Perennial optimist and cultural networker

Last Christmas Alyson Queen had more than just Santa looking over her wish list. Thanks to her reputation for innovation, The Chronicle Herald published her hopes for 2009, including making the city greener and fostering an arts community.

The feisty 31-year-old chair of a networking group for people between the ages of 20 and 40 believes that engaging and attracting talented people is vital to creating a vibrant city. Queen, who also works as a public affairs manager with Bell Aliant, moved to Halifax in 2006 from Saint John, N.B., where she had sat on the board of FUSION Saint John. In 2007 she helped start the Halifax chapter; since then it has grown to 1,300 members, and in 2008 she became its chair.

Queen’s goal? To make Halifax a better city for people to “live, work and play, and stay,” which she says starts with engaging young people. “Alyson is a spark plug,” says Chris Crowell, who worked with Queen to launch the organization East Coast Connected, which keeps Atlantic Canadian ex-pats connected to the region. “She’s decisive and passionate, and right away she saw the big picture.”

FUSION, which also has chapters in Bangor and Detroit, has six teams organizing and connecting people in Halifax. They create events around sustainability, health and wellness, diversity, networking, urban development, and arts and culture. In Halifax FUSION has been instrumental in putting on events such as Nocturne, a first-time festival that showcases public and private art at night, and supporting movements such as HRM by Design, the city’s sustainable-development plan for downtown Halifax.

“Atlantic Canada is one of the best places in the world to live, and I don’t think we shout it out enough,” says Queen. “There’s something to be said for being humble; that’s part of who we are. But we need a balance between appearing too boisterous and recognizing that we can’t shy away from our own greatness.”