Data Academy Instructors Alumni

Albert is a Performance Analyst in the City Performance Unit of the Controller’s Office. He has taught Data Academy courses in Excel, Tableau, and Lean 101. Albert has worked on a range of projects that have covered emergency response, affordable housing, capital projects, and benchmarking. He is particularly interested in applying process improvement and data analysis skills to complex issues relating to planning and equity. Before arriving at City Performance, Albert has had a multi-sectoral career in public policy, with stops at the SF Planning Department, SPUR, Deloitte public sector consulting, and the City of Pittsburgh. Albert has a MS in Public Policy and Data Analytics from Carnegie Mellon University, and a BA in Political Economy from UC Berkeley.

Alice is a Project Manager in the San Francisco Controller’s Office. In her time with the City Performance Unit, she has worked with over a dozen departments on process improvement, performance measures, and IT implementation. She looks forward to empowering City staff to learn software that can bring transparent public reporting and quality data analysis to local government. She encourages any Data Academy student to reach out when in need of a someone to troubleshoot with or bounce ideas off of! Collaboration and continuous learning is key. Alice has a BA in Psychology from Washington University in St. Louis.

Anne enjoys wrestling with data to find stories and feed improvement.  Anne worked for San Francisco Public Works, where she supported PublicWorksStat and other efforts to deliver great services well.  Previously, she spent 10+ years in the Controller’s office developing and managing the performance measurement and the City Survey programs.  Anne works extensively with Tableau and Excel, and she has taught Tableau Intermediate I and II.  She loves sharing her data discoveries and continuing to learn and build the quality of analysis in the City.  Anne has a Master of Public Policy degree from UC Berkeley, and a BA in Economics from Yale.

Ashley developed her love and appreciation for Excel while working in the state budget writing committees in the Massachusetts state legislature. Even as an instructor, she is still learning new Excel skills every day, and hopes to master Tableau in the near future. Beyond Data Academy, Ashley is an analyst in Mayor’s Budget Office, and provides fiscal support and analysis to a broad portfolio of City departments.  Ashley has a BA in Political Science from Northeastern University in Boston, MA.

Blake Valenta is a Data Analyst & Analytics Strategist at DataSF. He holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Chicago and master’s degree in public policy from the UCLA Luskin School. Blake came to DataSF as a Research Fellow from the Harvard Ash Center. Before joining DataSF, Blake worked as a researcher with the UCLA Labor Center, as a statistician with the Empirical Research Group at the UCLA Law School, and a policy advocate at IWJ, a non-profit in Chicago that focuses on labor rights and economic justice issues.

Bridgette Lery, MSW, PhD leads research and evaluation for the San Francisco Human Services Agency. She uses administrative data to plan, implement, and understand the effects of child welfare and other human service interventions using a continuous quality improvement approach. Much of that work includes using linked data such as child welfare, homelessness, juvenile probation, mental health, and the U.S. Census. Some current projects include, (1) an ACF-funded randomized controlled trial of housing and intensive services to homeless, child welfare involved families, (2) implementation and evaluation of Project 500, a cross-system, two-generation anti-poverty program, (3) local planning and evaluation of interventions implemented under California’s Title IV-E Waiver Demonstration, and (3) co-leading an ACF-funded university partnership grant to train MSW students in the use of evidence for better decision making. Bridgette holds a PhD from the University of California at Berkeley’s School of Social Welfare, an MSW from Columbia University, and a BA in psychology from the University of California at Santa Cruz.

Catherine has worked in a variety of public sector contexts: in the non-profit world with the Citizen’s Planning Association of Santa Barbara, in State government at the California Legislative Analyst’s Office working on state budget analysis, and at the Federal level working on sustainability in HUD-funded housing at the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Since joining the Controller’s Office, Catherine has been involved in a variety of projects, and she is particularly proud of the work she has done with the San Francisco Business Portal Team in improving the business permitting processes required for opening a new restaurant in San Francisco. She is eager to see how process improvement can be integrated throughout the City. Catherine has an MA in Public Policy from the Sol Price School of Public Policy at University of Southern California.

Celeste is one of the very first Data Academy instructors.  She and Faran Sikandar developed content for and delivered the initial Introduction to Tableau workshop in January 2014. Since then, she has taught numerous courses and co-developed the content for a How to Be Productive in Excel and Tableau Intermediate I and II. Celeste has worked on a variety of projects during her time at the Controller’s Office, including: the Citywide Performance Program, 2015 City Survey, a supportive housing review for Human Services Agency, and a security and custodial services assessment for the Public Library. Celeste has a BA in Economics from Williams College in Massachusetts.

