Scholarships

The Norma Reyes Scholarship was established in memory of the late former Commissioner of the Chicago Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection. An active member of the International Association of Transportation Regulators (IATR), and an accomplished lawyer and public servant, Norma truly left her mark on the world and on her IATR friends and colleagues. The IATR, as a non-profit education and advocacy group, prides itself on not just researching and discussing for-hire ground transportation best regulatory practices, but also on developing professional government regulators who work with one another to change practices, laws, and regulations to protect the public, through safety and customer service initiatives.

Norma often recognized, valued, and promoted the IATR as an essential group of peers who help new regulators learn not only the basics, but also how to more effectively do their jobs. The Norma Reyes Scholarship was established in 2013 to provide an opportunity to participate in the IATR’s annual conference for new regulators and/or regulators in need, whose budgets do not otherwise permit for travel and lodging to attend.

The IATR seeks to administer and offer the benefits of such scholarship to its new and long-term members in need to promote membership development and to assist governments with fiscal and transportation regulatory challenges. This scholarship will be administered through the IATR in accordance with strict ethical and fairness guidelines, as set forth below.

The scholarship will be used to cover IATR membership dues and conference registrations to attend the conference, for one or more persons from the applicant jurisdiction, and based upon the application criteria, the IATR, in its discretion, may award scholarships to multiple agencies given the fiscal situation many states, provincial and local governments are facing. Special consideration will be given to regulators which have demonstrated an exemplary regulatory response to helping the industry and their agencies recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, or an identified need to assess best practices on an innovative project, initiative, or policymaking endeavor of interest to IATR members.

How the Program Works: Guidelines and Requirements for the Scholarship
1) Prior to the commencement of the annual conference, this application shall be disseminated to all those members who have not been able to otherwise register, or to new members who have been recruited through the IATR’s outreach efforts.

2) All funds dedicated will only be used as necessary (e.g., if a government regulator is able to obtain funding for a membership fee and not travel, the fund will only be used for travel expenses, in accordance with the United States Department of General Services guidelines)

3) All funds shall come from the general funds reserved by the IATR, and not earmarked for any specific purpose or from any particular source (e.g., third parties are not permitted to request or make donations to the IATR or to the fund specifically in exchange for a particular regulator or person to attend the conference; instead, monies shall be allocated from general operating funds from the organization, and detailed records shall be maintained by the IATR).

4) All applicants must demonstrate that acceptance of the travel, lodging, and registration reimbursement or compensation equivalent shall be in accordance with local ethics laws, regulations and guidelines.

5) All applicants must demonstrate that they have applied for permission to attend the conference, and have had that permission declined.

6) The IATR reserves the right to select one or more qualified recipients based on the criteria of “fiscal need and regulatory necessity” (e.g., taking into consideration matters such as, new membership development, the need for training for new regulatory personnel, the need to attend to initiate local reforms or deal with pressing local regulatory issues being addressed by the conference, and/or other compelling factors). Regulatory necessity may include long-term membership with the IATR, or the inability to attend for many years due to fiscal constraints.

The application can be submitted via our Contact Us web form. The deadline to submit the application is on or before Monday, August 15, 2024.