Team

Nora Leerhsen is acting president of the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), one of the nation’s largest public transit agencies, providing approximately one million rides on an average weekday and serving the City of Chicago and 35 surrounding suburbs. Overseeing more than 10,000 employees, Leerhsen carries out CTA’s mission of delivering quality, affordable transit services that link people, jobs and communities. She is the first woman to lead the CTA in the agency’s history.

Leerhsen joined the CTA in 2014 and has served in various roles prior to becoming chief of staff in 2018, including senior advisor to the chief of staff/chief operating officer and deputy chief of staff. She also worked in CTA’s Safety and Law departments on agencywide audits, ethics matters, and safety compliance.

During her six-year tenure as chief of staff, Leerhsen oversaw all aspects of CTA’s operations, including service delivery, capital planning, employee programming and communications strategy. She represented the agency at board meetings for CTA and the Regional Transportation Authority (RTA), meetings of the Mayor’s Office of Emergency Management, and during legislative engagement and policymaking initiatives. She also served as the primary liaison to the Mayor’s Office, the Chicago Transit Board, city departments and agencies, the RTA and the region’s two other public transit service boards, Metra and Pace Suburban Bus. She was a key agency leader during the COVID-19 pandemic and recovery, including spearheading the establishment of CTA’s on-site employee vaccination program.

Leerhsen began her 20-year career in public service as a public school teacher in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania as a part of the Teach For America program. After moving to Chicago, she continued to teach in the public schools and also worked as a college counselor prior to attending law school.

Leerhsen holds a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a master’s degree in social science from the University of Chicago, a master’s degree in education from Chestnut Hill College, and a bachelor’s degree from The George Washington University.

Thomas McKone currently serves as CTA’s Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer. In this role, he has responsibility for the agency’s operating budget, capital program, treasury operations and debt administration, accounting, payroll, business development and revenue, and the agency’s performance management program.

Mr. McKone first joined the CTA in 2012 as Vice President of Budget, Management, & Capital Finance, during which time he led the development and execution of CTA's operating and capital budgets and served as Acting Chief Financial Officer. He spearheaded the CTA's efforts to bring back into balance the CTA operating budget after the recent economic recession and helped lead the CTA's multi-billion-dollar capital infrastructure modernization efforts. In 2016, Mr. McKone took the role of Chief Administrative Officer, overseeing the administrative departments responsible for hiring, employee benefits, workforce development, agency performance management, transit asset management, purchasing, and EEO. He also serves as chair/vice-chair of the Retiree Healthcare Trust and Retirement Plan for CTA Employees.

Through this vast CTA leadership experience, Mr. McKone has been an integral component of the agency's accomplishments, including achieving annual balanced operating budgets, securing TIFIA loans for major CTA capital projects, reaching unprecedented levels of employee recruitment and training and modernizing related processes, managing the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as establishing an industry-leading performance management unit.

He is a graduate of the University of Chicago with a Master’s in Public Policy and a B.A in economics and statistics from Northwestern University.

Sanja E. Noble joined CTA in 2018 as the CTA Director of Treasury Operations. Prior to joining the CTA, Ms. Noble served as the Treasury Manager for The University of Chicago overseeing debt compliance and treasury operations.  She previously managed the debt portfolios for Chicago Public Schools and Cook County Government.  Ms. Noble received her B.A in Economics from The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and an MBA and Masters in Project Management from Keller Graduate School of Management.

Monica Moy is a Senior Debt Analyst with the Treasury team at CTA. Since joining CTA in 2020, Monica has progressed from Treasury Analyst to her current role, where she leverages her accounting background and financial expertise in managing daily cash operations, cash & investment reporting, and cash position/cash forecasting. Prior to CTA, Monica honed her analytical skills as a Business Systems Analyst at Follett Higher Education Group, where she collaborated with IT and Finance teams to develop, test, and deploy internal applications and systems. Monica holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting and a Master of Science degree in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) – both from DePaul University.