Cardinal’s Story

Based on a shared desire to advance innovative transportation strategies nationwide, in 2009 Sherry Little and Severn Miller came together to dedicate their experience and expertise to developing funding and financing strategies for large-scale projects, while simultaneously advising local executives and organization leaders in navigating complex federal laws to maintain both statutory and regulatory compliance. Whether guiding clients in the construction and management of multi-billion dollar infrastructure projects, or advising on the growth of domestic manufacturing, Sherry and Sev focused almost singularly on the goal of making individual clients’ projects come to fruition as completely, timely, and innovatively as possible—specific enough to balance needed legal minutiae, and broad enough to expand the transit reach of communities of all sizes.

Prior to this time, Sherry led the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) under President George W. Bush’s U.S. Department of Transportation, bringing to bear her Senate staff experience that includes authoring the nation’s public transportation and planning legislation of the early 2000’s. While at FTA she worked closely with Sev, FTA’s Chief Counsel, who led the agency’s legal team, overseeing its rulemaking and enforcement activities. Their shared backgrounds and ease in working relationship carried forward to Cardinal, building on an idea they had cultivated at FTA: that genuine assistance should seek to blend compliance and legal guidance with increased local capacity for seeing comprehensive projects through to completion.

And in 2016, Sherry and Sev joined forces with Anja Graves to establish Cardinal Infrastructure, LLC. Much like them, Anja had led a consulting firm of her own and served as a senior leader for the Department of Housing and Urban Development under Secretaries Cuomo and Martinez. Also adding Californian Rick Bacigalupo, Cardinal’s abilities were thereby extended to offer clients expertise in urban and environmental planning, federal appropriations, and regulations abatement. Since that time, Cardinal has developed a reputation for working with clients as partners in their project development and delivery, and prides itself on deep client interactions and continual pulse-taking of the federal components that affect local project design, planning, and implementation.

Unjustly, in 2023, Anja Graves lost her six-month battle with an aggressive cancer, leaving behind what one mayor called “a legacy of trust” in helping others achieve their goals. From building coalitions that achieve much more than originally envisioned, to combining professional relationships with personal connection, Anja’s impact on transit is continually present in the work of Cardinal, and our clients, every day.