Today we’d like to introduce you to Carly Queen.
Hi Carly, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I was born in Santa Monica, California as the only child of a single mother. My mom was an actress in Los Angeles at the time, but she moved back to our family farm in North Carolina to manage the family business there soon after I was born. Growing up I spent a lot of time with my grandmother, a retired school teacher and principal, and she helped give me an early start learning math and reading skills to jump-start my education. I also started working at a very early age, at first helping my uncle with his horseback riding stables and later as a server in a few local restaurants. After finishing 3rd in my high school class, I moved to Atlanta to study Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Tech.
Moving to Atlanta was a major transition from rural North Carolina where I grew up, but I quickly embraced and adapted to city life. I love the people, food, music, and culture in Atlanta, which is why I’ve recently celebrated 21 years as a resident. As an undergraduate student I was initially focused on the automotive sector, since I had always loved cars, motorcycles, and bicycles. I joined the GT Off-road competition team and completed an internship with General Motors in Michigan. In my sophomore year after working as a canvasser for organizations including the Sierra Club and Environment Georgia, I began to shift my efforts toward advancing sustainability locally. I founded and served multiple years as President of an on-campus organization called Students Organizing for Sustainability (SOS), which advocated for more environmentally-friendly food and transportation at Georgia Tech. Then during a summer abroad program based in France, where I had the opportunity to travel to nine different countries without ever getting in a car, my interests broadened to include transit and other more sustainable modes of transportation. After earning my Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering with honor, I built on my experience as a campus sustainability leader by going to work for the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) as their Southeast Campus Field Coordinator in the Campus Ecology Program.
I worked at NWF with notable success hosting events and organizing networks to share campus sustainability best practices and education throughout Georgia, Florida, and the Carolinas. But after a few years in this role and a brief return to the service industry, I felt drawn back to transportation and decided to enroll in graduate school for Civil Engineering and City Planning, again at Georgia Tech. During this time I worked various jobs to pay my tuition, including as a Graduate Research Assistant in Dr. Kari Watkins’ Urban Transportation Information Lab. I was honored with several scholarships, such as two Eisenhower Fellowships to support my thesis research on urban transit modes including less common technologies like aerial gondolas. I was also fortunate to participate in a capstone planning studio led by Professor Mike Dobbins, which focused on sustainable redevelopment of Technology Enterprise Park and has now moved forward as Science Square. Additionally, I landed an internship with engineering consulting firm URS, which later merged to become AECOM – one of the largest consulting firms in the world and my professional home for nearly 10 years.
Working for AECOM was an incredible experience that enabled me to grow from a graduate intern to one of the leading sustainable transportation experts in Georgia. The planning studies and traffic engineering reports that our team produced for clients such as the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) have led to dozens of projects to add or enhance infrastructure for pedestrians, cyclists, transit riders, and motorists along major roadways throughout metro Atlanta and beyond. While many projects that I led or played a significant role in have already been built, including along Northside Drive, Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway, and Memorial Drive, many more are still moving forward. As a result of our work, over $125 million in road enhancement projects have been programmed for delivery in the next few years on Northside Drive alone, along with countless others. I was also incredibly proud to have led the safety components for GDOT’s Atlanta Intown Multimodal Study, which identified and prioritized state routes in the Atlanta urban core for multi-modal safety projects. This study was recognized with the Innovation in Safety Award from Atlanta Bicycle Coalition (now Propel ATL) in 2021. I was also happy to support and lead our social committee in hosting employee appreciation events for the 500+ AECOM employees based in Georgia, such as a reception at the Atlanta Botanical Garden and a Hawks game and pre-party at State Farm Arena.
