Heart, Soul & Data – Détails, épisodes et analyse

Dr. Ama Nyame-Mensah, an expert in data storytelling and visualization, discusses the problem of oversimplification in data visualization in this podcast episode. She explains how this issue can occur during data aggregation, visualization selection, and a lack of artistic expression. Emphasizing critical thinking, she advocates for a balance between complexity and accessibility, using interactivity and storytelling to engage audiences.

Key Takeaways

• Question everything and seek clarification when consuming data visualizations.
• Read the fine print, including annotations, notes, and data sources, to gain a deeper understanding.
• Take a holistic approach to data visualization, incorporating different mediums and techniques to create immersive experiences.
• Creating inclusive work environments involves fostering a sense of belonging, providing equal opportunities, and promoting diverse voices and perspectives.
• Diversity and inclusion are crucial for the success and innovation of the tech industry.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Background
03:07 The Problem of Oversimplification
06:34 Three Ways to Oversimplify Data Visualization
21:32 The Role of Artistic Expression in Data Visualization
29:12 Balancing Complexity and Accessibility
38:57 Taking a Holistic Approach to Data Visualization
46:09 The Immersive Experience of Data Visualization
48:41 Eliciting Emotion and Evoking a Journey
48:54 Conclusion and Contact Information

Guest Bio

Dr. Ama Nyame-Mensah is a data scientist and designer dedicated to making data science accessible and impactful. Through her practice, Analytics Made Accessible LLC, she provides practical data science training and consulting on data visualization. Dr. Nyame-Mensah is also a strong advocate of diversity and inclusion in the tech industry, providing strategies to address bias, enable inclusive environments, and accurately measure success through these initiative.

Dr. Tasha Parker, a clinical social worker and community psychologist, shares her journey into data and founding the Institute of Development. She emphasizes using data in a therapeutic, trauma-informed way to address systemic inequities and promote harm reduction. Dr. Parker discusses barriers like fear of judgment and lack of resources, stressing the importance of trust and cultural humility. The conversation highlights data's role in building resilient communities, collaboration, accountability, and diverse voices in evaluation.

Key Takeaways

• Data should be used in a therapeutic and trauma-informed way, addressing systemic inequities and promoting harm reduction.
• Barriers to using data effectively include fear of judgment and lack of resources. Data plays a crucial role in understanding and addressing systemic inequities and advocating for change.
• Collaboration and accountability are essential in the evaluation process to ensure the sustainability and impact of programs.
• Executive directors should invest in data coaching and support their teams in implementing data-driven approaches.
• The future of data science lies in advancements in technology, interdisciplinary collaboration, and ethical frameworks.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Dr. Parker's Journey into Data
05:33 Building Trust and Cultural Humility in Data Use
09:05 Using Data in a Therapeutic and Trauma-Informed Way
14:11 Acknowledging the Subjectivity of Science
21:59 Building Resilient Communities: The Role of Data
23:20 Addressing Systemic Inequities and Advocating for Change
26:17 Asking Critical Equity Questions and Developing Recommendations
29:29 Engaging Program Recipients and Collecting Relevant Data
31:44 Investing in Data Coaching for Sustainable Impact

Guest Bio

Dr. Tasha Parker is a Licensed Specialist Clinical Social Worker and community psychologist with over 16 years of experience working with at-risk individuals and groups in various settings. As the founder of the Institute of Development, she integrates data-driven methodologies into therapeutic and community practices to address systemic inequities and promote harm reduction. With a Masters in Public Administration and a PhD in Community Psychology, Dr. Parker emphasizes the importance of trauma-informed care, cultural humility, and actionable data to uplift impacted individuals and hold programs accountable.

"When you're thinking about doing a research study, define and design. So you define what you wanna know, then you design how you're gonna find that out. That's everything. Everything goes back to those two words."

If you're one of those people who think that scientific research is just for academic scientists or the lab rats working hard at their lab bench benches with their pipettes, today's episode is for you. I am joined by Neil Krohn, founder and principal of Advanced Healthcare Analytics, to share his expertise in doing research that really matters, and how research isn't just for academic scientists. Stick around till the very end of this episode and learn how your organization, even a small nonprofit, could benefit from designing your own research projects.

