Falling into Data Science: The Power of Data to Transform One's Career

Join Dean of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Siri Russell and Director of Admission & Financial Aid Patti Edson as they host a conversation with a panel professional women and one current M.S. in Data Science student who, "fell into data science." Find out how it happened, where it led them, and why they are all glad they made the transition to data science.

Panelists:

Lia Gaetano is a recently retired Team USA canoeist embarking on a journey towards a career in healthcare data science. She has been learning Python part-time while training for the Tokyo Olympics. In January, she entered the Women in Data Science Datathon with very little experience and a good deal of optimism. Thanks to her incredible teammates and the Seattle Data Circles community, her team placed 268th out of 808 teams! She received her bachelor’s in classics from Cornell University and has recently been awarded a scholarship from the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee to attend General Assembly’s Data Science Bootcamp in July.

Elyse Kadokura is a senior data scientist at Starbucks in the people analytics and retail operations space. Before Starbucks, she worked in public health practice as an epidemiologist at the Washington State Department of Health for a disease surveillance program. She is passionate about data ethics and social responsibility in AI as well as inclusion and diversity in the tech field.

Colleen Callahan is currently an Associate Research Analyst in the Data Science Division at the Center for Naval Analyses (CNA). She graduated from UVA with an M.S. in Data Science in May 2021 and a B.A. in Mathematics in May 2019. She previously worked in Data Analytics at a marketing agency, Merkle, Inc.,  but after completing her MSDS capstone project with the Department of Defense, she pivoted to the Defense & Intelligence industry. She is passionate about data science for good, and hopes to contribute to the betterment of society throughout her data science career.

Karolina Naranjo-Velasco, MSDS '22, is a current student in the residential program at UVA. She is a Latina attorney specializing in constitutional law. She received her law degree from the Universidad Industrial de Santander in Colombia and a diploma in Constitutional Law from the University of Seville in Spain. While practicing law in South America, she witnessed how the lack of data analysis and statistical studies affected the development of poverty reduction policies and the lives of the most vulnerable. She is interested in exploring how data science can produce accurate predictive models to curb social injustice.