MEET OUR TEAM
MEET OUR TEAM
Cynthia Ross 
CEO/President
President & Principal
Cynthia came from the private sector in December of 2013. As a strategic planner, she coauthored PROFIT$ software and became instrumental in providing solutions to fleets seeking a more efficient operation. She acts as the company’s Project Manager. She recently developed the strategic alliance focused on providing a Complete Long-Term Plan for the Transition to Electric.
Her phenomenal communication skills allow her to go below the surface of external challenges. Combining this knowledge with the thorough understanding of a fleet’s current practices and their goals, she is then able to provide prudent solutions that result in a written plan toward the achievement of a more efficient operation. Her prudent accounting practices, ability to hit milestones, cost control and performance within budget allocations allows her to oversee projects ensuring all Client goals are met and exceeded. Cynthia manages all collaboration between Client, LRC, alliance members, subcontractors, and others involved in the project.
Rick D. Longobart
Fleet Data Software
Vice President & Principal
Involved in the Fleet industry for 32 years, Rick led the City of Santa Ana Fleet to 3rd Best Fleet overall, #1 Mid-Size Fleet in the country, and 9th on 100 Best and Greenest Fleet in the Nation in 2014. A member of (MEMA) for 29 years, he was President for ten. He’s past chair of the NAFA Pacific Southwest Chapter.
Rick is a highly accomplished management professional with proven leadership skills and a track record of award-winning performance in the public service sector of Public Works handling Fleet, facility, street maintenance, solid waste management and custodial services. He possesses an extensive background in budgeting, equipment replacement, capital improvements and management of internal service funds using lifecycle cost analysis, real-time operating charges and cooperative agreements for purchase of products and services. Rick excels at the development and implementation of cost containment strategies and at dramatically improving operations through institution of creative solutions. He demonstrates ability in successful representation of division to governing bodies and in the management of hazardous materials.
SEVT Group Associates
Mike Usen
Electromobility and Resiliency Lead
Mr. Usen has worked at the intersection of transportation and environmental sustainability for over 30 years for market-leading consulting firms and large public agencies like King County Metro and the City of Seattle. Today Mike is a leader in the rapidly growing electric vehicle charging infrastructure planning and design practice. Mike is passionate about assisting sustainability managers, transportation agencies and fleet operators reduce emissions and save operating costs by planning conversion of their operations to electric traction power. Mike’s team has prepared vehicle electrification roadmaps and fleet electrification plans for South San Francisco, Sacramento, Seattle, Island County, Walla Walla, Fremont, Berkeley, UC Davis, Oakland, Dublin, King County, Metro Transit and are currently involved in numerous other vehicle electrification efforts. Master of Urban Planning University of WA | BA Environmental Studies, University of Vermont | American Institute of Certified Planners.
Chris White
Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Technology
Chris White directs engagement and outreach activities, develops vehicle electrification strategies and roadmaps, creates fleet transition plans, and plans and implements pilot programs. Under her supervision, internal staff conducts extensive market research, develop print and digital marketing materials, conduct community and stakeholder outreach, and develop models for vehicle adoption. Chris’s clients include air districts, state and local governments, associations, automakers, and utilities. Chris has been the communication director for the California Fuel Cell Partnership and was instrumental in developing the early commercial market for fuel cell vehicles and hydrogen stations. B.A., Management, Northwood College, Indiana B.A., Communications, Union University, California TOP-certified meeting facilitator.
Gurbir Antaal, PEng
Electromobility and Resiliency Lead
Gurbir is DKS’ most experienced electromobility engineer, especially on fleet electrification projects. On every transportation electrification project, Gurbir combines his electrical engineering background with his transportation operations expertise, using his wide variety of skills relating to the analysis of electric vehicle charging requirements for municipal fleets. Gurbir has served as a trusted advisor for EV-focused projects to public agencies throughout California and Washington State, where he is able to communicate with his public agency clients in a timely manner and truly understand their needs. His relevant project experience includes work for both power providers and public agencies including SMUD, East Bay Community Energy, California Department of Transportation, Berkeley, Fremont, Oakland, San Jose City, Mountainview, Dublin, Alameda County, Hayward, Albany, Davis, and Spokane, King County and Tacoma Washington. He is also to convey technical information to a broad audience in an understandable, approach manner, and made sure all the deadlines are met well in time and overall budget of the projects.
