As Metro’s first Chief Customer Experience Officer, Jennifer Vides advocates for customers, builds brand and reputation and coaches teams to excellence. She taps her expertise in change management to advance a customer-first culture, and experience in customer-focused branding to ideate and launch new customer initiatives. In her first year in the role, Jennifer oversaw the introduction of the Metro Ambassador pilot program which brought more than 300 unarmed staff to work alongside homeless outreach teams, Metro security and law enforcement as a part of the agency’s re-imagined multi-layered public safety plan. Jennifer also oversaw the grand opening of Metro’s new K light rail line, as well as the Regional Connector stations, placing arts and culture as the center.
Jennifer joined Metro from Southern California’s regional rail service Metrolink, where she launched the SoCal Explorer loyalty program, the 5-Day and 10-Day Flex Passes targeted to those now telecommuting since the pandemic, and a customer opinion panel to put customers at the center of decision-making. At the same time, she updated the brand’s positioning and identity to reflect its shift from commuter rail to a regional passenger rail operator that connects people to work, family, friends, and fun.
Jennifer previously led marketing, communications, and brand at the Public Media Group of Southern California, LA’s flagship PBS station formed following the merger of PBS SoCal and KCET. She also brings private sector experience, having directed marketing and communications at retailers Hot Topic, Torrid and Gymboree, as well as leading regional and global teams for communications firms Burson-Marsteller, Weber Shandwick and the MSL Group.
Jennifer is of Salvadoran descent, was raised in El Salvador, Puerto Rico, and Costa Rica, and is bilingual (English and Spanish). She holds a B.S. in Communications with a double-major in French from the University of Miami (Fla).