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The Data Science for Social Impact (DSSI) network 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 Data Science Social Impact (DSSI) Summer Experience is an immersive 8-week paid summer reasearch program hosted at the University of Chicago. Learn more about the summer program, with more information about the summer 2025 application coming soon.

DSSI builds on the work of the Capacity Accelerator Network (CAN), funded by data.org in 2022-2023. The CAN created scalable curricula and the Data Science for Social Impact in Higher Education Playbook, providing information on how to create curricula and modules, scope research projects, and build trust with community partners through data science.

Team

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 Associate Director, Community-Centered Data Science at the DSI, where she leads social impact and strategic partnership initiatives including 11th Hour Project, Data Science for Social Impact Network, and the Community Data Fellowship. She also serves as the Program Lead of the Open Spatial Lab and oversees its spatial data science research projects and partner engagement. Susan was previously the Research Manager at the Center for Spatial Data Science at UChicago and has served leadership 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.

Evelyn Campbell is the Program Manger for Community-Centered Data Science at the Data Science Institute. She oversees and implements the DSI’s educational outreach programs, such as Data4All and the Data Science for Social Impact Research Experience. She was previously a Data Science Preceptor where she taught data science curriculum for both the University of Chicago and City Colleges of Chicago. She obtained her PhD in Microbiology from the University of Chicago in 2022 and her BS in Biology from Rider University in 2016. She is an advocate for educational access and expanding representation in data science and other STEM fields.

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