ABOUT US

Mission & Vision

About Data Literacy - Learn the Language of Data | Data Literacy  
Co-founders Ben and Becky Jones, started Data Literacy in 2018 with a mission to help people learn the language of data. The vast majority of people in the world today do not receive a formal education that adequately prepares them for the level of data fluency required of them in their careers and by their communities.

As a result, many are being left behind by the transition to data-driven dialogues and decisions all around them, and they’re seeking ways to break down the language barrier that’s preventing them from participating. Others are looking for ways to build upon their current level of proficiency to contribute in an even more meaningful way.

To help our customers become more data literate, we design, implement and continuously improve cost-effective training and certification programs that we deliver online, on-site and on-demand. We aim to demystify data, and to make the learning experience fun and enjoyable. A main tenet of our offerings is that data simply provides a lens into our world and our humanity.

Our programs go beyond instruction in any one tool, and our passionate instructors seek to impart the knowledge, skills, attitudes & behaviors of highly data literate individuals. We also work hand-in-hand with organizations who seek to improve team-based data literacy, customizing programs to meet their unique needs.

It’s important to us to give back to the community. We are committed to always providing free and helpful educational materials and resources to a diverse audience. We feel that a robust education in data literacy is a basic human right, and we aim to increase the degree to which people of all backgrounds receive one.

Lastly, we know that data can be used for harm or for good. Here at Data Literacy we believe strongly in sustainability, the environment, equity for all and kindness extended to all sentient beings – both human and animal forms. We look to partner with organizations that are using their data and resources for good and those who are also on a mission to better the planet and the lives of others.

We are a small but mighty, global-reaching team that is passionate about our mission and making a meaningful impact on our world.

ABOUT US

Mission & Vision

About Data Literacy - Learn the Language of Data | Data Literacy  

Co-founders Ben and Becky Jones, started Data Literacy in 2018 with a mission to help people learn the language of data. The vast majority of people in the world today do not receive a formal education that adequately prepares them for the level of data fluency required of them in their careers and by their communities.

As a result, many are being left behind by the transition to data-driven dialogues and decisions all around them, and they’re seeking ways to break down the language barrier that’s preventing them from participating. Others are looking for ways to build upon their current level of proficiency to contribute in an even more meaningful way.

To help our customers become more data literate, we design, implement and continuously improve cost-effective training and certification programs that we deliver online, on-site and on-demand. We aim to demystify data, and to make the learning experience fun and enjoyable. A main tenet of our offerings is that data simply provides a lens into our world and our humanity.

Our programs go beyond instruction in any one tool, and our passionate instructors seek to impart the knowledge, skills, attitudes & behaviors of highly data literate individuals. We also work hand-in-hand with organizations who seek to improve team-based data literacy, customizing programs to meet their unique needs.

It’s important to us to give back to the community. We are committed to always providing free and helpful educational materials and resources to a diverse audience. We feel that a robust education in data literacy is a basic human right, and we aim to increase the degree to which people of all backgrounds receive one.

Lastly, we know that data can be used for harm or for good. Here at Data Literacy we believe strongly in sustainability, the environment, equity for all and kindness extended to all sentient beings – both human and animal forms. We look to partner with organizations that are using their data and resources for good and those who are also on a mission to better the planet and the lives of others.

We are a small but mighty, global-reaching team that is passionate about our mission and making a meaningful impact on our world.

Our Team

About Data Literacy - Learn the Language of Data | Data Literacy
About Data Literacy - Learn the Language of Data | Data Literacy  

Ben Jones, Co-Founder & CEO

Ben Jones is the co-founder and CEO of Data Literacy, LLC, a training and education company that’s on a mission to help people learn the language of data. Ben is a highly experienced and passionate instructor, having taught data to thousands in a corporate training environment as well as in academic classroom settings (University of Washington). He is also a published author (Data Literacy for Leaders, ChatGPT Basics, Learning to See Data, Data Literacy Fundamentals, Avoiding Data Pitfalls, Communicating Data With Tableau), a talented public speaker, and a recognized thought-leader in the data world. To balance out the digital side of life, Ben enjoys hiking and backpacking with his family in the mountains of the Pacific Northwest.

Ben is an award-winning data visualization designer, having won first place in the 2012 Tableau Iron Viz Sports Contest as well as Crowd Favorite in the 2012 Iron Viz Biz Viz Contest.

Ben led the global marketing effort for the award-winning Tableau Public platform from 2013 to 2018, driving 20X growth in monthly active users over that time period. Tableau Public is routinely named as one of the top data visualization platforms in the world.

From 2014 to 2018, Ben co-chaired the Tapestry Data Storytelling conference, a conference that was named one of the “7 Must-Attend Visualization Conferences of 2014

Ben is also an award winning continuous improvement project leader and mentor, winning the 2007 Medtronic Star of Excellence and training and mentor teams that won the award in 2009 and 2010.

While completing his MBA, Ben took first place in the 2011 California Lutheran University Festival of Scholars for his submission titled “The Phaedrus Effect: Team-based decision making using analytics and intuition”.

