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 As 2024 draws to a close, it’s the perfect time to reflect.
I find myself thinking about our new vision at Statistics Without Borders and what our role is in making it a reality.
Statistics Without Borders envisions a world in which communities everywhere are empowered with statistical and related expertise to make data-driven decisions that advance humanity.
Think for a moment: What would our world look like if we achieved that vision? What progress would be made on the challenging problems facing our planet if communities made better decisions supported by data?
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For me, I think it looks like healthier, happier humans around the world:
- People who have consistent access to water, safe food, shelter, and energy.
- Women and children who have more pathways to economic stability.
- Communities who live longer because of a cleaner environment and tools to eradicate disease.
In 2024, Statistics Without Borders contributed to every single one of these outcomes. And YOU helped make it happen. Thank you!
Here are just a few of the highlights from 2024:
- We increased our number of new projects by more than 29% from last year, affecting change in 27 countries. Learn about some of these projects and read more below.
- We formally adopted our new Charter, wrapping up 2 years’ worth of work. This includes our updated vision, mission, and guiding principles.
- We welcomed Betty Su to our Executive Committee as our Director of Marketing & Communications. Betty was most recently the Chief Marketing & Communications Officer for the National Audubon Society.
There are so many of you who contributed, and in so many different ways. Whether you worked on a project, introduced us to a community that could partner with SWB, engaged with us on social media, or showed support in any of the other uncountable ways, I am truly grateful. Thank you for helping to make this year a resounding success!
Our collective vision has yet to be realized. There is still much work to be done. But we’re doing our part at SWB, and we’re heading into 2025 with a lot of momentum. And I’m glad you’re part of it.
I hope that you and your loved ones are staying safe, happy, and healthy through 2024, and my best wishes for a wonderful 2025 for all of you.
Matt Brems (he/him)
Chair, Statistics Without Borders
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 As we close another year, we wanted to take a moment to highlight a few of the extraordinary projects our volunteers have worked on in 2024. Aligned with our mission, these projects represented pro bono services in which SWB is advising, educating, and building.
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Connected North (Canada):
Connected North is a nonprofit fostering student engagement and enhanced education outcomes in remote Indigenous communities. SWB advised on new data sources, developed analytic approaches, and supported dashboard creation to track attendance. This will help establish specific, measurable goals aimed at increasing high school graduation rates by improving attendance within the Indigenous community.
Volunteers: Jesús Hernández Jasso, Grace Skelley, Shalini Gopalkrishnan, Hania Rehman.
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“I could go on and on about all the details that made this project successful--considering the short-turnaround, subject matter depth, participants across 4+ time zones--but bringing it all together and seeing progress be made (even tiny steps) is by far the most rewarding aspect of this project.” - Francisco Avalos Jr. (PCM)
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Happier Lives Institute (UK):
Happier Lives Institute (HLI) is a non-profit organization involved in identifying effective collaborations that join policy-makers, donors, and researchers with opportunities to increase global well being and happiness. One of the main ways they do this is by publicizing statistical research papers conducted over related data. SWB provided statistical guidance to refine methodologies on two of their research works, so that HLI can identify evidence-based solutions to increase global well-being. SWB volunteers did some cutting-edge work. The clients were so happy that they want to partner more with SWB in the future.
Volunteers: Francisco Avalos Jr., Shalini Gopalkrishnan, Joseph Edet, Jacob Strock, Nadja Rutsch, Naval Singh
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“The best past of this project was the chance to capacite program participants right from the introduction to research to doing hypothesis testing.” - Vinti Agarwal (SC)
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Medical Aid Films (Africa):
This organization creates health education films and training for underserved communities, particularly around maternal and child health. SWB developed and delivered training for NGO staff in Nigeria, Ghana, Zambia, and Kenya, equipping them with foundational survey and statistical skills to measure film impact effectively. Over 12 sessions, SWB has been helping participants become more informed and confident in designing future studies. Participants could relate the material covered in the course to the challenges and practical issues faced while designing surveys, research and impact assessments.The final class is scheduled for January 2025.
Volunteers: Ke Bei, Dr. Vinti Agarwal, Giovanni Natale
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“The participants from the Janaagraha team asked great questions and they were really interested to learn from me. Every aspect of the project was fun and rewarding for me.” - Jason Graham (SC)
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Janaagraha Centre for Citizenship and Democracy (India):
Dedicated to transforming the quality of life in India’s cities and towns, Janaagraha works with citizens and governments to institute reforms to “City-Systems”. SWB created R tutorial modules customized to their goals and the type of data they collected. Over two live sessions participants were engaged and eager to learn.
Volunteers: Sajan Ravindran, Jason Graham, Sahana Prasad, Nikolas Filandras
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“This is a really exciting collaboration as there is potential for future projects to help Eyesea build its pollution management platform.” - Ollie Pye (PCM) from Annual Meeting
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Eyesea (Global):
It is estimated that over 1.7 million tons of plastic enter our oceans each year. Focused on mapping maritime pollution, this nonprofit uses geotagged photos to more effectively clean our waterways. SWB is developing a computer vision model for identifying pollution, creating a user-friendly interface that reduces user manual lift to label pollution leading to enhanced data accuracy.
Volunteers: Ollie Pye, Holmes Finch, Vibhansh Kandwal, Luca Moretti, Sheila Flood, Gurpreet Johl, Kushal Patel, Sakshi Shende, Anjana Manjunath, Sweta Jena, Nazlican Topcuogullari, Dimitra Muni, Ram Mohan Yeturi, Abhishek Mathur, Luca Alberto Rizzo
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These projects exemplify the incredible impact we achieve when combining expertise and volunteer passion. Thank you to all the volunteers for your contributions to advancing these meaningful initiatives throughout the year!
Here’s to another year of collaboration, growth, and impact!
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Name: Betty Su
SWB Role: Marketing & Communications Director
Tell me about your background: I’ve spent my career growing and transforming brands across different industries around the world.
After getting my MBA, I pursued brand management at Cadbury/Mondelez where I developed my passion for innovation and understanding what motivates consumers. Later, I shifted to more mission-driven work at nonprofits including Graduate Management Admission Council (maker of the GMAT) and the National Audubon Society.
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What brought you to this SWB, and how long have you been here? I am excited to have joined SWB in November. I was looking for ways to give back leveraging my marketing skills when I came upon SWB. The group’s mission, partnering with socially conscious communities to enhance their capacity for data-driven decision making, resonated with me.
How does your work contribute to the organization’s mission or goals? I believe that MarCom plays an important role in informing, influencing and driving different audiences along a journey of engagement with SWB. I am looking forward to working with the MarCom team to further drive awareness of SWB and tell the story of this all-volunteer group and its impact.
What are your hobbies or interests outside of work? I love traveling, trying new foods, and exploring different cultures. I’m happiest when I am outdoors spending time in nature.
What’s a fun fact or unique talent you’d like to share? The first brands I worked on was Sour Patch Kids and Swedish Fish.
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If you have worked on a SWB project and would like to share your story, please reach out to us at statisticswithoutborders@gmail.com.
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SWB is a volunteer outreach group of the American Statistical Association. We provide pro bono services in statistics and data science.
Do you know of an organization that would benefit from SWB's services? Please have them fill out this form, and we look forward to providing them with statistical assistance!
Keep in touch with us through LinkedIn and Twitter!
And have you seen our Instagram account yet?
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