URC Lunch and Learn

Start Date
Tuesday, February 7th, 2023, 12:00 PM
End Date
Tuesday, February 7th, 2023, 1:30 PM
Event Flyer

Location: D.M. Smith Room 303

The School of Public Policy welcomes Mr. Mike Carnathan and Dr. Doug Hooker as speakers for our URC Lunch and Learn titled, "The Potential for Partnerships Through the Atlanta Regional Commission.”

Please RSVP for this event here.

About the Speakers:

Mike Carnathan is the Manager of the Research & Analytics Department at the Atlanta Regional Commission and is one of the founders of Neighborhood Nexus, which is a community intelligence system for the Atlanta region, providing data, tools, and expertise as a catalyst to create opportunity for all of the region’s citizens. The goal is to foster a data-driven decision-making culture in the Atlanta region and beyond. Mike oversees the compilation of thousands of variables and indicators that tell the data story about the Atlanta region. And storytelling is key. One of Mike’s chief challenges is to help community groups tell their story better through a data-driven approach.

Mike has worked with numerous community groups, including the Annie E Casey Foundation, Families First, United Way, The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta, along with a host of statewide and local education agencies and other community groups to help them better understand the neighborhoods in which they work. In addition to being a data geek, Mike has a varied background that includes public relations and journalism. This experience comes in handy as one of the critical uses of data is to tell the right story about our community to help community leaders make better decisions.

A native of Georgia, Mike holds degrees in History and Journalism, along with a Master's in Public Administration from the University of Georgia.

Doug Hooker, now retired, throughout his career Doug Hooker has worked for public sector and private sector organizations, among them: the City of Atlanta’s Department of Public Works, the State Road & Tollway Authority, Atkins Engineering and Georgia Power. He retired after having led the Atlanta Regional Commission as its executive director for many years. He currently serves on the boards of several community organizations including, the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta, the Latin American Association, the Clayton State University Foundation, St. Vincent de Paul, the Fox Theatre, Aurora Theatre, the Ivan Allen College (of Georgia Tech) advisory board, the Hands-On Atlanta advisory board, and the Georgia Drawdown Project advisory council. In addition to community service, he is currently a Special Fellow with the Urban Studies Institute, within the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies at Georgia State University. He is also on the board of directors of Barge Design Solutions, a privately held engineering consulting firm.

His past service has included boards and advisory boards service for the Atlanta Music Project, the Aerotropolis Atlanta Alliance, the Council for Quality Growth, CHRIS 180, the Georgia Tech (President’s) Advisory Board, the (Georgia Tech) Civil & Environmental Engineering Advisory Board, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, the Atlanta Opera, the Georgia Conservancy, the Piedmont Park Conservancy, the Trust for Public Land – Georgia Chapter, the Metropolitan North Georgia Water Planning District, the Metro Atlanta Chamber Transportation Committee, the Civic League, The Emory University Board of Advisors, and Atlanta Technical College.

Doug is an alumnus of Leadership Atlanta, Leadership Georgia, the Regional Leadership Institute, the Institute for Georgia Environmental Leadership, and Leadership PBS&J. Throughout his career, he has received many honors and recognitions, including the Dean George Griffin Community Service Award from the Georgia Tech Alumni Association, the inaugural AeroATL Honors award, the inaugural Regional Leadership Institute Outstanding Leader award, the Outstanding CEO from the Atlanta Business Chronicle, award for Distinguished Community Impact from the American Council of Engineering Consultants, award for career achievement from the Latin American Association, the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the Ivan Allen College School of Public Policy, 100 Most Influential Georgians (Georgia Trend), 100 Most Influential Atlantans (Atlanta Business Chronicle), 10 Most Influential Atlantans (Atlanta Tribune), the Harry West Regional Visionary Leadership Award, the President’s Award from the National Association of Regional Councils, the Whitney Young Award from Boy Scouts of America, the Lauren Solomon Award from COMTO, Excellence in City Government award from the Atlanta City Council, and many more. In March 1997, he was recognized by the Mayor and City Council with a Doug Hooker Day. He attended Emory as one of the business school’s first Woodruff Scholars and was recognized by that faculty with the Outstanding Graduate Student award upon graduation.

Hooker holds a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering and a Master of Science from Georgia Tech, as well as an MBA from Emory University’s Goizueta School of Business.