On top of my professional career, I have served as a volunteer in several capacities for more than 20 years. My family taught me from an early age how important it is to give back to your local community, so I’ve done my best to carry on that legacy of service throughout my life. Some of my notable volunteer roles have included being a Lead Volunteer and Speakers Bureau Administrator for the Atlanta BeltLine Partnership, serving as a Hills Park Neighborhood Representative for Neighborhood Planning Unit D, and being a liaison between the student and professional chapters of Women’s Transportation Seminar (WTS) in Atlanta. My most significant accomplishments as a volunteer were through my 10-year service on the Board of Directors of Groundwork Atlanta, where I served as President of the Board from 2017-2022. It was a great honor to lead this organization through its founding stage and collaborate with many communities and organizations working to improve sustainability and quality of life on Atlanta’s west side. Together we achieved incredible results, which included launching pilot programs to convert vacant lots to urban farms and gardens with the City of Atlanta and operating multiple trash traps along Proctor Creek in partnership with Georgia Trade-UP. I was thrilled to serve as a lead organizer of the AgLanta Eats Food Festival with over 1,000 attendees at the Atlanta Botanical Garden in support of the former project. We won the River Sustainability Award from Chattahoochee Riverkeeper in 2020 for the latter effort. Additional successes through Groundwork Atlanta will have lasting impacts on west side communities for decades to come, such as protection of the 75-acre Chattahoochee Brick site from a proposed rail-to-truck fuel terminal and construction of the Woodall Creek Rail Trail in partnership with the Upper Westside Community Improvement District, the latter of which was funded through a $1.4 million grant from the Georgia Outdoor Stewardship Program. My professional and volunteer accomplishments were recognized by the Georgia Tech Alumni Association when they included me in their 40 Under 40 Class of 2021.
Since leaving AECOM I have had the great privilege of starting my own business. I founded Aurora Innovative Solutions in April 2024 with the aim to put my skills and experience to work for a more inclusive client base. As a startup consulting firm specializing in sustainable development and transportation, I am grateful to be able to work with nonprofit organizations like GO Georgia and Propel ATL to inform and advance their advocacy for safer, more sustainable transportation options across our state. While Aurora has found a niche taking on smaller contracts that large firms often overlook, my network and history of collaborative leadership enables us to also pursue and win work on larger projects through partnerships with other firms. Most recently our focus has been to develop a vision for a more complete network of bicycle facilities on major roads in and around Atlanta in partnership with Propel ATL. We have used bicycle crash data as well as traffic and infrastructure inventory data to identify and prioritize corridors where bicycle lanes, cycle tracks, and side paths would most benefit connectivity for cyclists while enhancing safety and efficiency for all modes of travel. We offer a variety of transportation planning, traffic engineering, and community engagement services to help our clients address their most complex community challenges. Interested parties can contact me at carly.queen@aurorainnovativesolutions.com to discuss collaboration opportunities.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I have been incredibly blessed to grow up with countless advantages in life, including supportive family members and friends, communities and colleagues who lifted me up and enabled me to take on leadership opportunities, and resources that allowed me to thrive, such as access to healthy food, travel, and quality education. I’m grateful for every benefit and opportunity that I have been afforded in this life, but also for the challenges that have helped me to learn and develop into the person I am today.
Work-life balance has been my greatest struggle along the way, with many cycles varying from extremely high levels of productivity to complete burnout when it is hard just to survive. This difficulty has impacted every aspect of my being at times, including struggling to devote enough attention to self-care and all my relationships. As someone who is passionate about doing as much as I can to make the world a better place, I have always held myself to the highest standard and often worked myself to the bone to meet productivity goals and deadlines. I don’t regret how much energy I have put toward bettering my communities in the least, but I have learned how critical it is to care for yourself and make time for your loved ones first. The only way to contribute your gifts and talents in the long-term is to value yourself, not just for the work that you do. All living beings are inherently worthy of love, care, and rest.
