Full CV


Personal Philosophy

  • I believe that the 21st century requires a more multifaceted toolkit if we hope to solve complex challenges–process and task oriented approaches balanced within a framework that fosters strategic thinking. That interdisciplinary relationships can be strengthened through active community participation–working toward something with the shared value of doing good.

  • I bring a lot of energy and enthusiasm to the projects that I become involved in. I thrive in situations that require imagination and innovation. My interests are varied; among my passions I would list: academic inquiry, classical and contemporary thought, the music and cuisine of other cultures, the arts, traveling, languages, and social justice. I believe that our most vulnerable deserve respect and to be treated with dignity and fairness.

  • Ultimately I hope that the work I do is helpful–that it enables discovery or provides clarity. I hope to bring together practical and principled approaches and I hope to further grow as this philosophy guides me.


Personal Skills

  • I am dedicated and hard working–a good communicator and active community participant. I work well on team efforts and projects with the ultimate aim of using data for social good.

  • I am:

    • creative
    • honest
    • friendly
    • enthusiastic
    • keen to learn new things and take on new roles
    • reliable
    • a lateral thinker
    • motivated

  • I am able to:

    • speak and read French
    • read and understand some German
    • listen to and follow instructions accurately
    • work cooperatively
    • take on new challenges
    • complete tasks
    • support others
    • identify new innovations and technologies while working toward implementing them
    • be proactive


Technical Skills

  • Web Technologies: HTML, CSS, Javascript; Quarto publishing; Rmarkdown Websites, Dashboards in R with shiny/flexdashboard that support crosstalk, and interactive data visualization with Plotly; Static Site Generators, i.e., Pelican, Jekyll, and others; Traditional CMSs like Wordpress and Drupal; previous coursework in Information Architecture and UX/UI design.

  • Coding: R, Python, and Javascript.

  • OSs: macOS, Linux, Windows, and containers. Within the Linux ecosystem, I have experience with Debian based distributions as well as Red Hat Enterprise Linux. I love the terminal and wish vim bindings were universal.

  • Data: Relational Databases (data modeling and SQL); Extract-Transfer-Load (ETL) and Extract-Load-Transfer (ELT) strategies for data engineering–specifically with Apache Airflow for ETL and Data Build Tool (dbt) for ELT; information retrieval; taxonomies and ontologies; and, knowledge organization theory.

  • Data Science: both R and Python are a big part of my workflow from reading in data, transforming and ‘tidying’ data, exploring and visualizing data, modeling, reporting, presenting, and tying it all together in a dashboard. In connection to R, I am a proponent of the tidyverse framework for its unifying API. With respect to Python, I enjoy using polars, pyjanitor, pymc, and plotly to work in equivalent ways. I’m honestly happy working in both languages.

  • Metadata schemas: knowledge of RDF, OWL, SPARQL, AACR2, RDA, MODS, METS, and PREMIS


Education

  • University of North Texas | Master of Science in Information Science (2013) Information Systems track

  • University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) | Bachelor of Arts in French and comparative literature (2008 / double major)

  • Université de la Sorbonne Nouvelle (Paris III) | Student exchange (2006–2007)


Work Experience

    Skylight

    Senior Data Engineer / April 2023–Present

      excited to bring my DevOps and Data Engineering skills to bear on thorny data problems in support of public good.
      Skylight is a digital government consultancy driven by making government work in a digital world through design, technology, and procurement.


    County of Los Angeles, Department of Public Health_Los Angeles, CA

    Data Scientist Supervisor_Data Science and Systems (DSS) team; Acute Communicable Disease Control (ACDC) / July 2020–March 2023

