About the Founder
Aurelia Gooden is a polymath with a lifelong passion for learning, creating, and advocating for cognitive diversity. From reading at the age of two to beginning her senior year of high school at fifteen, Aurelia’s intellectual trajectory defied convention. Her interdisciplinary pursuits span engineering, invention, science, classical music composition, public speaking, and organizational leadership.
She holds a Master of Science in Manufacturing Systems and a Master of Arts in Music, and is currently completing a Doctor of Philosophy in Organizational Leadership (expected 2026) from The Chicago School of Professional Psychology. Her dissertation, “The Role of Management in the Workplace Ostracism Affecting Those Who Have High-IQ Neurodivergence,” reflects her commitment to changing how gifted and neurodivergent individuals are supported in professional environments.
Aurelia has served in multiple engineering leadership roles at Stellantis, General Motors, and Honda, specializing in process improvement, industrial engineering, operational excellence, and material science. She is a Fellow of the Women’s Engineering Society and a distinguished member of IOM3 (Institute of Materials, Minerals, and Mining) and the Institution of Engineering Designers (IED).
She is the inventor of the Wrong-Way Detection Device, a safety technology designed to detect and prevent wrong-way vehicle entry on highways. Her invention is currently under patent review. Aurelia is also a classically trained musician and a composer who uses music as another lens for gifted expression.
Her heritage, African-American, Indigenous, and Puerto Rican, grounds her commitment to intersectional advocacy. As a public speaker, she addresses issues of inclusion, equity, and the underutilization of gifted individuals in technical and corporate spaces.
In 2025, she founded Inclusive Giftedness Consulting (IGC), a hybrid consultancy dedicated to supporting profoundly gifted and high-IQ neurodivergent individuals while helping organizations unlock hidden cognitive talent. Her vision includes reshaping talent systems, advancing social responsibility, and building workplaces where gifted minds can thrive without being exploited or misunderstood.