About Our Company

The Dardanelle Group, Inc. was established in 1993 to provide consulting services to Cities, Counties, Private sector clients, COG’s, and non-profits to fund, manage and construct transportation infrastructure projects. The Dardanelle Group, Inc. also provides policy and advocacy services to support the goals of private sector clients, and prepares funding requests for grant programs. The Dardanelle Group, Inc., is a California State Certified DBE and SWBE corporation, and has offices in Los Angeles and Washington, DC. Meet our team:

Kathleen A. Jackson, President and CEO

Kathleen Jackson established The Dardanelle Group, Inc., in 1993 to provide transportation policy, project funding and construction management consulting services to public and private sector clients. As CEO of the corporation, Kathleen has over 25 years of transportation consulting experience in Southern California and Washington, DC. and is responsible for directing all of the corporation’s activities.

Ms. Jackson’s principal areas of practice include securing funding for Cities and COG’s to implement transportation infrastructure projects, providing assistance to Cities to secure Caltrans approvals for the use of federal funds, and management of transportation projects from environmental clearance to construction, including those located on State highway facilities that require additional levels of coordination and oversight with Caltrans. Kathleen’s diverse background in the field of transportation encompasses a range of infrastructure improvement projects including roadway, bridge, intersection and goods movement, many of which involve railroad operations, pipeline and utility relocations, and right of way acquisition.

The Dardanelle Group, Inc., is a State of California/Caltrans certified DBE and SMBE contractor, and Ms. Jackson has been an Associate Member of the Institute of Traffic Engineers [ITE] since 1996. Ms. Jackson has a Bachelors of Arts in Liberal Arts from California State University Dominguez Hills and previously served as the Executive Director of the Tysons Transportation Association in McLean, Virginia from 1994-2001, Senior Associate with Aldaron, Inc., in Culver City, California from 1990-1993, and Deputy Executive Director of The El Segundo Employers Association in El Segundo, California from 1990-1993.

Michael G. Jackson, VP Business Development

Michael Jackson joined The Dardanelle Group, Inc. in 2010 as Vice President, Business Development. In this capacity Mr. Jackson oversees the corporation’s business development activities. Michael brings over 27 years of Corporate relations experience to The Dardanelle Group, Inc.

Prior to this position, Mr. Jackson served as Director of California Government Relations for The Boeing Company in Seal Beach, California for 10 years. In this capacity, he represented the company's legislative and political interests before California, federal, state, and local elected officials throughout the state. This also included supporting program advocacy campaigns in California for the C-17, F/A-18 and F-15 aircraft, Future Combat Systems (FCS) program, aerial refueling tanker, Airborne Laser/Ground-based Missile Defense, NASA Shuttle and International Space Station, and other critical space and defense programs. He served as Chairman of the Board of the California Manufacturer’s & Technology Association (CMTA), Vice Chairman of the California Aerospace Technology Association (CATA), deputy on the California Business Roundtable, and on several other business trade association boards.

Before joining Boeing, Mr. Jackson spent fifteen years working for TRW Inc. in a variety of federal, state, and local government relations capacities. These included serving as Director of Government Relations in TRW's Washington, DC office from 1992-1998, where he was responsible for overseeing company-wide lobbying in tax and fiscal issues, workplace and labor policy, and company PAC and grassroots programs. He also worked directly for the company's chairman and CEO in Washington during his tenure as Chairman of The Business Roundtable Education Task Force. Michael also spent four years serving as Regional Manager of State Government Relations for TRW Inc. in the company's Redondo Beach, California headquarters from 1989 to 1992. In this capacity, he represented TRW's legislative and political interests throughout a 19-state region of the country. Michael started his career with TRW in 1984, where he represented the company before numerous city and county offices and agencies throughout Los Angeles County on local issues affecting the company's ability to operate. These included local transportation, land use and infrastructure related issues, as well as city and county tax issues. Mr. Jackson possesses a Master's Degree in Public Administration and Bachelor of Arts in History and English from California State University, Chico.

Jeffrey C. Meyers, Project Director

Jeffrey Meyers is the Project Director for The Dardanelle Group, Inc., and manages the corporation's infrastructure projects and financial reporting requirements. In this capacity, Mr. Meyers provides Project Management support to Cities and Project Sponsors, and oversees the requirements for Corporate Tax filings, payroll filing, client invoicing and monthly income and expense reporting.

Mr. Meyers bring over 12 years of Business and Management experience to The Dardanelle Group, Inc. he has worked as an Account Analyst for Trilogy Financial Corporation, and a Business Intern with The Boeing Company.

Colleen M. Owens, Director of Grant Programs

Colleen Owens is the Director of Grant Programs for The Dardanelle Group, Inc., responsible for overseeing and directing the corporation’s grant development activities. In this capacity, Ms. Owens identifies federal, state local and regional grant opportunities and works with Cities to develop and submit grant applications.

Ms. Owens works with federal, state and local agencies offering grant programs, including the FHWA, EPA, California Parks, Los Angeles County MTA and Caltrans. The Dardanelle Group, Inc., grant program support includes the Highway Safety Improvement Program [HSIP], MTA Call for Projects, Federal and State Safe Routes to Schools, Transportation Enhancement Activities [TEA], Highway Bridge Program [HBP], EPA Economic Stimulus, Proposition 84 Park Programs and Proposition 50 Water Bond Projects.

Ms. Owens brings over 30 years of executive administrative experience to The Dardanelle Group, Inc. Her experience includes office management for Fortune 500 corporations such as Schlumberger and CLI (now part of Polycom), in addition to being a key team member in both the Health Care and M&A consulting practices of Ernst & Young LLP. She has also worked for several successful small businesses.

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