      using expert knowledge of and experience in data, statistical modeling, and machine learning methods; programming languages, packages/libraries, and big-data engineering solutions; manage and implement highly technical and complex data science projects from defining the vision to operationalizing solutions to ensure desired outcomes are achieved.
      provides both technical and administrative supervision to the DSS team of four to five staff (on average) as we plan, develop, and implement data science projects, data engineering pipelines, and dashboards/visual analytics. The DSS team is comprised of two Data Scientists, a Jr. Data Scientist, a Data Engineer, and a Product Manager. We utilize the SCRUM framework to monitor and direct tasks, boards to communicate and evaluate progress, peer-to-peer code review in GitHub via pull request rules, and one on one sessions for pair programming and additional mentoring.
      work closely with both senior Public Health Information Systems (PHIS) IT staff and Internal Services Department (ISD) IT staff on a variety of data infrastructure projects including the management and maintenance of our data science tooling (both the applications and the servers); work strategically on data engineering bottlenecks to enhance reliability and scalability of data; use knowledge of data science and data engineering practices to add suggestions for burgeoning information management and governance work; act as technical resource for team leads interested in leveraging DSS tooling.
      building a robust R and Python community by collaborating closely with our RStudio partners to bring trainings to more than 180 staff within ACDC; helping to answer questions and support team members that run into issues related to version control, CI/CD, RStudio Connect, and other DSS tools; evangelize data modernization initiatives whenever possible while also staying up to date on the changing data science landscape.
      led DSS team to refactor (rewrite) from SAS and R codebases to large-scale (big data) architecture code that is automated with the Apache Airflow workflow tool leveraging Apache Spark via Python; these processes in some instances are three to four times faster than the original codebases, which we plan to continue to leverage for all of our Extract-Transfer-Load (ETL) needs.
      continuing to define and formalize the road map for data science within public health as an embedded group of expert resources that can consult and collaborate on a divisional or departmental opportunities/gaps in infrastructure or data engineering we can recommend plans for strengthening, streamlining, or augmenting.


    County of Los Angeles, Department of Health Services_Los Angeles, CA

    Staff Analyst, Health_Whole Person Care / February 2019–June 2020

      spearheading data integration projects with Whole Person Care program; optimizing links to internal master data management, countywide master data management, community/clinic based HIEs, and MCOs.
      help prototype operational dashboards for analyst team to put into production, working with clinical staff on creating tools that will add value rather than distract or oversaturate.
      work with leadership on identifying KPIs and other operationally valuable markers for high level dashboard applications that allow users to explore and interact adding business value.
      liaise with external county departments, HIEs, and MCOs regarding data sharing standards and governance for WPC population–up to speed on current federal and state regulations for what can and what cannot be shared depending on context.
      assist in authoring analysis billing rules for data team to use to correctly produce mandatory reporting given complexities of WPC funding via Medi-Cal waiver program and shifting horizon of competing and complimentary programming.
      responsible for calculating program milestones and incentives for state billing–working with front line program staff to improve workflows and capture the data the demonstrates achievement for the WPC program.
      act as bridge between IT, data team, evaluation team, and leadership on all data related matters–working to improve programming workflows through version control and software engineering best practices.


    Skid Row Housing Trust_Los Angeles, CA

    Manager of Data + Analytics / July 2018–January 2019

      provide strategic oversight to organization’s data collection systems and reporting processes through the collection and analysis of data, reporting on and capturing of outcome metrics, and providing input to create a more data-driven culture
      responsible for identifying, monitoring, and evaluating program and organizational outcomes to ensure compliance and effectiveness of programming
      moved social service database from a no access closed system to AWS to reduce organizational cost and optimize IT ecosystem
      liaised with internal departments for reporting/proposal questions, and to answer questions about resident population trends, funding and compliance layers for affordable housing; and, how the two work toward a broader outcomes strategy
      prepare recurring and special aggregated data reports and related decision support tools for organization to support analytics value chain: datareportinganalysisactionvalue
      oversaw the application and implementation of assessment procedures for longitudinal data collection; provided training in the use of survey instruments and answers to questions about what is tracked and why
      leveraged agglomerative clustering models, survival models, generalized linear models, and binary classifiers like logistic regression in order to build a wider understanding of how people fare in permanent supportive housing to see if we can detect negative outcomes early and target support services early.
      converted all data workflows to version control via GitHub for all projects including web application and some of the data engineering
      liaise with external organizations, research institutions, and contractors / consultants interested in or currently conducting research with organization to answer questions about what we currently are using to track outcomes / offer support


