the delivery of Caltrans' statewide transportation projects. She manages six headquarters divisions and leads more than 11,000 Project Delivery employees statewide responsible for delivering the annual Capital Improvement Project program, valued at over $5 billion.
Donna joined Caltrans after graduating from the University of California, Davis. Her 25 years of experience at Caltrans includes assignments in Design, Project Management, Programming and Structures Design. She served as office chief for the State Highway Operation and Protection Program (SHOPP), chief deputy for District 11, and most recently as the division chief of Project Management, where she was responsible for the overall management and delivery of the capital program.
Donna brings to this position vast knowledge and a broad range of experience in delivering collaborative solutions with stakeholders, including California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA), California Transportation Commission (CTC), Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), California Department of Finance, California Department of Technology (CDT) and American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC).
Donna has been active in professional organizations since college, where she became a member of the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) and continues to work with NSBE to encourage students to pursue careers in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics). She is also a member of the Women in Transportation (WTS) Sacramento chapter, where she was recognized as “Woman of the Year 2020” for her advocacy and support for women in leadership roles and her support for diversity and inclusion in the transportation profession.
As a lifelong learner and strong advocate for mentors, Donna believes in setting high standards by showing up prepared and ready to exceed expectations.
Donna holds a bachelor of science degree in civil engineering from UC Davis and she is a licensed professional civil engineer in California.
Sheilah Fortenberry, District 12 public information officer
Sheilah Fortenberry
Sheilah Fortenberry is a new public information officer in District 12.
Sheilah joined Caltrans in 2001as a dispatcher-clerk in the District 12 TMC. During her 21 years of state service, she has assisted the District 7 TMC on weekends, worked temporarily as the District 12 training coordinator, and more recently worked as the District 4 Clean California public information officer.
Prior to coming to Caltrans, Sheilah received her bachelor of science degree in child and adolescent development studies from Cal State Fullerton and worked as an educator in the North Orange County Community College District as well as the Fullerton Elementary School District.
In her spare time, Sheilah likes to ride her skateboard around her neighborhood, read as many books as she can, create care packages for the homeless and spend quality time with her family.
Matt Rocco, acting assistant deputy director of Public Affairs
Matt Rocco
Matt Rocco has been named Acting Assistant Deputy Director of Public Affairs.
Matt has spent the past 30 years working in the communications/public relations field, most recently as the division chief of Public Affairs.
During his more than 16 years at Caltrans, he has promoted the department’s vision to the public and discussed a wide variety of transportation subjects with the media, including the need for stable state and federal transportation funding, sustainability efforts by the department, and projects that place California at the forefront in innovative transportation solutions.
Currently, he and his staff are overseeing the management of three public education campaigns for safety, stormwater pollution awareness and Clean California.
Earlier in Matt’s career, he worked on public service campaigns that educated the public on HIV prevention during the height of the AIDS crisis.
Matt earned his master of public administration degree and bachelor of arts in communications/public relations. He lives in Sacramento with his husband, two dogs and three cats.
Ron Tollison, North Region Project Development division chief
Ron Tollison
Ron Tollison is District 3’s new division chief for North Region Project Development.
Ron brings more than 20 years of engineering and project delivery experience to the North Region. Seven of those years were spent with private consulting and local government, and 15 years with Caltrans to date.
Ron started his Caltrans career in North Region Construction and served as a resident engineer in the Yuba City field construction office for over five years on challenging projects such as the Tudor Bypass and Feather River Bridge (FRB) on Sutter 99. Ron moved to North Region Project Development (NRPD) in 2014 near the end of the FRB project and has held roles as design project engineer, design senior with the first Construction Manager General Contractor (CMGC) project in North Region followed by design office chief – the position he has held until this appointment.
As design office chief, Ron continued to advocate for and support the CMGC delivery method. In addition, he collaborated with partners in North Region and Headquarters to get the North Region Design QMP approved. He has been co-lead on several process improvements such as the PDT Change Memo and the updated M224 improvement implementation.
Since early 2021 Ron has been involved with the innovative project delivery process known as BIM for Infrastructure (BIM4I) and co-led BIM4I implementation on over 20 pilot projects in North Region.
Ron is a licensed professional engineer and possesses a bachelor’s in civil engineering from California State University, Chico, and a master’s in transportation management from San Jose State University.
Ron and his wife, Kerri, live in Chico and have two sons, Ethan and Lucas. Ron loves spending time with his family and participating in Scouting with his sons. Ron enjoys movies, music, fitness and learning new things.