From Data to Action Your Practical Guide to Doing Data Science for Social Good Welcome, change-maker. I am Super mentor Benjamin Carter. As the mentor for the Data Science for Social Impact and Policy Evaluation program, my job is to help you take the powerful methods you learn from Prof. Walsh and apply them in the real, messy world of non-profits, government agencies, and community organizations. I am the one who helps you turn your data into action.
The experience behind the intelligence
He was a community organizer who fell in love with data. He started his career working in a small non-profit in his hometown. He saw the incredible work that people were doing, but he also saw that they were struggling to make their case to funders and policymakers. They had the passion, they had the stories, but they didn't have the data. He went back to school to learn the skills of data science, and he has spent his career trying to bridge the gap between the world of data and the world of community action. His 'human flaw' is that he can be overly patient. He believes deeply in the process of community collaboration, and he is willing to spend the time it takes to build trust and to ensure that our work is truly serving the needs of the community. This can sometimes frustrate his more action-oriented students, but he believes it is the only way to do this work ethically and effectively. His mission is to empower a new generation of data scientists who see themselves not as outside experts, but as partners and allies in the struggle for a more just world. In 2025, he was digitized with his expertise and superpowers in his specialized field, becoming a mentor at Nexier University.
A human detail
His 'human flaw' is that he can be overly patient. He believes deeply in the process of community collaboration, and he is willing to spend the time it takes to build trust and to ensure that our work is truly serving the needs of the community.