Craig is a Performance Analyst in the City Performance Unit of the Controller’s Office, where he helps to provide data-driven process improvement and service design for other departments.  He also helps manage Data Academy and is a data visualization instructor.  Prior to joining the Controller’s Office, he was a COVID-19 Data Visualization & Reporting Analyst with DPH and a Data Specialist with OEWD.  Craig studied Political Science and graduated with High Honors & Distinction from the University of California, Berkeley.  He loves to volunteer with civic tech organizations and is the proud parent of 45 houseplants.

Dan joined the City Performance Unit in 2019, where he leverages data to gain insights about the City’s workforce, it’s operations, and the people it serves. Dan is broadly interested in the domains of public finance and labor economics, having worked in these areas across all levels of government. He has used data to analyze local government bonds with S&P Global, advise the Legislature on statewide teacher shortages with the California Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO), advise Congress on the effects of low interest rates with the Government Accountability Office (GAO), and conduct systemic discrimination investigations with the US Department of Labor. Dan holds a Master’s in Public Policy from the University of Michigan and a BA in Economics from UC Berkeley.

David’s background is in data analysis, transportation planning, and engineering. After working in economic consulting, David pursued his graduate studies in transportation, and has worked on data analysis in transportation at university research centers, in consulting, and in the public sector in San Francisco and New York City. While he will always be particularly fond of using data analysis to improve transit travel time and reliability, he’s excited to be an instructor with Data Academy and help all departments uncover answers to their questions more efficient and effective data analysis. David has a Master of City Planning and MS Transportation Engineering from UC Berkeley, and BAs in Economics and French, also from UC Berkeley. (Go bears!)

Debra Solomon is the Director of Contract Compliance for the San Francisco Department of Public Health.  Together, she and her group have responsibility for monitoring the compliance, performance, and fiscal health of more than 350 contracts and public health programs. Previously, Debra was a Budget Analyst and Contracts Manager at the San Francisco Human Services Agency. She also has many years of experience in program evaluation and nonprofit management, with a special focus on using research and data to improve services and outcomes for the Bay Area’s most vulnerable populations.  She received a bachelor’s degree in History from Stanford University and a Master’s in Public Policy from the University of California, Berkeley.

Elaine first developed an appreciation for data at Amherst College, where she got a bachelor’s degree in Black Studies and Latin American & Latinx Studies. She’s worked primarily with R but has experience with SPSS, which she used during her time at the University of Michigan’s Inter-University Consortium for Social and Political Research. There, she cleaned and processed Survey of Consumer Attitudes and Behavior data and researched to what extent the race or ethnicity of teachers affects student outcomes. She hopes to further refine her R skills and become proficient in Tableau and Power BI.

Elaine is a San Francisco Fellow for HOPE SF, a unique affordable housing initiative between the Mayor’s Office and the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development.

Ellen manages implementation of new legislation and leads data collection and analysis for the Office of Labor Standards Enforcement. Among many other projects at OLSE, she coordinated the roll-out of the landmark Paid Parental Leave Ordinance, which guarantees new parents in San Francisco 6 weeks of fully-paid time to bond with new children. Prior to joining the City in 2012, Ellen advocated for socially responsible public procurement policy with the Responsible Purchasing Network and supported the development of worker-owned businesses with Prospera in Oakland, California.  Ellen holds a master’s degree in public policy from the Goldman School at the University of California, Berkeley and a bachelor’s degree in Development Studies from Brown University.

Emily was a performance analyst in the City Performance Unit of the Controller’s Office, with five years of prior experience at the SF Public Utilities Commission working on sustainability and implementing community benefits programs. While there, she was a primary developer of the data collection, analysis and reporting efforts for the PUC’s Strategic Sustainability plan, and has extensive experience in metrics development, information design, Tableau, and Excel that she is excited to share with the Data Academy community. Prior to the PUC, Emily was a teaching assistant at San Francisco’s Presidio Graduate School where she earned an MBA.  Her undergraduate degree in Mathematics, Spanish, and Geography is from Aquinas College in Michigan.

Emily is a Project Manager at the City Performance Unit who works with the Department of Public Health to promote the use of data to improve healthcare operations and maximize efficiencies. After five years of consulting, data analysis, and research across the public and private sectors, she knows the value of wrangling data and telling stories that make good decisions easy. She enjoys sharing her passion for data and visualization to propel the city’s data-driven workforce. Emily has an MPH in Social and Behavioral Sciences from the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health and a BS in Environmental Toxicology from UC Davis. 