Gurbir has worked on ten fleet electrification projects and three additional EV planning projects in the past three years, is an EV charging technology and cost estimates expert, and is electrical load calculation expert based on the duty cycles and dwell times of the vehicles
YILUN XU, PE
Electromobility Engineer
Yilun’s expertise includes both the engineering and business analysis aspects of electromobility, especially for the numerous fleet electrification projects on which he also serves as project manager. His specialization includes charging demand management, electrical utility rate analysis, Low-carbon fuel standard (LCFS) credit planning, bi-directional charging planning, and operational cost analysis. Yilun regularly supports DKS clients including counties, cities, transitagencies, and universities. Yilun has over 8 years of professional experience in the transportation industry, has advanced engineering and business degrees coupled with a strong passion for electromobility.
In addition, Yilun has experience with a variety of projects in strategy development and transportation planning. These projects may stretch beyond the transportation industry, while supplementing it with unique points of views. Yilun has experiences leading and supporting strategy consulting and planning projects for Fortune 500 companies, Start-ups, Metropolitan Planning Organizations (Duluth-Superior Metropolitan Interstate Council), and municipalities (City of Minneapolis). Yilun’s projects cover market-entry strategy development, business valuation, large-scale event (Super Bowl LII) traffic control plan communication, and area event parking strategy and system planning. Yilun is proficient in market/industry analysis, issue tree and story boarding exercises, primary/secondary research methods, and geospatial analysis programs (ArcGIS).
Chris Sampson, P.E
Infrastructure Planning and Construction Operations
Chris joined Seamless EV Transition Group to advance environmental and sustainability priorities across the construction sector. He has 10 years of experience in both commercial and large-scale infrastructure construction. In recent years, he worked for one of the nation’s largest electrical construction companies, supporting green initiatives advanced by PG&E and the state of California for Electric Vehicle charging station targets. He oversaw the engineering and construction of over 7,000 charging stations throughout California and completed over 250 individual sites with level 2, level 3 and Fleet charging. Chris has worked with a variety of different clients such as Technology companies, Municipalities, Utilities, School Districts, Commercial and Residential Real Estate companies, and EV Charing Manufacturers.
He delivers projects on time and on budget. He has a thorough understanding of both the utility and commercial side of construction and knows how to operate within the utilities to get projects completed. Chris funnels his expertise in project development, design management, procurement, and construction management to further the mission to reduce carbon emissions. Chris received a Bachelor’s in Civil Engineering and a Master’s in Structural Engineering from Santa Clara University and is a Professional Engineer in the State of California.
Adrian Gomez
Director of Electrification Software
Igor Adrian has experience with transportation electrification through work in the utility and automotive space.
He led strategy and business development efforts to grow the transportation electrification portfolio at Ontario Power Generation, one of Canada’s largest electricity generators. He also developed a deep understanding of the electric vehicle industry while working in strategy and corporate development at Lucid Motors, an electric vehicle manufacturer in Fremont California, where he was a key contributor to the company’s $1 billion USD fundraise.
Adrian applies his industry experience and extensive network to provide high value fleet electrification advice to government agencies. He has provided fleet electrification advice to state, county and city government fleets in the USA. He has also provided cleantech advice and support to the governments of Finland and Canada.
Igor Lukac, P.Eng
Fleet Analytics for Alternative Fuels & EV
Igor Lukac, a licenced professional engineer, discovered his passion for high-tech clean energy while working with a team of engineers to build a solar-powered electric car. Since then, he created an engineering consultancy that has helped clients evaluate and successfully deploy renewable energy projects. Igor holds two degrees, one in Integrated Engineering and one in Business Administration with a specialization in finance. Through collaboration with General Electric and Siemens on wind turbine projects in Canada and the United States, Igor developed a deep understanding of the challenges that coincide with rapid deployment of renewable technology. Now, more than 14 years since Igor built his first electric car, the technology is ready to help fleet owners achieve significant savings. The goal is to utilize Fleet-AI software and the engineering talents of their team to assist your fleet determine which vehicles to electrify thus ensuring a cleaner, more profitable future.
