Skip to content

Goals of the Fellowship#

Our long-term, overarching, unifying goal is to see more of this type of work happen in the world, and for our fellows to leave the program better equipped and more likely to use their skills for social good.

To achieve this, our program focuses on three guiding goals. Our goals are (in order of priority):

  1. Training Our Fellows
  2. Increasing the responsible use of Data Science/ML/AI in Social Good Organizations
  3. Building and Supporting a Community of Data Scientists for Social Good
  4. [Tackling and Making an Impact on the Problems We Work on]

We know that these goals are lofty. We do not presume or pretend to know the optimal way to achieve them, but we believe it's worth trying. We want all of you to help us by actively contributing ideas to improve our program and achieve these goals more effectively.

Training Our Fellows#

First and foremost, DSSG is a training program for fellows. We believe that the best way to learn is by working on real projects and not toy examples, which is why fellows work on real projects with real partners, in teams with other real people. The program provides training in the form of hands-on technical data science experience, but that’s not enough to do real data science for social good. The training aspect of the fellowship also includes working with project partners, understanding social issues, using social science methods, working collaboratively on a team, developing solutions in an agile way, and communicating effectively to technical and non-technical audiences.

We start off with a week of intensive orientation, getting everyone acquainted with each other and the structure of the program, as well as making sure all the fellows are up to speed with the tools and methods that are fellowship-wide standards. Training continues throughout the summer with lectures and workshops by staff, guest speakers, and fellow teach-outs. Dedicated full-time data science mentors and project managers will support and guide fellows throughout the summer.

In short, we want the summer to be a productive and collaborative experience for you, and will provide you with many resources; however, your biggest resource will be yourself and the other fellows in your cohort. Every fellow contributes their own wealth of experience and expertise, and we aim to foster a learning environment where everyone can share this knowledge and learn from one another.

Increasing the use of Responsible Data Science in Social Good Organizations#

We believe that data-driven decisionmaking isn’t reserved for companies selling online advertisements or banks trying to detect fraud. We know that data science can help governments, non-profits, and social good organizations do their work more effectively and serve their constituents more equitably.

All of our project partners collect data, and many are already using data in some way, whether to evaluate their programs and write reports for their funders. However, most social good organizations have not used data science to actively inform their ongoing decision processes. Through this program, we aim to increase awareness of the benefits and challenges of data-driven impact work, both among the partners we work with and among non-profits and governments in general.

Our project partners are partners, not clients. This means that the fellows work with the partners, not for them. We believe that participating in this program helps both the partners and the fellows develop a common language and learn how to work together more effectively. Sometimes fellows and partners won't see eye to eye on every decision, or the need to complete work within a deadline will mean you have to adjust your expectations, put GNU/Emacs1 on the back burner, or sacrifice doing the work exactly the way you had hoped. While fellows' learning is our primary priority, it is important to note that part of what fellows are learning is how to work with partners to produce work that is useful for the partners and delivered on time.

Building and Supporting a Community of Data Scientists for Social Good#

We hope -- and expect -- that your impact as a DSSG alum continues beyond your summer tenure. Throughout the summer, we will introduce you to other practitioners within the data science and social good spaces to help you understand these sectors, form relationships, and start to think about potential contributions you could make. You’ll also have the opportunity to network with local data science, tech, government, non-profit, and startup communities through regular fellowship-sponsored happy hours and meetups.

Whether it’s continuing to collaborate with your DSSG colleagues on other social good projects, joining the data team at a government agency, or working to recruit other like-minded people to apply their in-demand data science skills to impactful problems, we hope that this is just the beginning of of a lifetime as a data scientist for social good.

Our Hopes for Your Fellowship Experience#

The fellowship provides you with the opportunity to learn; to work on important, challenging, and unique projects; and to meet a lot of people who share your interests and goals. It is up to you to take advantage of these opportunities.

We hope you use the summer to:

  • Meet a group of fellows, staff and project partners who have a wealth of skills and experiences; listen to and learn from them; and make new friends.
  • Embrace gaps in your knowledge as learning opportunities, exploring your limitations with respect to technical skills, new methods from different disciplines, project management, social issues, and teamwork.
  • Learn about the challenges of working on real projects that don’t have clean data, guaranteed results, or elegant solutions.
  • Navigate the triangle between learning technical skills, creating deliverables that are useful and actionable for your project partner, and putting the varied skills within your team to good use.
  • Rise to the challenge of working on a team that will include strong personalities with diverse experiences and strengths
  • Realize the ambiguity and uncertainty that comes with working in a traditionally less tech-savvy sector, and learn how to communicate effectively to bridge this gap.
  • Explore the impact (intentional and unintentional) that working with data from real, often disadvantaged or marginalized, people might have on them.
  • Think deeply about the scope and limitations of technology to improve social problems.
  • Explore existing roles in the field of data science for social good, find one you are best suited for, or create your own.

