Jen is a data science leader and banking professional who enjoys collaborating to solve problems with data. She is a firm believer that data science only provides value when combined with clear communication, strong stakeholder partnerships, and an understanding of the business and market context. Jen has spent the last 5 years in banking. She developed and led a team of data scientists to support the Commercial bank, providing innovative analytics solutions in support of sales, pricing, and financial planning. More recently, she is tackling a new adventure leading a team of analysts in the deposit product and pricing space for Consumer and Business Banking. Her expertise and passion lie in developing data solutions that enable business decisions.

Jen previously worked as a data scientist in cross-sector consulting and in specialty retail. She has a BS and MS in Industrial System and Engineering from Ohio State, with a focus in data science and optimization. She spends her free time with her family, doing any kind of outdoor activity, and reading as many books as she can.

The DataConnect conference is a really special event. While the speakers are all women, it is not an event about being a woman in data science. Rather it is a conference with a diverse offering of technical, leadership, and strategy content, where the speakers happen to be women. Representation is so important for many reasons. It results in better, more well-rounded solutions, because diverse perspectives bring diverse ideas. It helps change people’s mindsets to see different type of people represented in the space. And most importantly, in my opinion, it will help shape a world where our daughters hopefully do not have to worry as much about being the only woman in the room.

I particularly enjoy volunteering with the speakers. Communicating about the results of data science work is critical to realizing its value, and this conference and community offer a valuable opportunity to build those skills. And there is so much to learn in this space, so each speaker brings so much value to our event attendees. I believe strongly in the importance of giving our community members the chance to share and learn from each other’s work, to network, and to find new good ideas to take back to their own roles.