Ben is the author of the following books:

While at Medtronic, the world’s largest medical device company, Ben earned his Black Belt and then his Master Black Belt certifications in Lean Six Sigma. During that phase of his career, Ben led project teams that booked over $2.5M in savings over a 2 year period, and then moved on to training and mentoring other award-winning project leaders at the company.

Ben has delivered presentations and keynotes on data in the US, Canada, Mexico, Singapore, Japan and the UK.

Ben loves hiking and backpacking in the Pacific Northwest, and also runs an amateur outdoor photography Instagram account PNWTreks.

About Data Literacy - Learn the Language of Data | Data Literacy  

Becky Jones, Co-Founder and COO

Becky Jones is the co-founder, COO and head of Business Development of Data Literacy. Becky spent the last 10+ years in business development – with the most recent 8 years at Amazon. Her passion and decades long experience is around building relationships as well as strategy and planning. She is full of big ideas and always finding creative ways to ignite things here at Data Literacy. She has learned in her past roles the significance and importance of understanding and using data in work and in life and though she describes herself as “data-phobic”, she has come to realize that data can become less daunting with the right knowledge and tools. When Becky is not strategizing and working with our customers, she is tending to three teenage boys, cooking vegan fare for her family, either teaching or doing yoga, PR’ing on her Peloton or spending lots of time outdoors backpacking, kayaking, skiing or chasing after her fluffball, Winston.

Becky, a certified yoga instructor (Yoga Alliance) and Integrative Nutrition Health Coach (INHC), also heads up Becky with the Good Life, a Health, Wellness and Fitness company that’s helping clients live the good life one bite, step and goal at a time.

About Data Literacy - Learn the Language of Data | Data Literacy  

Megan Hanno, Sr. Operations Manager

Megan is the Sr. Operations Manager at Data Literacy. As former Community Manager at the co-working space Data Literacy launched in, she’s been following along with their journey since their inception in 2018. She joins the team with a background in sales and operations and a passion for providing memorable customer experiences. Drawn to Data Literacy by shared values of sustainability and belief in the power of kindness, she’s excited to support the Data Literacy mission and make a data literacy education accessible to more audiences. Outside of the office, you’ll most likely find her in the kitchen whipping up a new recipe or spreading love to the 5 cats in her house (for the record, only two are hers). When the weather allows, she’s swimming around in some body of water at every possible chance, although she’s also no stranger to cold plunges in the winter.

Megan holds a Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Analysis & Policy from Boston University (2012).

About Data Literacy - Learn the Language of Data | Data Literacy  

Alli Torban, Sr. Data Literacy Advocate

Alli Torban is a Senior Data Literacy Advocate at Data Literacy LLC, with more than 15 years of experience solving complex data challenges for government agencies, research institutes, and corporate clients. Alli possesses technical expertise in data communication and a demonstrated talent for combining data and design in an inclusive way, making her a highly effective information designer and trainer. In addition, Alli co-founded the learning community Elevate, where she’s mentored over a hundred budding data visualization designers. Her efforts to share her knowledge on her popular podcast, Data Viz Today, earned her the Impactful Community Leader award from the Data Visualization Society. When she’s not teaching clients the language of data, Alli enjoys designing tessellations and walking to the library with her daughters.

Impactful Community Leader Award, 2022 Information is Beautiful Awards sponsored by the Data Visualization Society

About Data Literacy - Learn the Language of Data | Data Literacy  

ADVISORY BOARD

Contributors & Advisors

About Data Literacy - Learn the Language of Data | Data Literacy

Alberto Cairo

Position: Knight Chair at the University of Miami

Websitehttp://www.thefunctionalart.com

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Allen Hillery

Position: Associate Adjunct Faculty at Columbia University School of Professional Studies

Website: https://medium.com/@alglobehopper

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Andy Cotgreave

Position: Technical Evangelist, Tableau Software

Website: http://gravyanecdote.com

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Cheryl Phillips

Position: Lorry I. Lokey Visiting Professor in Professional Journalism at Stanford University

Website: https://online.stanford.edu/instructors/cheryl-phillips

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Elissa Fink

Position: Semi-Retired at Elissa Fink Marketing, LLC

Websitehttps://elissafink.com

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Giorgia Lupi

Position: Information Designer, Co-Founder & Creative Director at Accurat

Website: http://giorgialupi.com

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Janet Wilson

Position: Freelance Instructional Designer and Developer

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RJ Andrews

Position: Founder, Info We Trust

Website: https://infowetrust.com

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Tamara Munzner

Position: Professor at the University of British Columbia

Websitehttps://www.cs.ubc.ca/~tmm

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Tim Weir

Position: Founder, Empia Inc.

Website: https://www.empia.ca/

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About Data Literacy - Learn the Language of Data | Data Literacy

Chantilly Jaggernauth

Position: Vice President, Training and Data Visualization at Lovelytics & Founder, Millennials in Data

Website: https://www.millennialsanddata.com

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About Data Literacy - Learn the Language of Data | Data Literacy