Newsletter text: Why Giving Tuesday?

November 23, 2021

From providing you with resources to helping you learn new skills to connecting you with other data users, CTData is the go-to resource for accessible data. Now is your chance to give back and ensure that more data people in Connecticut can learn how to put equitable principles into practice.

This year, we are excited to join with nonprofits across the globe to take part in Giving Tuesday. We are reaching out early to share information about the particular effort for which we are raising funds and ask for your support.

During the summer of 2020, during the raging pandemic and amid calls for justice in response to the murder of George Floyd and so many other black lives, a group of data users gathered virtually to talk about data practices. While our roles may not have appeared to relate to addressing equity in Connecticut, we wanted to explore what we could do. (Read about that first session here.)

Since that first meeting, over 450 people have signed up for at least one session. Additionally, 275 people have attended our events.

In November, at our annual conference, we brought two nationally known speakers and authors (with the generous support of the Hartford Foundation) to present on applying a racial equity lens to data visualization. And the 226 registrants were a clear indication that there is demand for this work among Connecticut data users. You can replay our session here.

Data folks are eager to learn new ways of integrating equitable data practices into their decision-making processes to eliminate inequities.

When we started this group, nothing like it existed. Discussions of equity and injustice had gone mainstream. Still, there was a dearth of information about applying the value of equity into data work. And inequitable data practices are embedded in the way we are all taught about data. 

We were all hungry to find community and talk through the real challenges we face in doing this work. Perhaps most challenging: most of us had never seen equitable data practices holistically applied to data work anywhere. 

Long-term, our vision is to change the data culture in Connecticut to one where equitable data practices are commonplace, and Connecticut is a national leader. 

Will you consider donating on #GivingTuesday to help further power the Equity in Data Community of Practice?

With gratitude,
Sarah Eisele-Dyrli
Assistant Director

PS - Does your company financially match employee donations to nonprofits like us?  Then why not double your donation to our equitable data practice work this #GivingTuesday!  Email sarah@ctdata.org to share details about your organization's submission process.