Executive Team
- Darren Kettle — Chief Executive Officer
- Lisa Bahr — Chief Customer Experience Officer
- Don Del Rio — General Counsel
- Don Filippi — Chief Operating Officer
- Justin Fornelli — Chief, Program Delivery
- Kevin Gray — Chief Technology Officer
- Arnold Hackett — Chief Financial Officer
- Paul Hubler — Chief Strategy Officer
- Alberto Lara — Chief People Officer
- Elisabeth Lazuardi — Director, Internal Audit
- Tim Morehead — Interim Chief Safety, Security & Compliance Officer
- Noelia Rodriguez — Chief of Staff
Darren M. Kettle
Chief Executive Officer
Darren Kettle is Chief Executive Officer of Metrolink, Southern California’s regional passenger rail service that provides a safe, easy, affordable, and stress-free alternative to car travel for the more than 18 million residents of the six-county mega-region. He became the Metrolink CEO in September 2021.
Kettle has more than 30 years of experience with local and regional government agencies. Before joining Metrolink, Kettle was the Executive Director of the Ventura County Transportation Commission (VCTC) for 14 years. Previously, Kettle was with the San Bernardino Associated Governments (SANBAG) from 2000 through 2007. Early in his SANBAG tenure, Kettle was Director of Intergovernmental and Legislative Affairs for both SANBAG and the Riverside County Transportation Commission (RCTC).
Kettle has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science from the University of California, Santa Barbara and a Master’s in Public Administration from California State University, San Bernardino.
Lisa Bahr
Chief Customer Experience Officer
Lisa Bahr is the Chief Customer Experience Officer (CXO) at Metrolink. As CXO, Bahr focuses on meeting the needs of current and future rail passengers, increasing regional mobility, expanding transit equity, and elevating consumer voices. She plays a central role in the organization's evolution from a commuter-centric model to a progressive regional rail system, serving a diverse spectrum of passengers.
Bahr is a strategic leader with over a decade of experience in the transit industry and has overseen marketing and communications, customer experience, and stakeholder engagement for various organizations. She prioritizes people and strives to improve the day-to-day customer experience for all Southern Californians while helping Metrolink prepare to provide world-class support for an array of upcoming international events, including the 2026 FIFA World Cup and the "car-free" 2028 Olympics and Paralympics.
Before joining Metrolink, Bahr served as an executive at Cubic Transportation Systems, where she drove the growth of the company's customer experience function, delivering industry-leading technology and service solutions for public transit agencies around the world. During her tenure at Cubic, she led multiple corporate brand updates, launched innovative products and solutions in global markets, and implemented strategic communications strategies that resulted in new business worth over $3 billion.
Bahr is passionate about equity and inclusion and serves on the Board of Women's Transportation Seminar's (WTS) Los Angeles chapter.
Don Del Rio
General Counsel
Don Del Rio joined Metrolink in early 2012 as its first in-house General Counsel. He brings over 20 years of legal experience from both private and public corporation as well as public agency environments, which includes San Diego Data Processing Corporation, Security Escrow & Trust, Inc., DVI Financial Services, Inc., and Bell Atlantic Corporation.
Del Rio established a new legal department for Metrolink and provides daily advice and counsel to the CEO, senior staff, and Board of Directors. This includes areas of governance, a wide range of contractual and transactional matters affecting operations and procurement, assisting Human Resources staff, and litigation management.
He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Los Angeles, Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Notre Dame, and Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Davis.
Don Filippi
Chief Operating Officer
Don Filippi is responsible for the overall operations and efficiency of Metrolink's rail services. His primary focus includes developing and implementing strategic initiatives to optimize systemwide operations, ensuring the highest standards of safety, reliability, and organizational effectiveness.
Filippi is pivotal in driving operational excellence, overseeing aspects such as service delivery, infrastructure management, and stakeholder collaboration. His leadership is instrumental in shaping and executing Metrolink's operational strategies to meet the evolving transportation needs in Southern California.
