{"654019":{"#nid":"654019","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Alumni Spotlight: Marcela Moreno","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EName:\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003EMarcela Moreno\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EDegree(s):\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003EB.S. in\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/hsoc.gatech.edu\/undergraduate\/major\u0022\u003EHistory, Technology, and Society\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;and\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/planning.gatech.edu\/master-city-and-regional-planning\u0022\u003EMaster of City \u0026amp; Regional Planning\u003C\/a\u003E (College of Design)\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EJob Title \/ Employer: \u003C\/strong\u003ECommunity Transportation Association of America, Washington DC\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch3\u003E1. What do you do?\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003Cp\u003EI am a Transit Technologist at the Community Transportation Association of America (CTAA), where I primarily work for the National Center for Applied Transit Technology (N-CATT).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EN-CATT is a federally funded technical assistance center that was created to help small urban (200,000 and less), rural, and tribal transit agencies adopt emerging transit technologies like new fare payment technology, computer-aided dispatch, alternative fuel vehicles, automated vehicles, etc.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhen I\u2019m not focused on transit technology, I help on consulting projects for organizations (hospitals, non-profits, or transit agencies) that want to solve their transportation issues. I also help make maps to represent spatial datasets for a variety of CTAA projects.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch3\u003E2. What\u2019s the coolest part of your job?\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe coolest part of my job is providing technical assistance to transit agencies. I\u2019m kind of a pro bono consultant, so I get to travel a lot!\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDepending on COVID, this year\u0026nbsp;we\u2019re traveling to five transit agencies across the country\u0026nbsp;from Maryland\u0026nbsp;to Iowa and even Hawaii (big maybe on that visit). I get to help transit agencies work through some of their biggest pain points and explore how technology can be used as a tool to make their operations and rider experience better.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch3\u003E3. Why are you passionate about this work?\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003Cp\u003EI love transit. Public transportation touches on a lot of topics that I am very interested in, such as social justice, environmental sustainability, public health, and generally building better communities.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe work I do specifically focuses on smaller, less-resourced parts of the country.\u0026nbsp;I think that technological innovations shouldn\u2019t be concentrated in the biggest and wealthiest parts of the country\u0026nbsp;and should be implemented in a way that shifts power to minoritized people and places that have been historically disinvested in.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch3\u003E4. How did you find your job\/what\u2019s the best resource for jobs or networking you\u2019ve found?\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe best resource I\u2019ve found for jobs is actually through social media. The School of City and Regional Planning at Georgia Tech has a Facebook group that is super active with job postings. That, and LinkedIn often shares really great opportunities based on your profile.\u0026nbsp;So,\u0026nbsp;my advice is to update your profile and keep it up to date!\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch3\u003E5. What\u2019s the most surprising detour you\u2019ve taken from your career path? What did you learn from it?\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003Cp\u003EI thought that I was going to go to graduate school for public health, but I happened to have a conversation with my undergraduate research partner about grad school, and she mentioned city planning as a profession. Honestly, I had never thought about that as a possible option. I learned that the built environment is an excellent place to make changes that positively impact our communities in so many ways, including as a way to have a huge impact on a person\u2019s health outcomes.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch3\u003E6. What\u2019s the greatest challenge you\u2019ve faced since graduating, and how did you overcome it?\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe greatest challenge that I faced since graduating was complacency by way of imposter syndrome. At one time, I felt like I was in a job that didn\u2019t value the skills that I brought to the table. One time, I remember a senior member of a meeting that we were hosting had told me that I\u2019d be an \u0022excellent secretary\u0022 after sharing my aspirations to become a city planner. Pretty rude, TBH. Anyway,\u0026nbsp;I overcame it by finding mentorship with women in my field, venting a lot, and using my anger at situations like that to show up at my best. Being vulnerable and sharing those sorts of insecurities or feelings has led to stronger and more trusting relationships with friends, colleagues, and even managers.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch3\u003E7. What\u2019s your #1 tip for students and alumni interested in your field?\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003Cp\u003EYour and your community\u2019s lived experience is extremely valuable in urban planning. Non-traditional experience applies. Do you volunteer for your local community garden? Experience. Are you actively advocating and providing input on making your transit system better? Experience.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECity planning needs diverse perspectives from the community in decision-making and design roles to create spaces whose natural, built, and lived environments are healthy, thriving, and accessible.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch3\u003E8. Can HSOC students and alum contact you if they\u2019re interested in following in your footsteps? What are some things you can speak to and the best way for them to contact you?\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003Cp\u003EYes! I can speak about the decision (or not!) to go to graduate school, ways to fund it, and time management. Also, about anything related to urbanism. I\u2019m a transit planner now, but I can speak on public health and environmental planning, too. Also if you\u2019re interested in DC or moving to DC at all, I\u2019m up to speak on that too!\u0026nbsp;You can email me at marcela.nicole91@gmail.com.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EMeet more \u003C\/em\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/hsoc.gatech.edu\/alumni\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003Efeatured alumni\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cem\u003E in the School of History and Sociology!\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Public transportation touches on a lot of topics that I am very interested in, such as social justice, environmental sustainability, public health, and generally building better communities,\u0022 Moreno says.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"\u0022Public transportation touches on a lot of topics that I am very interested in, such as social justice, environmental sustainability, public health, and generally building better communities,\u0022 says Moreno."}],"uid":"35766","created_gmt":"2022-01-04 16:44:50","changed_gmt":"2025-01-14 18:13:34","author":"dminardi3","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2022-01-05T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2022-01-05T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"676020":{"id":"676020","type":"image","title":"1600 x 900 (9).jpg","body":null,"created":"1736878385","gmt_created":"2025-01-14 18:13:05","changed":"1736878385","gmt_changed":"2025-01-14 18:13:05","alt":"Marcela Moreno","file":{"fid":"259722","name":"1600 x 900 (9).jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2025\/01\/14\/1600%20x%20900%20%289%29.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2025\/01\/14\/1600%20x%20900%20%289%29.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":571337,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2025\/01\/14\/1600%20x%20900%20%289%29.jpg?itok=4lIXJRDd"}}},"media_ids":["676020"],"groups":[{"id":"1288","name":"School of History and Sociology"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EDi Minardi\u003Cbr\u003Edi.minardi@gatech.edu\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["dminardi3@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}