Another challenge that I have often faced is a lack of funding to support my work. From taking on multiple jobs that don’t pay enough to cover even basic living expenses to sudden changes to or elimination of grant programs by governments and private funders, it has often been difficult to make ends meet for myself as well as organizations that I’ve been involved with. At times the lack of funding has led to crushing decisions to reduce staff hours and eliminate positions altogether. I’ve been fortunate to have help from family and friends throughout the years, but that does not begin to address the systemic inadequacies and inequities that we face due to unchecked greed, waste, and a variety of other societal ills. Many of the most important jobs, such as teachers and engineers, are desperately underpaid with few options other than going deeper in debt. Meanwhile governments are spending insane amounts of money and resources on war and policing, while eliminating any remnants of social support systems meant to help the most vulnerable populations. For example, a recent development at the federal level has led to the de-certification of Disadvantaged Business Enterprises and pausing of this program that has supported over 50,000 small businesses like mine in winning work. This decision could destroy the lives and livelihoods of women and minority business owners and their employees, who already face tremendous adversity and discrimination. We are moving backwards as a country and destroying ourselves from within. All of this has to change for us to survive, let alone thrive in the future.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Aurora Innovative Solutions is a consulting firm that specializes in sustainable infrastructure and multi-modal transportation safety. With over a decade of experience advancing multi-modal transportation projects via our innovative approach to urban planning and traffic engineering, we are trusted advisors who create customized strategic solutions to our clients’ most complex community challenges. Aurora means “dawn” and represents a new beginning based on the belief that everyone deserves outstanding public spaces and transportation. Aurora Innovative Solutions was created to help communities thrive through strategic analysis, collaboration, and investment toward a more just and sustainable future for all.
We offer a variety of services in the areas of transportation planning, traffic engineering, and community engagement. Planning services range from network screenings and data analysis to Complete Streets design and policy development. Our traffic engineering services advance safety and connectivity for all travelers, specializing in innovative intersections and complex corridors. In terms of engagement, we’ve brought together thousands of community stakeholders through dozens of conferences, meetings, surveys, and events.
What sets us apart from other firms is our lean business model combined with expertise in planning large, complex infrastructure projects. No task is too large or too small for us to contribute significant value with minimal overhead costs. We leverage our experience and competitive advantages to offer affordable pricing for professional results to all of our clients. From cataloging grant funding sources for multi-modal transportation projects and planning comprehensive bicycle networks to organizing extraordinary events that make life-long memories, we are proud of every opportunity that we’ve had so far and know that we are just getting started.
Who else deserves credit in your story?
This is such a difficult question because the list could go on forever. I’ve had so many collaborators, colleagues, friends, family, clients, and volunteers who have helped me get to where I am and given me strength through tough times. I am incredibly grateful to everyone who has loved and supported me in any way. There is a lot that I take on independently, but I know I could not do that if I didn’t have my support network backing me up.
The first person who comes to my mind is my mom, Buffy Queen, who sacrificed so much to raise me in a supportive, loving home surrounded by family. I would not be the person who I am today if it wasn’t for the lessons and guidance I received growing up, including inspiration to believe in myself and meaningfully contribute to my communities. I also owe a huge debt of gratitude to my grandparents and other family members who’ve helped, taught, and cared for me in so many ways.
Profound thanks are also owed to my chosen family, friends, and even pets who have loved and encouraged me along the way, especially those who have been there for me on my hardest days. Each of these individuals has contributed to the richness and joy in my life in such amazing ways. I feel so blessed to have had countless loved ones with whom I’ve shared peak experiences, but also many who have shared comfort and kindness to help me overcome crisis situations.
The Georgia Tech community, including students, alumni, faculty, and staff, has been a huge resource for me throughout my education and career. In particular I want to thank my graduate school advisors, Dr. Kari Watkins and Dr. Catherine Ross, who helped me to further develop critical thinking, planning, problem-solving, and communication skills while navigating rigorous academic and work programs. They each inspired me in unique ways to be bold, lead by example, and not shy away from taking on complex community challenges.
Last but not least, I would credit my colleagues and clients who have given me opportunities to grow professionally and lead projects that will have significant positive impacts for decades to come. My teammates and leadership at AECOM, as well as our clients including the Georgia Department of Transportation, were amazing collaborators dedicated to professional excellence, integrity, and mutual respect in the workplace, who also taught me valuable lessons about healthy work-life balance. I want to thank Lauren Leary and the Spatial Plans team for insightful guidance and meaningful opportunities to work together. Most importantly, Aurora Innovative Solutions would not have gotten off the ground if it wasn’t for our amazing clients at GO Georgia and Propel ATL. These nonprofit organizations are providing essential advocacy, tools, and services to advance sustainable transportation infrastructure and policies across our state. I am honored to partner with them to inform, guide, and support their efforts.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://aurorainnovativesolutions.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/aurora-innovative-solutions
