Data guides many of our most critical decisions and has long been used to understand and analyze outcomes, but how can we better use data to drive design and decision making from the start?
In this 60 minute panel discussion, KCDW participants will hear from four leading experts from Databricks, MySidewalk, Plan(IT) Impact, and Porchlight Insights about how data drives their design and processes and how it can integrated at a broader scale to guide decision making around critical issues such as sustainability, urban design, and human experience. Each panelist will walk the audience through innovative case studies and answer questions about the challenges and successes of using data today.
Kate Bender is Co-Founder of PorchLight Insights, a data and performance consulting firm based in Kansas City, MO. Kate is dedicated to helping cities and organizations use data-driven analysis and storytelling to understand their processes and better serve their communities. Prior to launching PorchLight Insights, Kate worked for the City of Kansas City, Missouri for 15 years. She helped build the city’s data office, DataKC, and most recently served as Chief Analytics Officer. As Co-Lead for the DataKC team, Kate designed and managed the City’s KCStat public performance management system, oversaw administration of the City’s resident, employee, and business surveys, and created data stories across multiple platforms.
Kate earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Brown University and a Master of Urban Planning degree from the Wagner School of Public Service at New York University. She was a member of the 2013 class of the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce Centurions Leadership Program and the 2020 class for the Greater Missouri Leadership Challenge. She lives in Kansas City with her husband and two tween/teen children.
Spencer Cook is a Senior Solutions Architect at Databricks focused on financial technology and payment processing solutions. Spencer brings deep expertise on Systems Architecture, Cloud Technology, and Strategic Consulting having delivered Big Data solutions in the Fortune 10 and beyond. Prior to joining Databricks he was Lead Architect for the Databricks Practice at Valorem Reply, a distinguished Azure Solutions Partner headquartered in the historic Crossroads District in Kansas City.
The mission of mySidewalk is to help communities use data to improve and innovate. As a city planner turned technologist Stephen has overseen the growth of the mySidewalk platform to now include over 350 cities. Before mySidewalk, Stephen launched the city planning practice at BNIM (2011 AIA firm of the year). Stephen is a graduate of Harvard’s Graduate School of Design.
Dominique Davison is an architect, sustainability expert, community activist, and the owner and managing principal of DRAW architecture + urban design. Pioneering the ethos of "Positive Impact Design," she strives to elevate the urban and site context, going beyond great aesthetics to understand the cultural + socioeconomic dynamics by utilizing a radically resourceful process to design with empathy + activism. With a Master of Architecture from Yale University and a Bachelor of Art in Architecture from the University of California, Berkeley, Dominique's efforts have been celebrated by AIAKC, DRAW as the firm of the year in 2014 and as architect of the year in 2018.
Julie Steenson is co-founder of PorchLight Insights, a data and performance consulting firm based in Kansas City. Her work centers on helping organizations achieve positive and human-centered outcomes by using data. Prior to launching PorchLight Insights, Julie spent sixteen years working in local government for the City of Kansas City, Missouri in various roles. In 2011, she helped launch Kansas City's DataKC program, where she built successful data and performance systems and lead employee engagement and empowerment initiatives. Julie also served as Kansas City Parks and Recreations' Chief Financial Officer and as the city's Strategic and Capital Plan coordinator. Outside of work, Julie is an active volunteer in the Kansas City community and spends most of her free time at middle school orchestra concerts, sitting on her porch with family and friends or biking around her neighborhood. Julie is a graduate of the University of Evansville and the O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University.