Sophia Mohr speaks on the theme of “Now” and shares how each moment offers opportunity, but also comes with risk.
“Now” is the time— an opportunity to shape what will happen for ourselves and future generations. From the outside, we can all see the successful outcomes of these moments, but we may not see the pressure, inner work, and turmoil that led to the final decision. Sophia Mohr shares some of these key moments in her own life. How her parent’s decisions to immigrate from Nepal shaped her family’s future. How her decision to explore improv shaped her leadership capacity. And how the city of Columbus has an opportunity now to shape the future of mobility for all of its residents.
About the speaker
As the first Chief Innovation and Technology Officer for the Central Ohio Transit Authority (COTA), Sophia brought a keen understanding of the rapid transformation of the global transportation industry.
Since joining COTA in September 2019, Sophia has focused on expanding the use of technology to reimagine and advance mobility. She has played a key role in rolling out the first bus on-demand service in North America, which was honored in 2021 by the Intelligent Transportation Society of America with the Best of Mobility On-Demand Award. Sophia is also instrumental in an effort to share artificial intelligence data regarding traffic, infrastructure and connected vehicle data across Central Ohio to improve safety. In November 2021, her team launched COTA’s digital payment system which improves equity and access for transit customers.
Sophia serves on several boards and committees:
• ITS America’s Mobility on Demand Committee, Chair
• Ohio intellectual Property Alliance, Member
• Buckeye Engineering Women in Executive Leadership, Marketing Committee Co-Chair
• The Ohio State University Center for Automotive Research, External Advisory Committee Member
Sophia comes to COTA from the private sector, having worked 17 years at NetJets, a Berkshire Hathaway company headquartered in Columbus. She joined NetJets in 2002 as a business analyst and became the company’s first director of product development, and then its first vice president of owner experience design and strategy. Prior to NetJets, Sophia started her career as a human factors design engineer for IBM, then served as a consultant and manager for a global technology and consulting company.
A Columbus native, Sophia earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in industrial and systems engineering from The Ohio State University, with a specialization in designing systems and services for people.
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