Emily Vontsolos is a Performance Analyst in the San Francisco Controller’s Office. With the City Performance Unit, she has worked with several departments to manage, analyze, and visualize their data. In addition to teaching several courses, she helps to administer Data Academy and is passionate about equipping CCSF staff with the tools they need to do their best work. When she’s not analyzing data in R, Emily enjoys admiring artsy data visualizations, reading radical feminist authors, and supporting the work of local SF non-profits.

Eric Pawlowsky is a Planning & Performance analyst with the Recreation & Parks Department’s strategic planning unit where he’s responsible for performance measurement, data analysis, and organizational planning and development. Prior to that he worked as a legislative aide with the County of San Mateo where he analyzed and developed public policy. He earned his MPP from the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, his Bachelor’s degree in economics from Santa Clara University, and his Open-Water Coxswain Certification from the Bay Area Whaleboat Rowing Association.

Erica Finkle is the ShareSF Coordinator, working to support efficient, effective, consistent, secure and appropriate means for cross-departmental and cross-jurisdictional data sharing; with the aim of maturing the City’s capacity to leverage data so that residents can experience services that are more effective, holistic, and integrated. Erica comes to the City’s data team by way of her Masters research project, which focused on internal data sharing in San Francisco and provided the foundations for the ShareSF initiative. Erica previously worked as Budget Manager in the Office of the Treasurer and Tax Collector. Before joining the City, she worked internationally as an attorney representing foreign governments, corporate entities and financial institutions on complex, multinational financial and corporate matters. Erica earned her MPP from the University of Oxford and her JD from Columbia Law School.

Francisco was a Performance Analyst in the City Performance Unit of the Controller’s Office. Francisco came to the Performance Unit from the Public Utilities Commission’s (PUC) Southeast Community Center where he worked with the tenants, grantees and users of the facility on the wide array of community benefits, events and programming provided at the site. Before the PUC, Francisco held a Willie Brown Fellowship for a semester, working at the Office of Labor Standards Enforcement (OLSE) on outreach, compliance and many other functions. He holds a Bachelors in Political Science from San Francisco State University, enjoys reading history books, and short walks on the beach. 

Glynis is a Performance Analyst in the San Francisco Controller’s Office. She loves data and survey design, and working with others to get them excited as well. Since joining City Performance Glynis has worked on projects across the City, including the biennial City Survey. Prior to joining the Controller’s Office she worked on evaluations of development programs as well as data and performance improvement in government. Glynis has an MA in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and a BA in Economics and History from Williams College.

Inger joined the City in May 2014 after 13 years in the non-profit sector. Inger served as Operations Manager for the David and Lucile Packard Foundation working on cloud-server migration, systems change and process improvement. As Director of Programs for the Women’s Foundation of California, she led a team of six smart do-gooders who pursued social justice for low-income Californians through grantmaking, public policy, and technical assistance and training. At the Advancement Project, she developed a new program that analyzed local, state and federal government spending to support policy and systems change. In all of her work, she enjoys improving processes, increasing efficiency and effectiveness, and helping people feel better about their work. She has an MA in Economics from Claremont Graduate University, which included coursework at the Drucker and Ito School of Management, and a BA in Women’s Studies from Mary Washington College. She has special training in business process improvement, strengths-based management and non-profit and government finance.

Jackie is an Asset Manager at the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development (MOHCD) where she oversees a portfolio of affordable multi-family rental developments financed by MOHCD. She is a big fan of Excel and enjoys using it to make tools to automate work and increase efficiency. Jackie has taken several Data Academy courses and is very excited to share her love for Excel with fellow City colleagues as a Data Academy instructor. She has a MA in City and Regional Planning from UC Berkeley and enjoys cooking, farmers’ markets, animals, and spending time with friends.

Janine Heiser is the Open Data Services Engineer working to help design and implement a scalable framework for accessing and publishing data across the City. In her technologist role, she enjoys applying user-centered design methodolgies to the process of creating and implementing new data products and services. Prior to joining the SF Open Data team, Janine worked as an engineer on data infrasture and software projects at a variety of different organizations including the Democratic Party, a digital music distribution company and the UC Bancroft Library. Janine earned her masters degree in Information Management and Systems from the UC Berkeley School of Information.

Jason Lally is the Chief Data Officer, responsible for developing city wide data policies and leading the DataSF team to remove barriers that prevent departments from maximizing their data’s value. He has been with the City for over 5 years and came to open government and open data through his work in cities and regions across the country on data-informed, community planning processes. Jason is pleased to contribute to making data more accessible and useful at the City. He earned his Masters in City and Regional Planning from the University of Pennsylvania.

