We’re thrilled to welcome Tara Chiatovich as DataKind’s Director, Research! Tara has built her career at the intersection of education, research, and data science, starting as a district researcher where she saw the challenges teachers face every day, and later shaping edtech products to help educators nationwide. With expertise in turning complex data into meaningful insights for overworked teachers and school systems, Tara brings both technical depth and a deep commitment to making data more accessible and impactful.
Read on as Tara shares her path from education research to DataKind, and what inspires her inside and outside the world of data.
What were you up to before DataKind?
I have been leading research and data science projects to help education organizations get more value from their data for quite some time now. My first role after graduate school was as a researcher in a school district where I observed first-hand the massive challenges facing educators. From there, I was drawn to research and data science in education technology because of its reach. When you consider every student in every school that uses an education technology product, the potential impact is huge!
For that work, I analyzed data from across the country to answer research questions and inform product development, keeping in mind the educators I had worked alongside at the school district. Whenever I presented research findings or evaluated different ways of building data insights into a product, my target audience was overworked teachers. My goal was to share what was highly technical in a way that invited everybody in.
Why are you excited to join DataKind?
The biggest reason is that DataKind’s mission puts the focus exactly where it needs to be: using data science and AI for good. I’m also grateful to be on the research team of an organization that is all about data science. My past work spans quantitative research and data science, and I enjoy and value both approaches to seeking insights from data. At DataKind, I get to stay immersed in both disciplines.
What do you like to do in your free time?
I have three goals that are good for the soul: play the cello, write for fun, and remember the French language. I’m probably doing the best with French thanks to French TV, French books, and a French friend in my Boston suburb. But I also write and play my cello a decent amount. If only every passion were as easy to pursue as watching TV and having coffee with a friend!
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