Husein Cumber is Senior Advisor for Brightline Holdings, where he was responsible for guiding the company’s two major capital projects from conception through development. Brightline Florida is the first privately owned and operated intercity passenger rail system in the United States in over 100 years and now operates with an annual run-rate of 3.2 million passengers. Brightline West is under construction and will connect southern California to Las Vegas, becoming the first true high-speed rail system in the US with trains operating at 220 mph. Previously, Mr. Cumber was the Chief Strategy Officer for Florida East Coast Industries, LLC (FECI), the former parent company of Brightline Holdings, where he was one of the visionaries of Brightline Trains.
Mr. Cumber supports Fortress Transportation and Infrastructure (FTAI) and FTAI Infrastructure (FIP), where he is involved with several development efforts at Repauno Port and Rail Terminal (New Jersey), Jefferson Energy Terminal (Texas), and the Long Ridge Energy Terminal (Ohio). At New Fortress Energy (NFE), Mr. Cumber works with the business development team focused on the delivery of liquid natural gas to domestic and foreign markets. Mr. Cumber led the pre-development activities for the first liquefaction plant in Florida and the conversion of FEC Railway’s locomotives from diesel to natural gas.
From 2005 to 2009, Mr. Cumber served in the George W. Bush Presidential Administration as an Assistant to the Secretary for Policy and as Deputy Chief of Staff at the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT).
Mr. Cumber has been involved in the community throughout his career. Some of his current board positions include the Surface Transportation Board’s Passenger Rail Advisory Committee, the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University, the Florida Chamber of Commerce, and Take Stock in Children. He previously served as Vice Chair of JEA, the eighth largest community-owned electric utility company in the United States and the largest in Florida. Mr. Cumber is a graduate and former Board Member of Leadership Florida.
Mr. Cumber is a graduate of Duke University and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in U.S. National Security.