In the Controller’s Office, Jeff works with a variety of City departments to help promote data visualization and process improvements through software such as Power BI, Tableau, and MS Excel. He learned all of his data skills by taking Data Academy courses since joining the City in 2015 as a City Hall Fellow. Prior to joining the City, Jeff worked in high-level cell phone tower construction and served in the United States Marine Corps for over six years, eventually obtaining the rank of Sergeant. He holds a BA in Political Science and Spanish from the University of North Georgia.

Jenessa works on the operational and financial processes that support the City Performance Unit. Her project portfolio has ranged from performance measurement, facilitation, and Lean. As a member of the City Performance Lean Team, Jenessa has helped to develop the curriculum for training City employees on Lean process improvement, and enjoys empowering line staff to make incremental, powerful changes to their daily work. She hopes the Lean Team can create a culture within City government for continuous improvement, and that all City employees feel ownership and pride for the work they do every day.

Jessie loves watching Data Academy students get excited about using analytical tools to improve the efficiency of department operations and the efficacy of City services. Prior to joining the Controller’s Office, Jessie worked for the City’s Office of the Public Defender as a paralegal.  She also spent three years working with nonprofits in Central America – as an organizational development consultant in Panama and a Fulbright Scholar in Nicaragua.  She has an MA in Public Administration from the Maxwell School of Syracuse University and a BA in Government from Smith College.  She is also certified as a Project Management Professional (PMP).

Joe’s work in the Controller’s Office spaned a broad range of subject areas including public transportation, public safety, public health, workers’ compensation, and human resources management.  He holds a master’s degree in public administration from San Francisco State University, a bachelor’s degree in civil and environmental engineering from The University of Michigan and a professional certification in geographic information systems from San Francisco State University.

Joy Bonaguro was the first Chief Data Officer for the City and County of San Francisco, where she managed DataSF. Joy has spent more than a decade working at the nexus of public policy, data, and technology. She worked from the birth of the open data and open government field, spending seven years designing and managing the development of information systems to support planning and decision-making at the Greater New Orleans Community Data. Prior to joining the City, Joy worked at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory to help develop technology, cyber and privacy policy working closely with both the National Lab CIO Council and the Department of Energy Information Management Advisory Group. Joy earned her Masters from UC Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy, where she focused on IT policy.

Julia loves to facilitate inter-agency collaboration efforts, bringing stakeholders together to develop shared visions and solve complex problems. She also facilitates strategic planning and evaluation efforts – helping organizations develop goals and strategies, understand the impact of their work, and continuously improve their strategies and outcomes.  Julia received her graduate degree from the University of Washington Evans School of Public Policy and Governance. Through her graduate studies, she worked for the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods and San Francisco Planning Department. Prior to graduate school, Julia was a consultant for Bay Area local governments, working to educate and engage community stakeholders in local public decision-making.  She graduated from Oberlin College with a BA in Environmental Studies, during which time she worked at a nonprofit, foundation, and county planning commission focusing on sustainability and revitalization efforts in Cleveland, Ohio.

Kyra worked on a wide variety of process improvement, public health, and social service projects in the City Performance Unit. In addition to developing Tableau dashboards and analyzing business processes, Kyra coaches and trains City employees to improve their daily work as a member of the City Performance Lean Team. Modeled after the city of Denver’s Peak Academy, the Lean Team partners with city departments to introduce a systematic approach to process improvement. Kyra is a firm believer in the Lean-inspired idea that continuous improvement and small, incremental changes to processes can result in greater efficiency and happier city employees. Kyra teaches the Data Academy’s “Lean 101 – One day to better government” and process mapping courses. Kyra has a BA in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley.

Luke loves getting people excited to learn. He uses programs like Tableau and Power BI to make data come to life, helping people see and understand the impact of their work, find opportunities to try new ideas, and communicate with the public about how their government is doing. Since 2015 he has partnered with teams at nearly a dozen departments to help them improve their service designs, policies, and use of data. Luke worked with a variety of nonprofits and service groups before joining the City, including the Urban Institute where he conducted research on local governance and service outcomes, and the social impact strategy firm Mission Measurement where he helped clients improve their management and performance of global development programs. He started his career with the City as an intern in 2007 and a City Hall Fellow in 2010-11. He holds an M.A. in International Development Studies from George Washington University and a B.S. in Political Science from Santa Clara University, with special training in business process improvement, nonprofit management, performance measurement and organizational learning.

