Metro News

Metro CEO and General Manager Darryl Haley and COO John Ravasio were honored for their leadership skills and contributions to the community.

CINCINNATI – Metro CEO and General Manager Darryl Haley and COO John Ravasio were honored for their leadership skills and contributions to the community.

Both were recognized with the Cincinnati Business Courier’s prestigious 2023 C-Suite Awards, which honor stellar leadership by executives who have leveraged their skills to achieve strong results. Winners are selected through a competitive judging process conducted by an independent panel of peers. Haley was named a winner in the Chief Executive Officer category, while Ravasio was named a finalist in the Chief Operating Officer category. They received their honors at an awards banquet on Oct. 12 at the Renaissance Hotel downtown.
 
In addition, Haley is being honored as the recipient of the 2023 Nuestra Familia Award by the Ohio Latino Affairs Commission. The state agency recognized Haley and Metro for their commitment to empowering the Latino community and for mobilizing their investment, time and talent to support the community. Haley received the Nuestra Familia Award during the 42nd Annual Distinguished Hispanic Ohioans Awards Gala in Columbus on Oct. 14.

In naming Haley for the top honor in the C-Suite Awards, the selection committee cited his stewardship through a host of strategic initiatives, as well as his success in advancing the employee culture at Metro to one of inclusion, empowerment and recognition. Under his leadership, they noted, Metro won the support of the community and Hamilton County voters through the passage of the Issue 7 sales tax levy, after which it launched the five-year Reinventing Metro plan to transform public transit and infrastructure in the region.

Additionally, Haley was credited with forward-thinking leadership in launching next-level transit options. Lastly, the C-Suite Award recognized Haley’s prowess leading the Metro team through continued operations during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the challenging labor market, and restoring ridership to full pre-pandemic levels – a feat not yet achieved by most U.S. transit systems.

“Our team’s biggest win is celebrating 50 years of service to our community by launching an innovative on-demand service, MetroNow!, which is connecting riders to retail, jobs, health care and more within the community,” Haley told the Business Courier. “We’ve also selected two corridors for the first phase of Bus Rapid Transit, which will be the largest economic development project in our region.”

Meanwhile, Ravasio was recognized for his ability to bring people together to achieve common goals. As the C-Suite Awards judging panel noted, Metro thrives because of the relationships Ravasio has created. His managers and support staff feel engaged and want to continue to work hard to improve and serve the community, they said. Ravasio was also recognized for his role in helping restore Metro ridership to pre-pandemic levels. 

The C-Suite Awards, now in their ninth year, recognized 45 finalists, including 16 winners, in eight leadership categories. The Cincinnati Business Courier is part of American City Business Journals, the largest publisher of metropolitan business newsweeklies in the U.S. The Nuestra Familia Awards are presented by the Ohio Latino Affairs Commission, which advises state government on issues affecting Hispanic Ohioans, connects the diverse Latino communities across the state, and builds the capacity of community organizations so they may better serve the fast-growing population of Ohio.