With more than 29 years of experience, Filippi has served as both the chief safety officer and chief operating officer for the North County Transit District in Oceanside, California, five years at the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), rising to the position of superintendent overseeing transit operations and safety, and 15 years with Union Pacific Railroad, starting as a conductor and rising to manager of operations.
Filippi studied criminal justice at Lane College in Eugene, Oregon, and business development at the University of California, San Diego.
Justin Fornelli
Chief, Program Delivery
Justin Fornelli is Chief of Program Delivery for Metrolink. Fornelli directs staff and teams of consultants on the delivery of Metrolink’s capital programs including rehabilitation, new capital expansion and third-party projects. He oversees Metrolink’s long term planning for the Southern California Optimized Rail Expansion (SCORE) Program, Metrolink’s 10-year, $10 billion plan to re-build the region’s rail infrastructure to allow for more frequent service prior to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games.
Fornelli serves as representative of Metrolink’s operational and engineering interests on large third-party projects, such as the Foothill Gold Line Phase 2B Extension, Link US Project and California High Speed Rail project.
Fornelli has more than 20-years’ experience in freight and passenger rail having previously served as Director of Transit and Rail Programs for the San Bernardino County Transportation Authority (SBCTA), one of Metrolink’s member agencies. He also was Chief Rail Engineer for North County Transit District (NCTD) in San Diego County and Senior Supervising Engineer to the Orange County Transit Authority (OCTA) for Parsons Brinckerhoff.
Fornelli is a California Profession Civil Engineer and earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of California, Davis.
Fornelli is married and has two sons, who he enjoys coaching in football, soccer and baseball.
Kevin Gray
Chief Technology Officer
Kevin Gray is a multiple award-winning Chief Technology Officer whose vision and leadership has helped transform multiple technology organizations and deliver world class business satisfaction. As a member of Metrolink’s executive leadership team, Gray drives digital modernization, process optimization and strategic collaboration, while managing the day-to-day activities of the agency’s Integrated Digital and Technology Services (IDTS) Department, including enterprise applications, cybersecurity, train control systems, network operations, fare collections and technology infrastructure.
Prior to Metrolink, Gray served as the City of Burbank Chief Information Officer (CIO) from 2018-2024, where he was responsible for driving the City’s digital transformation and technology strategies, as well as managing the overall operations of the IT Department. Gray’s vision is for his team to serve as trusted partners, advisors, and service providers to their business.
Before joining the City of Burbank, Gray served as the VP of Global Media and Infrastructure Technology at Viacom where he managed worldwide teams in IT architecture, engineering, operations, and technical support. Prior to that, Gray served as the VP of IT Infrastructure and Operations at Paramount Pictures where he led the architecture planning, design, implementation, and operations of computing and telecommunications.
Gray is the Municipal Information Systems Association of California (MISAC) Southern Chapter President. He serves on several other boards including Innovate@UCLA, Southern California Chapter of the Society of Information Management (SCSIM), University of California Irvine Extension Customer Experience 2.0 Program, Southern California Evanta CIO Summit, and the Burbank Community YMCA.
Arnold Hackett
Chief Financial Officer
Arnold Hackett is Chief Financial Officer of Metrolink. As CFO, Arnold is responsible for budgets and financial analysis, contracts and procurement, payroll, grants, accounts receivable and payable.
Hackett, who was previously the Interim Chief Executive Officer for Metrolink, joined the agency in May 2019. He has more than 30 years’ experience in private technology industry at Xerox Corporation; he has served as Vice President and General Manager of Alliance and Partnership Management, positions in research, engineering, strategy development, technical project/program management, business development and global process / performance improvement initiatives.
Arnold holds a BS from UCLA, an MS in Computer Science from CSULB, an MBA from USC, and is a Certified Lean Six Sigma Black Belt.
Paul Hubler
Chief Strategy Officer
Paul Hubler is Chief Strategy Officer for Metrolink, providing executive oversight and leadership to the Planning and Development, Government and Community Relations, Sustainability, and Railroad Services departments. He is responsible for overseeing strategic planning, legislative programs and regulatory strategies and funding major implementation initiatives. He joined Metrolink in early 2022.