Marc leads the Human Services Agency’s Innovation Office. The Office partners with clients, coworkers, and community partners to improve their experiences across digital and non-digital touchpoints. Marc is a former Code for America fellow, and holds a PhD in Applied Anthropology from the University of South Florida, an MA from American University in International Affairs, and a BA in Interdisciplinary Studies from the University of Florida.

Michael served as a Performance and Business Support Analyst at the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency. He develops Tableau dashboards communicating SFMTA’s Strategic Plan metrics and other performance objectives. His background is in environmental science and he has completed data analysis projects related to life cycle assessment of transit infrastructure, energy use in storage facilities, and waste generation in manufacturing processes. Michael has an MS in Environmental Science from Yale and a BS in Earth Systems from Stanford University. Prior to joining the city, he worked for two years at United Technologies in their Environment, Health & Safety department.

In addition to teaching several classes with Data Academy, Michael co-lead the program’s daily operations, creation of new course offerings, and development of new partnerships with City departments. His other work in the City Performance Unit runs the gamut from facilitation to detailed analysis to help departments make well informed and collaborative decisions. Before joining City Performance, Michael worked with a clean technology company to reduce electricity demand at commercial and industrial facilities.

As the former City Performance Director from 2004 to 2022, Peg was Data Academy’s executive sponsor, and a staunch supporter of Data Academy’s mission to increase the citywide use of data to support decision-making. She has been a constant champion for making data-driven decisions to improve government services. Peg’s expertise is particularly focused on public administration, budgeting, and finance. Peg has a Masters in Public Policy from UC Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy.

Ryan worked on a diverse array of projects for the City Performance Unit of the Controller’s Office, helping departments across the City use data and smart practices to provide excellent services to the people of San Francisco. Before joining the City of San Francisco, Ryan worked in performance measurement and policy analysis for University Health Services at UC Berkeley and the Oakland city administrator’s office. Ryan earned his MA in Public Policy from the Goldman School at UC Berkeley in 2011, adding to a previous MA in Sociology from Stanford. Ryan recently earned his Project Management Professional (PMP) certification, and he loves giving people tools to solve difficult problems.

Sam joined the City in August 2015 after working for three years at Urban Partnership Bank, a Chicago-based community development bank serving low to moderate-income communities by providing capital and financial services to spur economic development.  While at the bank, Sam developed his Excel skills as a financial analyst and continues to put them to work in City Performance.  Since joining the City, Sam has worked on projects such as creating online Tableau dashboards for park scores and enhancing Data Academy!  Sam graduated with honors from the University of Chicago in 2012, where he received a BA in Public Policy and a minor in Spanish.  He is originally from Cleveland, Ohio and enjoys watching documentaries and playing basketball.

Samuel was a performance analyst in the San Francisco Controller’s Office, City Performance Unit. His work spans across subject matter areas and City departments, and is primarily project management and quantitatively focused. He has helped to release the San Francisco Performance Scorecards website, improve operations in the Assessor’s Office, and publish the first-ever citywide benchmarking report. He recently played a key role in coordinating with over 35 departments to launch a new PeopleSoft financial and procurement system, the City’s largest ever IT acquisition. He enjoys the outdoors and birding. BA, Columbia University in the City of New York; MSPPM, Carnegie Mellon University.

Vivian was a Performance Analyst in the City Performance Unit of the Controller’s Office. She has worked on projects related to health and social services, process improvement, and citywide performance benchmarking. Vivian teaches Lean 101 for Data Academy, and is excited about empowering City employees to implement positive operational and cultural change in their workplaces. She started her career with the City as an intern in the Office of Resilience and Capital Planning. Since then, she worked at the FDIC and in the economic consulting industry before returning to San Francisco. Vivian has a BA in Mathematical Economics from Pomona College.

Wendy is a Project Manager in the City Performance Unit who works on projects related to public health and social services. Prior to joining the Controller’s Office team, she was immersed in healthcare data at the San Francisco Department of Public Health. Wendy uses analytic tools like Excel, SQL, and Tableau to build dashboards to support continuous improvement and empower teams to make data-driven decisions. Before joining the City team, Wendy worked in health policy consulting focused on value-based care, behavioral health, performance improvement, and health equity. Wendy enjoys diving headfirst into data and using data as a common language to share lessons and learn from fellow City staff. Wendy has an MPH in Health Systems and Policy from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and BA in Molecular and Cell Biology and Public Health from UC Berkeley.