Rail Mentor Awards 2026

Recognizing the Mentors Shaping the Next Generation of Railroaders

Welcome to Progressive Railroading's inaugural Rail Mentor Awards, a recognition program created to highlight the individuals who invest time and effort into developing the next generation of rail professionals through sustained commitments to mentorship.

The RMA program is an offshoot of our Women of Influence in Rail recognition program, which originally recognized women in five categories of influence: leadership, innovation, technology, sustainability and mentorship. Recognizing how critical mentorship is to addressing rail workforce challenges, we plucked the category from the Women of Influence in Rail program to shine a brighter light on it and open it up to all rail professionals.

To compile our inaugural class of RMA honorees, Progressive Railroading asked North American companies and associations to nominate employees and members who take part in established and recognized mentorship initiatives. We asked nominators to share how these mentors have had a positive impact on their mentees' careers and the rail industry as a whole. Our honorees list captures a diverse cross section of the industry, from Class Is to short lines, to transit and passenger railroads, to engineering firms and contractors. Their careers span operations, technology, engineering, law and more.

Although we recognize how powerful organic mentorship can be, we opted this year to limit the RMA scope to more structured mentorship initiatives. That said, we received numerous nominations for rail professionals who have no doubt contributed to their mentees' careers through informal mentorship. We will continue to refine our criteria to best capture the meaningful approaches to rail industry mentorship.

On this webpage, you'll find the profiles of the 29 RMA honorees based on insights provided by their employers or associations. Whether through hands-on skills training, leadership development or career guidance, these mentors have shown commitment to uplifting others and strengthening the talent pipeline. We hope you enjoy learning about them as much as we have.

— Bridget Dean, Senior Associate Editor

Submission Deadline

Nominations for recognition in 2026 are due no later than March 31, 2026.

The nomination period for the 2026 awards program is closed.

Honoree Announcement

The 2026 honorees were announced in Progressive Railroading's Daily News on May 1, and they will be recognized in the magazine's print edition in June.

Progressive Railroading announces recipients of 2026 Rail Mentor Awards

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