Episode 96: Data Science Training and The Power of Education with Merav Yuravlivker

Show Notes

• (02:18) Merav talked about her undergraduate experience at McGill University studying Psychology and Sociology.
• (04:33) Merav discussed important attributes of an exceptional teacher given her two years teaching elementary special education in NYC public schools through the Teach For America program.
• (08:19) Merav commented on her time working at the International Baccalaureate Organization and working as a Kaplan GRE instructor.
• (10:57) Merav shared the backstory behind the founding of Data Society, a predictive analytics training and consulting company (co-founded with Dmitri Adler and John Nader).
• (14:15) Merav reflected on her journey into programming.
• (17:16) Merav explained why data science training should be industry-tailored for maximum success.
• (20:57) Merav talked about how Data Society creates and evaluates its training curriculum.
• (23:59) Merav provided an example of how Data Society provides customized AI solutions to inform decisions, automate time-consuming manual processes, and solve complex data challenges for its clients.
• (27:38) Merav brought up challenges that hinder the adoption of data science in the government sector.
• (29:49) Merav unpacked the six different steps for organizations to start moving up the data analytics maturity model.
• (33:07) Merav dissected meldR, Data Society’s internal product built for Learning and Development teams in healthcare.
• (36:24) Merav reflected on bootstrapping Data Society in the early days (look at this 2016 Kickstarter campaign).
• (39:48) Merav discussed the shift from a B2C to a B2B model for Data Society and scoring partnerships with Fortune 500 companies and federal agencies.
• (42:47) Merav shared valuable hiring lessons to attract the right people who are excited about the mission of Data Society.
• (45:22) Merav shared her experience shaping the remote work culture.
• (49:05) Merav touched on initiatives at Data Society to bring more goodness to the world.
• (50:28) Merav provided different ways to engage more women in data science (via the Women Data Scientists DC Meetup and DCFemTech).
• (53:17) Merav predicted the evolution of education in the next 3 to 5 years.
• (55:29) Closing segment.

Merav’s Contact Info

• LinkedIn
• Twitter

Data Society’s Resources

• Website
• Twitter
• LinkedIn

Mentioned Content

Articles

• “Is Your Enterprise Data-Driven?” (May 2021)
• “Why Data Science Training Should Be Industry-Tailored for Maximum Success” (August 2021)
• “Female Founders: Merav Yuravlivker of Data Society On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman Founder” (Sep 2021)

People

• DJ Patil (The first Chief Data Scientist of the US)
• Hilary Mason (Co-Founder of Hidden Door)
• Avriel Epps-Darling (Ph.D. candidate, Ford fellow, and Presidential Scholar at Harvard University)

Book

• Weapons of Math Destruction (by Cathy O’Neil)

Notes

My conversation with Merav was recorded back in December 2021. Since then, many