Port Authority Touts Female Leadership as Trump Blasts DEI

For the first time in its 104-year history, the agency that runs the New York City-area airports and seaports will have an all-female leadership team, and says it is underscoring its commitment to diversity despite mounting pressure from President Donald Trump to dismantle diversity, equity and inclusion programs. 

With the appointment of Sarah McKeon as aviation director, all six key departments at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey will now be headed by women. The agency said it is reaffirming the importance of DEI practices, and senior staff have been informed of its ongoing dedication to these initiatives despite criticism from conservative groups that diversity programs don’t value individual merit.

McKeon joins Clarelle DeGraffe, who runs the PATH train — the rail that shuttles commuters between New Jersey and Manhattan — Beth Rooney, who is the port director; Jolene Yeats, who is in charge of the World Trade Center; Jacquelene McCarthy, the head of aviation redevelopment; and Diannae Ehler, who runs tunnels, bridges and terminals.

“I’m here among these women because we deserve it and have earned it,” McKeon said in an exclusive interview. “There’s nothing that can be said in Washington or can be said elsewhere that can take that away.” 

Highlighting this milestone makes the Port Authority an outlier in an era where leaders are increasingly wary about publicly discussing diversity. Since taking office, Trump has signed an array of executive orders that aim to erase DEI from the government, federal contractors and beyond, leading agencies and corporations to scrub mentions of such programs from websites and eliminate DEI teams. 

“I think this is a key time,” said DeGraffe. “I think it brings a lot of discomfort but to see five women within the agency heading up line departments, it creates a safe space.”

‘Bring It’ 

Trump has also blamed