What Does a Data Manager Do?

Recently I was asked to explain exactly what I do. That is an excellent question. I've been trying to come up with an elevator speech since I started with PICO. It is impossible.

PICO National Network is a network of 501(c)3 non-profits that work with faith communities to do social justice advocacy.

What is social justice advocacy? My colleague Edwin has a great analogy: imagine you live in a village on a river. One day, a baby floats down the river in a basket. Because you are a decent human being, you go get the baby. The next day, two babies come down the river. Three babies the day after. You end up organizing your friends and neighbors. You form a 501(c)3, raise funds, hire staff, and try to catch as many babies as possible. 

Eventually, you have to ask the question: where are the babies coming from? What can we do to go upriver and make sure fewer babies come down the river? That's social justice advocacy. PICO and its federations (what we call our affiliate non-profits) ask questions about how the society we live in is causing suffering, and how we can change the system. This means looking at the entire system (government, churches, business community, etc.) and fighting against the forces that cause people to suffer.

I support 11 state federations in their social justice work. These federations are coalitions of churches, synagogues, mosques, and other people of faith who want to go upriver and stop the babies being sent downriver.

My main role is to help the federations think about how to use information to build their power. That includes developing and utilizing systems for tracking volunteers, donors, events, etc. I help them target people to talk to when they do non-partisan election work. I do investigative and explanatory analysis on data, as well as produce data visualizations using proprietary data and public data.

I have experience in politics and non-profit campaigns in several states and across several cultures. I help several federations do strategic planning and outreach planning, host trainings, and network with like-minded organizations. In those situations, I provide another perspective and function as a sounding board.

I also help train, coach, and mentor new staff from a data perspective, but also using my previous experiences doing outreach and campaigns. I often provide support and encouragement in what is emotionally taxing work. 

I love this work because it brings together my faith, community outreach, and data science. I am able to integrate most aspects of my life in ways that couldn't when I was doing partisan work. Also, this work is much more foundational than electoral organizing; we are building a base of people that weren't previously involved and growing them into a force that can speak powerfully and prophetically to the powers that oppress them and their neighbors.