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Doane becomes first non-engineer and
third ITD worker awarded AASHTO Fellowship

This spring, Michelle Doane will move to Washington, D.C. for a year, becomeing the third ITD employee awarded the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Fellowship. Doane will move to D.C. in March and report to work at AASHTO on March 23.

Doane, who manages the Business and Support Management Unit in HQ Administration, follows Kevin Sablan in 2016 and Chad Clawson in 2018 to travel to the nation’s capital for a year under the AASHTO Fellowship Program. Sablan was the department’s first-ever participant in the program when he got the nod in 2016.

“I’m excited to follow in their footsteps,” said Doane. “Apparently, I am the first non-engineer to participate in the fellowship, so it will be exciting to see how the program is developed for me. I believe I will be spending a large part of my time learning about policy, financing, innovation and other topics,” she added.

Doane will serve with department of transportation employees from Georgia and New Mexico.

“I may also be involved in the Build America Transportation Investment Center (BATIC) Institute. I am honored to represent ITD at the national level and look forward to building new relationships and further developing my understand of issues facing ITD and other state DOTs.”

Doane said she intends to fill a few key vacant job positions before she leaves, and that the transition plan also will “create the best customer-service support possible.”

Sablan and Clawson both brought valuable skills back to ITD from their Fellowship experiences.
Sablan learned a lot about how AASHTO works, and has been able to apply that to his job at ITD as State Traffic Engineer.

"I worked on identifying the 'what,' asking 'how,' and explaining the 'why.' I have better staff engagement as a result, a sense of ownership in the product, staff buy-in on the processes, and that has improved job satisfaction and employee morale."

Clawson was the District 2 Materials Engineer before he was selected for the AASHTO Fellowship.

"It was a great opportunity for personal and professional growth," says Clawson. "I was able to show Idaho pride to the rest of the nation. I synthesized ideas – then brought those skills back to our department.”

“I was amazed how the organization brought all the State DOTs together to solve problems. They also collaborate with the Federal Highway Administration, Congress, and many, many other organizations - It was an eye-opening experience. I am excited for Michelle.”

A few months ago, Clawson was promoted to the position of State Materials Engineer at Headquarters in Boise.

“The AASHTO Fellowship is a valuable opportunity for employees like Michelle, Chad and Kevin to grow and bring what they have learned back to Idaho," said ITD Director Brian Ness. "This kind of national recognition of the quality of our employees continues to demonstrate that ITD is moving towards becoming the best transportation department in the country.”