Having a complete and accurate count of Connecticut communities during the 2020 Census is not merely an ambition—it’s a necessity. The information collected will determine how federal funding is allocated to Connecticut and will also inform federal and state-level redistricting. In fact, the 2010 Census resulted in nearly $11 billion flowing annually into Connecticut for essential programs and services like schools, transportation, emergency preparedness, and health interventions.
Read MoreThank you to the more than 130 people who joined us for our 12th CTData Conference. And another thank you to our wonderful sponsors: Be Foundation, Novus Insight, Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, and CT By the Numbers.
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On Friday, November 8, Connecticut held its first-ever Census Create-A-Thon (#CreativesForTheCount). This event brought together Census Complete Count Committee representatives, municipal leaders, grassroots organizers, designers, content strategists, and media experts to create materials to reach hard-to-count communities across the state. During the four-hour event, teams developed over 20 communications materials such as posters, billboards, and public service announcements about the importance of Census 2020. CTData Collaborative Director of Community Impact, Elizabeth Grim, and Old Saybrook Selectman, Carol Conklin, won second place and $250 for the best content for their design: “I’m Learning to Count: Count Me in 2020.” Thank you, Expressiones Cultural Center in New London, for graciously donating the award.
Read MoreAs women, we are working, living, mothering, and leading in a world of systems that weren’t created for us or by us, yet we are still required to navigate them. One of our most powerful tools as we face these obstacles is collaboration, seizing every opportunity to both connect with and support each other.
Read MoreWhen you think about making better decisions through data, you might think about numbers, percentages, and bar charts. But the insights you can gain through words can be just as powerful. That’s why we’re launching a new training: Analyzing Qualitative Data.
Read MoreIn partnership with the Urban Institute, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the Liberal Arts Action Lab, we are pleased to share our 500 Cities Data Challenge project that uses census-tract level data to address health disparities in our community.
Read MoreWe took a little break, but CTData is back with another conference for data users from every sector and corner of the state. We can't tell you everything since we're still working our magic to make this the ultimate event for data people, but we can tell you to save the date for Wednesday, November 20th at the Omni Hotel in New Haven. Make sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn to be the first to hear the official announcement!
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On Monday, August 19, 2019, the CTData Collaborative hosted over 30 partners for a data forum on education and workforce development with the state’s Chief Data Officer, Tyler Kleykamp. Attendees included data lovers and users across multiple sectors including nonprofits, state agencies, philanthropy, higher education, advocacy organizations, for-profits, and independent consultants. CTData Executive Director, Michelle Riordan-Nold, remarked, “The diverse group of stakeholders engaged in the forum demonstrates the complexity of the topic and the necessity to address educational and workforce needs in the state.”
Read MoreHere at CTData, we enjoy every opportunity to work with people to increase their data literacy skills so they can better use data to inform their decisions. In 2019 alone, we’ve had over 275 adults attend our workshops.
But starting next month, we’re going to be training a new group of Connecticut’s residents: high school students.
Read MoreThis is a landmark decade for women in the labor force. Women represent nearly half of the labor force both nationally (47.2%) and in the state of Connecticut (48.6%). In addition, according to the Wall Street Journal, 2019 marks “the first year that women make up the majority of the college-educated labor force, a milestone that is already altering benefits packages offered by companies.” These changes are insightful given that labor force participation is even higher when we look at women who have had a child in the past 12 months.
Read MoreCTData has traveled state to state on the conference circuit over the past few months. We recently attended the American Community Survey (ACS) Users Data Conference in Washington, DC; the National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership Meeting in Milwaukee, WI; the Census State Data Center Conference in Charlotte, NC; and the Association for Public Data Users Conference in Washington DC. One of the most pressing topics of discussion was the 2020 Census and its new differential privacy policies. To help you gain some clarity about these contested policies, we’ll provide background about the census, discuss existing privacy protections, and describe upcoming changes to Census 2020 under differential privacy.
Read MoreThe Connecticut Data Collaborative in partnership with the Chief Data Officer Tyler Kleykamp is hosting two Data Forums to discuss the Focal Points in the State Data Plan. This is an opportunity for state agencies and stakeholders to prioritize the most pressing data questions, identify existing data sources, discuss gaps in public data, and help create an action plan to make more data available to the public for policy decision making. The meetings will be held at CTData’s office at 10 Constitution Plaza in Hartford.
Read MoreIf you’re committed to improving health outcomes for children and families, data build the foundation for smarter, impactful decision making. But since data are not always easily accessible and/or available, where should you begin? Our Executive Director Michelle Riordan-Nold will provide insight into this question during the Family Access Collaborative meeting at the East Hampton Public Library on June 24th at 2:00 pm.
Read MoreDo you have questions about your data collection process? Do your survey questions need a thorough examination? Are you looking to reimagine your reporting?
The Connecticut Data Collaborative is offering Data Clinics, which are 90-minute consultancy meetings where we tackle a specific data issue or challenge your organization is facing. We could review an existing or newly developed survey, examine your current data reports, or think about the data operations in your organization to improve how you capture the impact of your work.
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