Resonate: Investing in our Community and Ourselves

The Rhode Island Department of Transportation is so much more than a transportation agency. It is group of over 750 men and women who are focused on providing an outstanding transportation system, while striving to make Rhode Island a better place to work and live in.

To give more meaning to what RIDOT does to help the community, to improve staff morale, to foster professional development and to recognize outstanding employees, RIDOT has launched a new program called Resonate. The program includes new initiatives that provide every RIDOT team member a chance to not only improve themselves and the Department's team atmosphere, but also the community as a whole.

Resonate includes the following four initiatives:

You Are Key

The Rhode Island Department of Transportation recognizes that it is the collective effort of its employees that builds a successful program. The You Are Key program offers an opportunity to identify employees who go above and beyond their normal duties to advance the cause and perception of the Department.

RIDOT Cares

While the stereotypical image of a State employee might be a person who tries to get by with minimal effort, RIDOT staff has shown time and again it is a team that continually gives so much more. RIDOT Cares is an employee-managed committee that will establish, monitor and implement charitable events to support local causes. Recently the Department held a back-to-school backpack drive, and extra supplies from that effort have gone into large gift baskets that RIDOT Cares has assembled and given to area teachers recognized weekly on NBC Channel 10's Golden Apple series.

Past efforts have included a bone marrow registry, a charitable fundraiser for local children, and a food bank drive. Each year, RIDOT Cares expects to hold four major events as well as several smaller ones.

RIDOT’s new Office of Professional Development and Training

RIDOT aims to invest in its most valuable asset - its people - by partnering with Rhode Island’s outstanding educational institutions to develop and deliver effective workplace training. With the expertise of local universities, colleges, and career and technical schools, RIDOT plans to create structured, curriculum-based training programs intended to address knowledge gaps, identify high-performers, provide credentials and certifications where appropriate, and strengthen communications skills so that RIDOT employees can perform the best job possible.

Brown Bag Lunch Series

Having access to Departmental leaders can be difficult when everyone’s schedules are packed full of other meetings. In an effort to break down barriers and share ideas more freely, RIDOT will host a minimum four brown bag lunches per year with Director Michael P. Lewis and Deputy Director Phillip Kydd. Attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions, share experiences, give opinions, and learn from those guiding the vision and mission of RIDOT.