Phoenix Infrastructure Team

Marvin Zonis is a Professor emeritus at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago. At Chicago Booth, Professor Zonis has taught courses on the international political economy, political risk, and business leadership. He is the recipient of both the Quantrell Award for excellence in undergraduate teaching and the Norman Maclean Award for outstanding contributions to teaching and to the student experience at the University of Chicago.

He is a member of the board of advisers for the comptroller general of the United States at the GAO, the board of directors of CNA Financial, a fellow of PWC Advisory Services, and also a member of the board of directors of the Fondation Etats Unis. He was educated at Yale University, the Harvard Business School, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the Institute for Psychoanalysis, Chicago.

Rodney Slater is the former US Secretary of Transportation. As an advisor to Phoenix, Secretary Slater helps the team integrate their interests in the overall vision for the transportation system of the 21st century – a vision he set as Transportation Secretary to promote a safer, more efficient, environmentally sound and sustainable worldwide transportation infrastructure. Secretary Slater provides strategic, stakeholder and transactional support to Phoenix Infrastructure.

Secretary Slater provides insight on many of the policy and transportation objectives that were set under his leadership, including automobile use and development, aviation competition and congestion mitigation, maritime initiatives, high-speed rail corridor development, and overall transportation safety and funding.

Prior to his tenure as Transportation Secretary, Secretary Slater served as director of the Federal Highway Administration, where he was the agency’s first African-American Administrator in its century-long history.

Reginald (Reggie) Van Lee is Chief Transformation Officer of The Carlyle Group, focused on helping the firm develop new and innovative ways to enhance business processes. He is based in New York, NY.

Prior to Carlyle, Mr. Van Lee served as an executive of Booz Allen Hamilton for 32 years where he oversaw the commercial solutions, federal health, global media and entertainment, computers and electronics, and telecommunications practice areas. He transformed the healthcare business into one of Booz Allen’s fastest growing and most profitable units, and helped catapult the firm’s re-entry into the commercial business, leveraging their federal-based strengths in cyber security and advanced analytics.

Mr. Van Lee has and continues to serve on a number of non-profit boards, including the Washington Performing Arts, National CARES Mentoring Movement, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Studio Museum in Harlem, Executive Leadership Council, and Evidence Dance Company. He was named one of the top 25 consultants in the world by Consulting Magazine, selected as a Washington Minority Business Leader by the Washington Business Journal and named Black Engineer of the Year by Black Engineer magazine.

• Former Chairman Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
• Former CEO and head of North American Investments for Meridiam Infrastructure
• Former Executive Vice President, AECOM

Paul Karas is an Asset Operating Advisor for the Phoenix Infrastructure. Previously Mr. Karas was New York State acting Commissioner of Transportation from 2017 to 2019.

Prior to serving as New York State acting Commissioner of Transportation, Mr. Karas was head of management of the Gary Chicago International Airport and strategic advisor to Chicago Mayor and Aviation Dept.

Mr. Karas was employed by the Port Authority of New York/New Jersey where he was the Director of the $3.2 billion John F. Kennedy International Airport Redevelopment Program.
Mr. Karas holds an undergraduate degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Notre Dame and an MBA from the University of Michigan.

• Former Executive Director, District of Columbia
• Experience with government relations, key decision-makers community engagement and stakeholder management
• BA from Dartmouth University