Connecticut Data Collaborative Names Assistant Director

The Connecticut Data Collaborative (CTData) has named Rachel Leventhal-Weiner as its Assistant Director. Leventhal-Weiner has been the organization’s Data Engagement Specialist since 2016.

Dr. Leventhal-Weiner has been developing and overseeing the CT Data Academy, a comprehensive public education initiative to build data literacy and data capacity in state agencies, nonprofits and community organizations across Connecticut. She has also been contributing to CT Data’s growing repository of data stories and to the general operation of the organization.

CT Data Executive Director Michelle Riordan-Nold said Leventhal-Weiner’s “expertise, leadership, and effective outreach will continue to be a tremendous asset for Connecticut as CT Data expands its efforts throughout the state.” She added that “promoting her to this broadened role is a perfect fit, and has been earned by the valued contribution she has made advancing our mission.”

CT Data convenes data forums and conferences, and increases data literacy through its CTData Academy. Activities of the CTData Academy include monthly open data calls, monthly Data Basics workshops, Data Storytelling workshops, and quarterly data meetups. Leventhal-Weiner has led the expansion of those initiatives, developing content and increasing participation.

The Connecticut Data Collaborative is a public-private partnership that advocates for the public availability of open and accessible data, serving nonprofits, advocates, policymakers, community groups, and funders in using data to drive policy and improve programs and services, budgeting and decision making at the state, regional and local levels.

Leventhal-Weiner has experience as an educator, researcher and policy advocate with a focus on resolving inequality in early childhood, K-12 public education, and postsecondary experiences. She joined CT Data two years ago from Connecticut Voices for Children, where she served as the Education Policy Fellow. Leventhal-Weiner received her Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Connecticut, M.A. in Higher and Postsecondary Education from the Teachers College at Columbia University, and a B.A. in Economics from Rutgers University.

CT Data was designated last month as the lead organization in the U.S. Census Bureau’s State Data Center Program and Connecticut’s official source for Census data, as the state and nation approach the 2020 Census. The designation was made on behalf of the State of Connecticut by Governor Dannel Malloy.

In recent months, CT Data established a partnership with Trinity College’s Liberal Arts Action Lab to work on projects including health and housing data visualization and analysis of Hartford neighborhoods, and launched a three-year initiative to improve the data literacy skills of nonprofit organizations, with support from the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving.

CT Data and its website ctdata.org has been highlighted by the Stanford Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society for its efforts developing a public-private data partnership that is “improving decision-making across the state.” CT Data’s offices are located at 10 Constitution Plaza in Hartford.