GovEx Data Points

Latest Episodes:

#74 - Data Science: Easy as P.I.E. Dec 01, 2021

Show notes

Governments are often on the hook for some of society’s most pressing challenges. How can city leaders find novel and flexible solutions to address these issues and improve the lives of residents? In a world filled with ever more complex technology, leaders are looking to data science as the answer for previously unsolvable problems.

Today, we’re joined by Richard Todd, Enterprise Data Lead for the City of Boulder, CO. We’d discuss what data science is, how data science paradigms can be applied to various challenges, and explore a few examples of how data science has been used to solve problems in US cities. We’ll also discuss some tips to keep in mind as you launch a data science project in your city.

To learn more about GovEx and our Academy Fellows, please visit us at govex.jhu.edu

#73 - Saving for the Future with Lansing SAVE Nov 01, 2021

Show notes

How can cities and their partners help families start saving money for their children’s future college or career training expenses? Since 2013, Lansing, Michigan has been tackling this innovative opportunity with the Lansing SAVE Initiative, a program providing all incoming Lansing School District kindergarten students with a savings account. In this episode, we discuss GovEx’s performance management engagement with the City of Lansing to help Lansing SAVE evolve and thrive. We walk through the performance management process, discuss the successful partnership involved in the work, and recap how to navigate program improvements and investments during a global pandemic.

We're joined by Amber Paxton, Director of the City of Lansing’s Office of Financial Empowerment; Brian Rakovitis, Manager of Financial Empowerment Initiatives at The Community Economic Development Association of Michigan; and Erin Thiemann, Senior Program Manager at Prosperity Now.

# 72 - Framing Results with the Results Framework Oct 01, 2021

Show notes

Accountable, transparent government is something we all strive for in public service. But how do we make this aspiration a reality? It's not enough to simply collect results from the programs and initiatives we launch - we need to turn these results into meaningful insights about the efficacy of these efforts.

Today, we're joined by GovEx Academy Instructional Fellow Richard Williams to discuss the Results Framework approach to meeting this need. If you'd like to learn more about Richard and his work with GovEx Academy, come visit us at govexacademy.jhu.edu

#71 - A Year in Review: The Economic Mobility Policy Forum Sep 01, 2021

Show notes

Today, we're joined by the Economic Mobility Forum's Policy Fellows as they wrap up a year of research and discussion at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Applied Public Research. The Policy Forum is a community of practice focused on connecting forum members with vetted policy fellows: experts and practitioners who are working on economic mobility initiatives in their cities. Members interact with fellows through round-table discussion, research projects, and webinar lectures. We'll discuss the takeaways gleaned from the last year of collaboration, and specifically how the COVID-19 pandemic revealed and exacerbated already existing economic mobility disparities across the nation.

To learn more about our Policy Fellows, the Policy Forum, or the Center for Applied Public Research, come visit us at https://appliedresearch.jhu.edu/

The Center for Applied Public Research is a part of the Johns Hopkins University Centers for Civic Impact. To learn more, visit us at https://civicimpact.jhu.edu/

#70 - Forging Ahead Despite COVID-19 Aug 01, 2021

Show notes

The disruptive effects of COVID-19 were widespread, but that didn't prevent the City of Paterson, NJ from moving forward on mayoral priorities. Today, we join Mayor Andre Sayegh, Chief Data Officer Harsha Mallajosyula, and Business Administrator Kathleen Long to discuss their collaboration with GovEx in developing much-needed foundational data practices in the city. We'll look at how this work began, what problems it solved, and how it supported the city's response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

#69 - COMIT: A Maternal Vaccination Policy Tracker by JHU Jul 01, 2021

Show notes

Is it safe for pregnant women to get vaccinated against COVID-19? What if they're breast feeding? The answer, it turns out, is hard to find, and it depends a lot on where in the world you live.

Today, we're looking at COMIT (COvid Maternal Immunization Tracker), a Johns Hopkins initiative designed to track and report the world's nations' stances on COVID vaccination for pregnant and lactating people. We'll look at the challenge collecting this data has been and what it tells us about how excluding certain groups from trials and data collection causes disarray in policy-making.

Learn more at comitglobal.org

Data Points Episode #68 - The eSchools+ Initiative May 04, 2021

Show notes

Today, we're joined by the creators of the eSchools+ Initiative, a program designed to address inequity caused by school closures through connecting parents and teachers with school reopening data and research. We'll explore the initiative's conception and the unique challenges this effort posed given the rapidly changing landscape of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our guests are Dr. Ruth Faden, founder of the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics, Dr. Annette Anderson, deputy director for the Johns Hopkins Center for Safe and Healthy Schools, and Dr. Megan Collins, a bioethicist at the Berman School of Bioethics and co-director of the Johns Hopkins Consortium for School-Based Health Solutions.

Data Points Episode #67 - Love Your Block in Lancaster, PA Apr 01, 2021

Show notes

In today’s episode, we’ll discuss the Love Your Block program in the City of Lancaster. Love Your Block is a Cities of Service initiative that connects city leaders with residents to help them organize neighborhood improvements, cleanups, and other volunteer-led projects. We’re joined by Lancaster’s Director of Neighborhood Engagement as well as researchers from the Urban Institute who recently completed an efficacy study of Love Your Block.

Data Points Episode #66 - Baltimore's CleanStat Initiative Mar 01, 2021

Show notes

In today's episode, we discuss our engagement with the City of Baltimore and its CleanStat program. We'll also look at how the city relied on this initiative to care for residents during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Data Points Episode #65 - Knowledge Management in City Government Feb 01, 2021

Show notes

We know that collecting and analyzing data generates insights. But how can we transform those moments of insight into enduring knowledge that guides the organization, even when priorities and staff change? In today’s episode, we discuss Knowledge Management - the work of collecting insights into a big-picture understanding of our how our organization and efforts work. We’ll look at how this process applies to the work cities engage in, and how you might implement it in your own work.

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