Melissa DiLoreto – DataKind

From Complexity to Capability: What Disaster Management Needs From AI Now

Humanitarian and disaster response organizations are increasingly asking not whether AI matters, but how to make it useful in practice. The opportunity is significant: AI can help teams synthesize fragmented information, draft reports more quickly, communicate across stakeholders, and identify patterns that might otherwise remain buried across documents, datasets, and field inputs. But realizing that […]

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Building Climate x Health Pulse: Turning Research into Action

By Sathy Rajasekharan, Vice President, Transformational Programs and Support, Parkinson Canada and former Independent Expert Advisor, Climate and Health, DataKind | Mignonne Fowlis, Senior Manager, Product and Programs, DataKind In Kajiado County, Kenya, pregnant and postpartum women face mounting health risks from climate-sensitive conditions, including malaria outbreaks, heat stress, and disruptions from flooding and droughts.

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From Data Curiosity to Community Impact: What We Learned from Data Tools for Everyone

By Shanna Lee, Senior Director, US Communities, DataKind | Jenrose Fitzgerald, Program Manager, Data for Social Impact, Washington University in St. Louis | Dan Ferris, PhD, Co-Director of Policy Education and Practice; Associate Professor of Practice, Washington University in St. Louis Data doesn’t create impact. People do. That belief shaped Data Tools for Everyone, a

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Five Years of Progress: Reflecting on DataKind’s Evolution

By Lauren Woodman, CEO, DataKind After nearly five years leading DataKind, I’ll be stepping down at the end of this month. It’s a bittersweet moment and an opportunity to reflect – not only on the extraordinary people behind this organization, but also on how the role of data and AI in the social sector has

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Partner Spotlight: Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida

Research consistently shows that food insecurity and poor health are closely linked to economic instability – affecting everything from employment continuity to long-term mobility. Addressing these challenges requires more than isolated interventions or static reports; it requires shared data, aligned indicators, and sustained collaboration across organizations. In Central Florida, the Health and Hunger Task Force,

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Making Data Useful: Designing for Impact When Resources Are Limited

By Lauren Woodman, CEO, DataKind In the social sector, data is everywhere – dashboards, reports, metrics, models. But for many nonprofit leaders, the question isn’t whether data exists. It’s whether it actually helps them make better decisions. Too often, it doesn’t. Data on its own is inert. It doesn’t design a program. It doesn’t decide

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Welcome Greg Wolniak, PhD, DataKind’s Head of Education Initiatives

We’re pleased to welcome Greg Wolniak, PhD, to DataKind as our Head of Education Initiatives. Greg joins the team with more than two decades of experience advancing equity-focused research in higher education and translating rigorous scholarship into actionable insights for policy and practice. As DataKind continues to build and scale data-driven products that support student

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From Data to Impact: What We Built and Learned Through DataKind’s Global DataKit with Producers Direct

By Mallory Sheff, Director, Financial Inclusion, DataKind In late 2025, DataKind partnered with Producers Direct to run a global DataKit event focused on understanding smallholder farmers’ needs through one of the largest peer-to-peer agricultural datasets ever assembled. By combining rare, farmer-generated data with a product-first approach to experimentation, the DataKit event surfaced insights at the

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Welcome Cecilia Saldaña, DataKind’s Manager, Grants and Financial Planning

We’re excited to welcome Cecilia Saldaña to DataKind as our Manager, Grants and Financial Planning. With more than a decade of experience in nonprofit finance and grants management, Cecilia brings deep expertise in financial stewardship, compliance, and operational excellence. In her role, she will help strengthen the financial systems that support DataKind’s growing portfolio of

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Scaling Student Success with AI: The Power of Data, Partnerships, and Innovation

Across Maryland, higher education leaders are transforming how colleges support students – leveraging data, AI, and cross-sector partnerships to scale impact. At the 2025 Complete College America Annual Convening (NEXT), leaders from the Maryland Higher Education Commission (MHEC), Google.org, Wor-Wic Community College, and DataKind shared how aligned systems can accelerate student success statewide and beyond.

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