Neil Krohn is the founder and principal of Advanced Healthcare Analytics, which provides both quantitative and qualitative analytic services. Neil earned his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Tulsa and completed his post-doctoral fellowship in Administration and Evaluation Psychology from the University of Colorado Denver. For more than 20 years Neil has worked in healthcare analytics in both the public and corporate domains. He is particularly interested in helping organizations design and implement research studies that assist them in defining their goals and furthering their missions. He also taught Statistics and Research Methods to psychology graduate students for many years and served as the research design member on doctoral papers and dissertations. Currently, Neil is launching an initiative to have experts in science and technology share their knowledge in small-group discussions in the community. Neil lives with his wife in Denver, Colorado. He’s an avid cyclist, riding about 150 miles per week on Denver’s amazing trail system.

Think about the pieces of technology in use in your organization or your team today. In most nonprofits out there, you'd be surprised that there are dozens and even up to 50 different pieces of technology being used across your organization. In today's episode, I am joined by Tim Lockie of The Human Stack, who specializes in optimizing this interface between technology and humans. Learn how these tech systems work within the ecosystem, and how a CIO plays a part in managing these interactions—regardless of how big or small your organization is. We also discuss the skills required for a chief information officer (CIO) position, the need for effective communication and collaboration within organizations to harness the power of data, the challenges nonprofits face in utilizing data effectively, and how you can take action to address these challenges.

Tim Lockie is the CEO and Founder of The Human Stack, and co-host of the Why IT Matters podcast. Tim has over 20 years of experience in the nonprofit and tech world, with roles including volunteer, youth worker, camp counselor, music instructor, foster parent, board member, finance director, bookkeeper, recruiter, and community administrator among others. He's passionate about Digital Transformation and believes it's something that all nonprofits can benefit from, no matter their size.

In this two-part episode, you will get a better idea of how we use data as humans and understand how our brains work to analyze the data that we acquire every day in powerful and effective ways and the possible mistakes we might make along the way. Learn more about the four biases and what you can do about them:

1. Pattern-seeking - What you can do: Triangulate your data
2. Causality - What you can do: Experiment more
3. Confirmation bias - What you can do: Ask "What data would change my/your mind?"
4. Attribution - What you can do: Keep your language within

Knowing these and finding out the signs to look out for and what to do gives us a chance to become better when it comes to decision-making not only at work but also in our personal life.

Merakinos provides analytics as a service, data strategy consulting, analytic
project work, and data fluency training for individuals and organizations seeking to build and strengthen
analytic capacity and data-driven decision-making. We can work with your organization to identify the
key analytic insights you need from your data, develop and maintain actionable dashboards or reports,
and deliver them across your organization monthly, weekly, or on your schedule. Or if you would like
to develop internal capacity, we can provide training on key platforms like Power BI, Tableau, or Alteryx.
And if you aren't sure where to start, our advisory services can help you design and implement effective
analytic strategies to amplify your impact.

In this two-part episode, you will get a better idea of how we use data as humans and understand how our brains work to analyze the data that we acquire every day in powerful and effective ways and the possible mistakes we might make along the way. Learn more about the four biases and what you can do about them:

1. Pattern-seeking - What you can do: Triangulate your data
2. Causality - What you can do: Experiment more
3. Confirmation bias - What you can do: Ask "What data would change my/your mind?"
4. Attribution - What you can do: Keep your language within

Knowing these and finding out the signs to look out for and what to do gives us a chance to become better when it comes to decision-making not only at work but also in our personal life.

Merakinos provides analytics as a service, data strategy consulting, analytic
project work, and data fluency training for individuals and organizations seeking to build and strengthen
analytic capacity and data-driven decision-making. We can work with your organization to identify the
key analytic insights you need from your data, develop and maintain actionable dashboards or reports,
and deliver them across your organization monthly, weekly, or on your schedule. Or if you would like
to develop internal capacity, we can provide training on key platforms like Power BI, Tableau, or Alteryx.
And if you aren't sure where to start, our advisory services can help you design and implement effective
analytic strategies to amplify your impact.

