Enjoy this virtual fireside chat style conversation with Mr. Andrew Von Ah of the U.S. Government Accountability Office about the research effort that he directed at the behest of the U.S. Congress, later published as a report titled 'Transit Workforce Development: Actions to Support Transition to Zero-Emission Buses'. Among other things, Mr. Von Ah discusses their findings about lining up a prepared workforce to ensure the smooth transition of transit fleets to zero emission, their observations on the ground, and what they learned from the experience of other nations with ZEB mass transit fleets. The report, which was released in November 2024, is available at https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-25-1.... Mr. Von Ah has been a Director in GAO’s Physical Infrastructure team since 2017. Prior to this appointment, Mr. Von Ah served as an Acting Director in GAO’s Defense Capabilities and Management team, leading work on DOD Business Operations issues for 2 years, and was an Assistant Director for Physical Infrastructure for over 7 years, conducting work on issues in surface transportation, aviation, telecommunications, and federal real property. A recipient of the Richard J. Hillman Human Capital Management Award, a congressional client service award and two meritorious service awards, as well as numerous other awards for high quality products from GAO, Mr. Von Ah entered federal service with GAO in 2000 in the Los Angeles field office and has largely spent his entire career in that office examining various issues related to infrastructure. Mr. Von Ah received a Master’s of Public Policy from the University of California at Los Angeles in 2000, and a Bachelor’s of Cultural Anthropology from the University of California at Irvine in 1992. In 2016, he received a certificate from American University’s Key Executive Leadership Program. This program, under the Spika Speaker Series, is a presentation of The Spika Knowledge Center, created to generate greater awareness about safe and productive access at heights and cantilevers, especially in the world of manufacturing and maintenance. Learn more at https://spikamfg.com or email us at info [at] spikamfg [dot] com.