Equity in Data Community of Practice

We are a group of data users in Connecticut (mostly) who are supporting one another as we work toward integrating more equitable data practices. We focus on racial equity explicitly but not exclusively. Our group is a project of the Connecticut Data Collaborative.

Members of our group serve in many kinds of roles related to data, including data analysts, evaluators, or researchers, to data coordinators and GIS analysts, to program managers, case managers, and administrative staff.  

Our common thread is that we are each involved in data in some capacity, and we each know the importance of integrating equitable practices into that work.

At CTData, we have been looking for ways to support a data community of practice. We started this group as an informal lunch discussion in order to understand the interest in this topic of equity and ethics in data. There was a great deal of interest, and so we decided to move forward in developing a community of practice. Beginning in June 2020, our group started meeting monthly to talk about how we could improve our equity in data practice. 

What is a community of practice? The term is a modern description of an old idea. Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Traynor, the leading researchers of the concept,  define it as "a group of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do, and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly."

Our goal is to become a group that can contribute to a more equitable data culture in Connecticut (or wherever else our members may be located). 

While our culture views data as cold and factual, those of us who work in data know that human decision-making is involved in every step of the data process. That means our own perspectives, ideas, and biases inevitably influence the process. In the areas where we don't recognize these blinders we or our institution has, then we will inadvertently, unintentionally cause more harm than good with our data work. We are working together to remove these blinders and identify ways to proactively integrate equitable data practices into our data work.

We meet on the third Tuesday of each month from 11:30am - 1:00pm ET via Zoom. We do require a simple registration, which you can find on our Event Calendar.

Session topics are lead by the interest of our community members. Every session, there is a short survey that asks what people would like to learn about/discuss in the future. These ideas are then crafted into community conversations, we invite guests to speak about topics within their expertise, or we share how we have approached building equity into our work.

Format: Our monthly sessions are interactive, and everyone contributes to the discussion in some way (sometimes via the chat box).

Join us at our next session! Register by going to the CTData Event Calendar. 

Actively participate. Most sessions are interactive and conversational. While not required, we appreciate when attendees engage in activities and share their experiences with the group. We invite everyone to turn on their cameras because it is easier to talk with those we can see the faces of, but completely understand if that is not available or comfortable for you.