"Make friends with Google"

In today's episode, we're going to take a broader view of how Google Analytics can be an incredibly powerful tool for understanding the performance of your content and marketing efforts on your websites. By connecting Google Analytics to your website, you can gain insights into how users are interacting with your content, where they are coming from, what pages they are spending the most time on, and much more. Colin Clapp talks about how optimization isn't a one-and-done and isn't something you can just set and then forget, but something you need to continually engage with. Find out how you can get the results you want without getting overwhelmed in the process, including knowing what your goals are and paying attention to the bigger picture.

Colin Clapp is the Co-Founder of Online Marketing Done For You, an online marketing solutions catering to people who are too busy to market online. His purpose in life is to inspire "Significance through a philosophy of Give. Take. Invest. Enjoy." and help other people reach their potential by staying accountable to their dreams. He likes to spend his time with his wife, who he considers his first accountability partner, and his two children.

“Data is a labor of love”

Children can teach us valuable lessons about work and inspire us to be better workers, and as parents, both Tasha and I can definitely attest to that. In this episode, we talked about how we apply these lessons in marketing, data, supporting non-profits, and more. From sleepless nights to endless battles over wearing underwear, we deep dive into the ways we can lean into research to learn more and become better at what we do, and why it's essential to find balance in learning from the lessons of others and personalizing them to suit your needs.

Tasha Van Vlack is a relationship growth specialist at Yeeboo Digital - where she empowers nonprofits to 'lead with digital' and embrace new marketing, fundraising, and technology practices. When she isn't chatting with nonprofit professionals she spends her time connecting with cool people on LinkedIn, writing content, creating customer journeys, and generally being pulled in ten directions. She is also a proud mom to 3 spirited children who keep her continuously on her toes.

“Don’t be fooled – EVERY system needs maintenance.”

Nonprofits are often chronically under-resourced, and thus unable to put in the time, money, and expertise required to optimize their operational systems. The old comic of the guy pushing the square wheel because he doesn’t have time to invent the round one is painfully true for nonprofits everywhere!

Fortunately, we have Adam Kogeman here today from Good Bones Consulting to share his secrets of how nonprofits of any size can evaluate how they do what they do – and find more efficient and effective ways to accomplish the great work we’re all here to do.

Adam Kogeman is co-founder and principal consultant at Good Bones Consulting, an organizational development consultancy which supports purpose-driven organizations to enhance operational systems, processes, and efficiency. Adam is an experienced social sector leader who has overseen programs and operations at prominent nonprofit and social enterprise organizations and has expertise in diverse issue areas including workforce development, homelessness and housing, and refugee resettlement. He is an engaged member of multiple nonprofit boards, including Good Business Colorado, a statewide advocacy group and network of values-driven small business owners.

Khahn Vu immigrated to America as a young child. As he grew up among American friends and worked for American companies, he found himself straddling two worlds - he was expected to act one way at home and another in American society. In his role now as the leader of the Society of Asian Scientists & Engineers, he helps others who find themselves existing across different spaces.

In today's episode, Khahn explores data from the point of view of needing your numbers to know if there are issues – what really is the makeup of your community, your organization vs your leadership? Are there groups getting left behind? You can’t know that unless you look at the numbers. He addresses the resistance to being transparent with these numbers, and that we MUST move beyond that.

Ask yourself: is my team or organization honest and transparent with the data on our people? If so, what story is the numbers in your organization showing? If we aren’t, why not? What would it take for us to open up? Are we collecting that data but sitting on it? Or have we not even begun to collect it? 

Khanh Vu is the CEO of SASE, the Society of Asian Scientists & Engineers, the largest nonprofit of AAPI talent and leadership. Khahn came to America at the tender age of 5 as a war refuge. He has had decades of experience in the non-profit sector. He is also a son, brother, husband and father. Learn more about SASE as www.saseconnect.org and follow Khanh at www.linkedin.com/in/vuqkhanh/.