    Skid Row Housing Trust_Los Angeles, CA

    Data Analyst / August 2015–June 2018

      provide in-depth analysis of both the resident population and underlying subsidy and compliance structure for entire portfolio
      leverage validated research tools to improve data collection; providing a pathway for future program evaluation based on real measurements that have reliable sensitivity and specificity
      explored open-source database alternatives to reduce organizational cost and fit within the IT ecosystem
      actively participated in internal organizational dialog around the need to pivot from demonstrating need to demonstrating efficacy–championed the role data could play in program development, intervention, and outcomes
      prepared recurring and special aggregated data reports for asset management compliance, annual organizational audit, resident programs grant reporting, and housing development RFP/RSFQ submissions
      assist in any data related projects with community partners and research institutions


    Skid Row Housing Trust_Los Angeles, CA

    Health Services Coordinator / October 2014–July 2015

      gathered baseline data on current resident enrollment in Medi-Cal, their health care utilization and access, history of chronic health conditions, as well as food intake.
      performed statistical analysis of health survey data using Python–we had 200 respondents and were able to make programmatic changes based on our findings
      developed and implemented health training workshops and on-on-one guidance for Program Managers and Resident Services Coordinators to improve knowledge of new Affordable Care Act-driven insurance enrollment challenges for residents with advanced conditions
      implemented resident-focused trainings on managing and seeking help for chronic health conditions as well as creating health literacy guides for residents
      planed and coordinated resident health fairs in collaboration with community health providers to improve health literacy of residents in connection to both chronic conditions as well as the resources in their community
      provided coordinating support to Program Managers and staff charged with oversight of existing on-site health resources and wellness programs. Explored potential partnerships to provide residents improved health and well-being
      prepared and maintained accurate reports and survey data utilizing the Efforts to Outcomes database
      project troubleshooter par excellence.


    Skid Row Housing Trust_Los Angeles, CA

    Housing Transition Specialist / November 2013–September 2014

      responsible for administering and uploading survey data to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and its affiliates while maintaining confidentiality and records keeping due diligence
      worked with Resident Service Coordinators, programmatic staff, and grant evaluator on collecting and maintaining data pertinent mandated progress reports to SAMHSA
      researched, wrote, and compiled bi-annual reports for the Cooperative Agreement to Benefit Homeless Individuals (CABHI) grant project
      point-person/project manager for follow up and grant work-plan compliance with Skid Row Community Consortium
      researched and identified future survey instruments for targeted sub-populations to improve data collection practices
      participated in regular trainings, program evaluation, and program development
      designed and edited Peer Advocate zine for commercial printing
      improved client access to resources/information through small booklets tailored to the population


    UCLA Powell Library_Los Angeles, CA

    Social Media Intern / January 2013–November 2013

      designed and implemented new digital signage/print fliers to promote library outreach, services, and events
      created new social media presence for (then) new platform Vine to promote library collections and services
      designed online content that highlighted collections, incorporated teaching and learning services and provided wide audience appreciation
      facilitated presentation on approach and ideas to UCLA Library’s social media steering committee
      operated multi-tiered social media platform apparatus


Accomplishments


    Researched and implemented a suite of validated research questionnaires to collect survey data, deployed to database for end users to input; tidied, transformed, and modeled over 900 responses; and built and hosted a Shiny dashboard to communicate results. To be a part of the process from beginning to end was a huge learning process and I see it as a great accomplishment.
    Designed, proofed, prepared, and labored over Peer Advocate ’Zine for Skid Row Housing Trust’s Hilton Project ’Zine “I Got You”, which will be released during a end of grant event for all project participants
    Was asked to help design and brainstorm a flier for the UCLA Library system because of interest in design and outreach for libraries–the final project was the “Top 10 Things” flier, which was a successful campaign to engage students in library programming and services
    Was recognized by two articles online for work promoting library services and collections through early-adoption of Vine

Interests

    Learning more about statistics and data science; particularly its applications in R. I am more and more becoming interested in Bayesian approaches.
    Coding: I will likely never code as neatly as an engineer but I try to incorporate software engineering best practices as I can–I am very keen to become more proficient with workflows in airflow, deploying APIs to AWS, and taking on more data engineering as practicable.
    Design: I love typefaces and modernist design, in another life I would love to work as a designer or artist so it is something I passionately admire and sometimes try to do when time permits.
    Exploration: I like to explore other places through travel and food; ideologies through reading and communicating, and world through science and discovery!


Updated on: r Sys.Date()