Note

Throughout the summer, we encourage you to share your ideas about how to improve the fellowship experience for yourself and others -- and to put them into action. We are constantly trying to improve the fellowship every day throughout the summer, and over time as we learn from each cohort.

Our Expectations of Fellows#

The fellowship offers a lot of freedom; however, we expect all fellows to stick to the basic principles of conduct listed below at all times. These guidelines apply to everybody at the fellowship, including mentors, project managers, and the fellowship organizers. If you feel that anyone is not behaving in accordance with these guidelines, we invite you to bring it up constructively. If you are unsure who to address, or if you do not feel comfortable doing so directly, you can bring up your concerns with the fellow advocate.

  • Be supportive, open-minded, and willing to compromise. DSSG brings together people from different backgrounds and with different skills. In fact, this might be the best resource the fellowship has to offer! Share your knowledge and your experience with each other. Be patient as you teach each other, and have an open ear for your peers.

  • Be professional. You will be working with NGOs, non-profits, and government institutions as project partners. You will also be presenting your work at and attending events with the general public. In all of these capacities you are acting as a representative of the DSSG community. We expect you to be professional — that is, respectful, friendly, and on time — in your conduct with partners and the public alike.

  • Be resourceful and pragmatic. Own your own learning. Seek out resources as necessary. Don't be shy to ask others for help, but be mindful of their time - tell them what what you do understand, where you're stuck, and what you’ve already tried, so they know how they can help. When you notice problems or have ideas for improvements — be it in your team, your project, or the fellowship — don’t rely on others to notice or fix them; offer your initiative.

  • Deal with conflicts maturely. There are many potential sources of conflict throughout the fellowship. It is perfectly acceptable, and even expected, that you will run into conflicts with your team, your mentors, your project, or the fellowship organizers. In any case, we ask you to be productive, pragmatic, and mature when dealing with conflicts. Keep an open mind, listen and communicate with everybody involved. Neither your project, nor your team, nor the fellowship will be perfect. Remember that everyone involved has invested a lot in the fellowship and wants all participants to be happy.

  • Show up. We have all committed to be here for the duration of the program. The fellowship runs from approximately from end of May through the end of August2 . We expect you to be in the office five days a week, to attend all DSSG-wide sessions, occasional special events, and the final event. We recognize that you have a life outside of the fellowship, and if you have any known or potential absences, you must inform DSSG staff upon your acceptance. Any additional conflicts that arise during the summer must be discussed with and agreed between you, your team, and your project manager well ahead of time.

  • Take care of the space. Offices, meeting rooms, and kitchen areas are shared spaces. It’s everybody’s job to keep the space clean and free of messes. This policy also applies when you are attending off-site events.

  • Stay involved and act as a steward. As a member of the DSSG community, we expect a commitment from you to stay involved, even after the summer. We ask you to seek opportunities to present the work you did, whether it's at your university, company, or events in your area. We ask you to assist your team in writing publications about your project, both during and after the fellowship. We will also ask you to help us with the application process in the following years by reviewing applications and interviewing candidates. We ask that you do what you're able to contribute to the DSSG mission and community.

DON'T PANIC

Regardless of how much experience you have, we admitted you because we believe that you can make a valuable contribution to your cohort, and we think being a DSSG fellow will help prepare you to do data science for social good in the real world. We've made a commitment to you and want to do everything we can to help you succeed. This is really important, so we'll say it again, in bold: If you're reading this, you are here because we want you to be here and believe that you are ready to make an impact. For example, don't worry about how much more or less productive, knowledgable, or experienced other fellows in your cohort might appear to be. It's easy to only pay attention - and compare yourself - to those who seem to be doing particularly well. Know that everyone has their own struggles, and everyone has good and bad days.

  1. Or if you prefer learning VIM ↩

  2. In US: from Memorial Day through Labor Day, specific dates change by year and location ↩