Capacity Accelerator Network
The Capacity Accelerator Network (CAN), funded by data.org, is a consortium of diverse higher education partners, including historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), minority-serving institutions (MSIs), and Hispanic-serving institutions (HSIs), to amplify social impact through data science. The consortium is a collaborative effort to broaden participation in the talent pipeline, serve communities of highest need, and maximize opportunities for scalability and transferability of this new model. The consortium creates scalable curricula and a Data Science Experiential Learning Deployment Playbook, providing information on how to identify and scope projects, and how to build trust with Social Impact Organizations (SIOs) through data science.
Team
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Rahim Rasool
Data Scientist, Capacity Accelerator Network, Data Science Institute -
David Uminsky (he/him)
Executive Director, Data Science Institute; Senior Research Associate, Department of Computer Science -
Susan Paykin (she/her)
Program Lead, Open Spatial Lab & Associate Director, Community-Centered Data Science, Data Science Institute
David Uminsky joined the University of Chicago in September 2020 as a senior research associate and Executive Director of Data Science. He was previously an associate professor of Mathematics and Executive Director of the Data Institute at University of San Francisco (USF). His research interests are in machine learning, signal processing, pattern formation, and dynamical systems. David is an associate editor of the Harvard Data Science Review. He was selected in 2015 by the National Academy of Sciences as a Kavli Frontiers of Science Fellow. He is also the founding Director of the BS in Data Science at USF and served as Director of the MS in Data Science program from 2014-2019. During the summer of 2018, David served as the Director of Research for the Mathematical Science Research Institute Undergrad Program on the topic of Mathematical Data Science.
Before joining USF he was a combined NSF and UC President’s Fellow at UCLA, where he was awarded the Chancellor’s Award for outstanding postdoctoral research. He holds a Ph.D. in Mathematics from Boston University and a BS in Mathematics from Harvey Mudd College.
Susan Paykin is the Program Lead of the Open Spatial Lab at the Data Science Institute (DSI) and oversees its programmatic, research, and partner engagement activities. As Associate Director, Community-Centered Data Science, Susan also helps lead DSI’s social impact and outreach initiatives including 11th Hour Project and Capacity Accelerator Network collaborations, and oversees the Community Data Fellows program, which provides data science support for community and nonprofit organizations. She was previously the Research Manager at the Center for Spatial Data Science at UChicago and has served leadership, research, and advocacy roles for environmental and social impact organizations. She holds a Master in Public Policy (M.P.P) from the Harris School of Public Policy at University of Chicago and a B.A. in International Studies from Brandeis University.