Hubler has more than 25 years of experience in transportation policy and legislative and public affairs. Prior to joining Metrolink, Hubler was the Director of Government and Community Relations for the San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments for 14 years, responsible for securing grant funding for the Alameda Corridor-East rail infrastructure construction program in Los Angeles County. He previously served as Deputy Chief of Staff to a Southern California member of the U.S. House of Representatives and as legislative aide to a California State Senator.
Hubler has a Bachelor’s Degree from Pitzer College in Claremont, California and a Master’s in Public Administration from the University of La Verne. He is a member of the Advisory Board of Mobility 21, Southern California’s regional transportation advocacy coalition.
Alberto Lara
Chief People Officer
Alberto Lara is the Chief People Officer at Metrolink. As CPO, Lara is focused on creating the best possible work-life experience for all Metrolink employees. Ensuring there are professional development opportunities for all, an inclusive and welcoming environment where employees can thrive and together with the rest of the internal partners, continue being an agency that provides excellent mobility options for our current and future customers.
Lara is a compassionate leader with over 30 years of experience in Human Resources, 11 of which have been with other public transit agencies in California and Washington State. He is passionate about diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging, and as a proud member of the LGBTQIA+ community, wants to make sure all employees are treated equally and given all possible opportunities to succeed at Metrolink.
Before joining Metrolink, Lara was the Director of Human Resources for Yolo County in Northern California. In that role he led the “new normal” efforts during and after COVID by modernizing some of the HR policies that needed to be updated to allow for the new way to do business, such as teleworking and also led the “stay safe” efforts that followed that worldwide event.
Alberto, originally from Mexico City, is proud to be part of the Metrolink family!
Elisabeth Lazuardi
Director, Internal Audit
Elisabeth Lazuardi is responsible for overseeing and managing the Internal Audit team to conduct audits in accordance with Board of Directors-approved Annual Audit Plan and in compliance with auditing standards. Lazuardi ensures the completion of the annual agency-wide risk assessment, coordination of external audits and monitoring of corrective actions from the past audits.
Lazuardi has 13 years’ public accounting firm experience including at PKF in Glendale, Calif. and Hutchinson & Bloodgood, LLP.
Lazuardi earned a Bachelor of Arts in Applied Mathematics from the University of California, Berkeley and a Master of Accounting degree from USC.
Tim Morehead
Interim Chief Safety, Security & Compliance Officer
Tim Morehead became the Interim Chief Safety, Security & Compliance Officer for Metrolink in June 2024. Morehead oversees programs that continuously improve safety protocols for the agency and promote an initiative-taking safety and security culture resulting in a safer transit operation for all.
Morehead has over 23 years of experience in passenger rail, light rail, and heavy rail operations where safety has been at the forefront of his career. Morehead having a strong background in Operations specifically track and signal has previously worked with the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) North County Transit District (NCTD), Phoenix Valley Metro, and Union Pacific railroad.
Morehead is recognized by the United States transportation department as being certified in the transit safety and security program (TSSP). This certification demonstrates Morehead has successfully completed studies in Transit System Security, Transit Rail system safety, Effectively managing transit emergencies, Advanced rail incident investigation. Morehead has also attended San Diego State University extended studies for Management and Leadership academics.
Noelia Rodriguez
Chief of Staff
As Chief of Staff, Noelia Rodriguez serves as a top advisor to the CEO, driving excellence in performance and reporting for Metrolink.
An accomplished executive, Rodriguez has worked in several prominent roles including Communications Director for First Lady Laura Bush, Deputy Mayor for Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan, and President and CEO of LA 2000, the Host Committee for the 2000 Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles. She’s held C-suite positions at the Port of Long Beach and Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro). She started her career at Southern California Edison, as a spokesperson, public relations and advertising manager in corporate communications.
Rodriguez was selected to be a Resident Fellow at Harvard University’s prestigious Institute of Politics then recruited to be the Director of The Kennedy School’s, John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum. She was also Vice President of Corporate Communications at Univision Communications - the country's largest provider of Spanish-language content.
She is a standing member of the planning committee for the biennial Leadership California Goes to DC Women’s Program and earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from California State University, Los Angeles.