David Seavey
Fleet Consultant
Dave has been the Fleet Director for the City of Olympia, WA; City of Seattle, WA; City of Houston, TX; Pacific Gas & Electric Company in San Francisco, CA, and Potelco, Inc. in Sumner, WA. In each of the positions he has held, Dave was able to develop a first-class maintenance operation that was driven by sound business and financial decisions.
He has consulted over 1,500 fleet professionals from hundreds of state, county, and city agencies located all over the country. He passionately believes that the most successful government fleet organizations operate excellent maintenance programs that rely on strong data-driven factors that in turn allow sound business and financial decisions. Dave has been recognized nationally for the contributions he has made to government fleet industry as well as public fleet agencies he has led. He was inducted into Government Fleet Magazine’s Hall of Fame (2012), recognized as #1 Fleet in North America (2012), Fleet of the Year by Fleet Owner Magazine (2011 and 2013), #1 Best Government Green fleet in North America (2010), and NAFA’s Sustainable Fleet Award (2010). He has earned a Master’s in Business degree from City University of Seattle and Bachelor of Science in Workforce, Education, and Training from Southern Illinois University.
Rocky Buoy
Fleet Consultant
Rocky’s a 40-year fleet professional who specializes in organizational efficiency, leadership, and environmental sustainability.
He started his career in 1978 with the US Navy where he oversaw the maintenance and repair of internal fleets of construction equipment and support assets. He taught technical courses for five years and elevated to Curriculum Developer. He wrote a 520-hour technician course accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC). Reassigned to Yokosuka Japan as the Deputy Director of Transportation, the Navy’s largest distribution center outside the US. He retired as the Far East Region Fleet Manager, which included Japan, Korea, Singapore, New Zealand, Antarctica, and the ships assigned to the 6th Fleet.
In 1998 his second career started with the Hertz Corporation as a Construction Equipment Store Manager. In 2003 he became a Store Manager for a Caterpillar Dealership. His success resulted in his promotion to Region Manager where he managed 12 maintenance/repair shops and parts operations.
In 2009 Rocky returned to public service as the Fleet Manager for the County of San Luis Obispo. His fleet exceeded industry standards in several categories and was one of the most respected fleets in the country. He retired from this second career in 2021.
A graduate from the University of Maryland and a highly decorated veteran. He achieved Master Training Specialist designation and is also a Combat Warfare Specialist. His fleet related military awards include Navy Achievement Medals, a Naval Commendation Medal, and a Presidential Commendation from President Clinton. Caterpillar awarded him with multiple Store Manager of the Year awards as well as several Dealer Excellence Awards. His County Fleet achieved APWA Accreditation, Top 10 Leading Fleets awards from Government Fleet and nine consecutive awards from NAFA’s 100 Best Fleets, including the #1 Fleet in 2020.
Rocky retired from the County of San Luis Obispo and started The Rockford Group specializing in Fleet Consultations.
Rachel Werner, MPA, PMP, GPC
Fundraising
Rachel began her career as a New York City public-school teacher which parlayed into a two-decade career of work in the public sector. She has served as a nonprofit fundraiser/grant writer, grants manager at an education management organization, and management consultant overseeing federal government contracts. She is now the Owner and CEO of RBW Strategy, a grants and fundraising consulting firm located in Montgomery County, MD. She and her team have collectively raised over $130 million in grant funding, and she has managed over $2 billion in federal grant awards. She studied at Vassar College and received a Master’s in Public Administration from New York University’s Wagner School of Public Service. She has also obtained a Certificate in Grants Management (2012), is a certified Project Management Professional (since 2010) and is a Certified Grants Professional (since 2014).
