On Wednesday, October 7th, USC students had the opportunity meet over lunch with William R. Kelly, President and CEO of Kelly Associates Management Group, as part of the Fall METRANS Lunch with a Practitioner Seminar Series.

Kelly has extensive knowledge in the areas of organizational management, economic development, and city planning. His firm, Kelly Associates Management Group, helps public sector professionals craft unique, creative solutions to the problems confronting their communities. Prior, he served as the Chief Operating Officer for Urban Futures, Inc., the City Manager of the City of Arcadia, and the Executive Director of the Redevelopment Agency.

Graduate and undergraduate students studying public policy, planning, real estate development, and engineering had an opportunity to obtain a wealth of knowledge from Kelly regarding the transportation field, his thoughts on the future of the transportation profession, and what companies are looking for in new hires.

An undergraduate student at the University of Southern California who attended the event, Joanna Wang, shared, “I'm very interested in transit oriented development and have wanted to know whether I can contribute more in the private or a public sector. Mr. Kelly inspired me to go out and get experience in both the private and public sectors because each sector has a different personality and specialty in transportation, which can affect the working experience in a very personal way. Thus, I'll look into both sides for opportunities to combine my GIS skills with transportation planning.”

Arpita Sharma

Arpita Sharma is a dual Master of Public Policy and Master of Planning Candidate at the USC Price School. She is interested in issues of health inequities, sustainable land use development and active transportation.  She expects to complete her degrees in May 2017. She can be reached at arpitasharma.net or at [email protected].