Why Non-Profits Should Embrace Data Journalism
In the nonprofit world, resources can be scarce. But there’s never a shortage of data. Nonprofits track finances, services, outcomes and external data about their issue areas. Within all that data are stories waiting to be told.
The world’s best news organizations tell data stories digitally with rich visuals and interactives that make complex data accessible to broad audiences. Nonprofits can apply the same principles and technologies to data they already track.
This panel will explore how nonprofits and news organizations can and should work together to communicate nonprofit data to the public. We’ll also discuss how nonprofits can create their own data stories in house or working with a vendor.
As government agencies increasingly turn public services over to private charities, those charities will control more and more newsworthy data. Collaboration is in the best interest of nonprofits, news organizations and, most importantly, the communities we both serve.
Presenters
Becca Aaronson
Health Care & Data Reporter
The Texas Tribune
Becca Aaronson reports on health care and develops data interactives for The Texas Tribune. As a member of The Texas Tribune’s news apps team, she helps design and plan interactive stories using Census and public data. She was hired by the Tribune in 2010, and promoted to cover health care in September 2012. She recently received a grant from the USC Annenberg School of Journalism's California Endowment to follow policy changes surrounding family planning in Texas and build an interactive focusing on access to women’s health services across the state. Becca is a native of Austin who graduated from Scripps College in Claremont, Calif., with a bachelor's degree in cultural theory.
Javier De La Torre
CEO
CartoDB
Javier is CEO and co-founder of Vizzuality and CartoDB, in charge of product strategy and business development. He is an expert on biodiversity informatics, open data and mapping software. He has been featured in publications including NPR, CNET, The Guardian and El Pais and is frequently invited to speak on topics about data analysis, visualization, biodiversity, mapping and citizen science.
Javier believes that better access to data and tools will change the way we understand and preserve environment, and using data visualization to bridge the gap between science, policy-making and citizen awareness, where it is most needed.
Megan Kilgore
Digital Mktg Mgr
Capital Area Food Bank of Texas
Megan Kilgore is a digital marketing and nonprofit communications professional from Austin, Texas.
In nonprofit land, we all wear many hats. Megan’s current role as digital marketing manager at the Capital Area Food Bank of Texas focuses on email marketing, social media marketing and advertising, segmentation and data storytelling. But she frequently finds herself diving head first into the “other duties as needed” category, helping out with copy editing, graphic design and even dressing up as a zombie. It’s a long story.
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