Midwest Data Conference

More Than Crunching Numbers: A Data Governance Story (Mark Rodee)

Those who can, do (crunch numbers); those who can’t, ensure the data are consistent, trustworthy, and used appropriately. Come learn about best practices concerning building and maintaining a system of decision rights and accountabilities for information-related process.

Data Visualization 101 (Dulcinea Rakestraw & Nigel Soria)

How do you select the right visualization to represent important information? Is a pie chart ever the optimal choice, or is the hate justified? Join this interactive session to learn about different ways to visualize data and how they may influence interpretation.

Data Successes and Lessons Learned in the Public Sector - (Moderator: Dulcinea Rakestraw | Panelists: Michael Mayta, Kaylee Harvey, Matt Cravens)

This moderated discussion will share challenges and solutions of public sector data usage

Public Data:  Where to Find It and How to Use It (Nigel Soria)

What happens when the tables on the U.S. Census Bureau website don’t have exactly what you need? What are your options? This session will cover the uses and limitations of several publicly available datasets.  

Conducting Performance Assessments Using Machine Learning and Location-Based Data (Andy Brienzo & Cade Graber)

Legislative Post Audit recently used data analysis methods novel to our office and the wider state government performance audit field to evaluate unemployment insurance fraud and STAR bond district tourism.

Using data to track the impact of COVID-19 (Kaylee Harvey)

Understanding the importance and challenges of using data to track the spread and impact of COVID-19 in Kansas.

My Resource Connection (MyRC) - Douglas County (Jill deVries Jolicoeur & Matt Cravens)

Using integrated data from across county agencies in order to address complex issues.

Data and the Decision Maker (Kevin Donahue)

DC City Administrator Kevin Donahue will share how he used data to drive decision making in his roles in both local and federal government.

Panel Discussion

Panel discussion on data integration into the enterprise.

Andy Brienzo

Principal Auditor - Kansas Legislative Division of Post Audit

Andy Brienzo has been with the Kansas Legislative Division of Post Audit since 2016. Prior to joining LPA, Andy worked for the Colorado Office of the State Auditor. He holds degrees from the University of Nebraska and the University of Denver.

Cade Graber

Senior Auditor - Kansas Legislative Division of Post Audit

Cade is a Senior Auditor with Legislative Post Audit and has been with the division since 2019. In that time, Cade has worked on an audit of the state’s unemployment insurance program and several K-12 education audits. He is also on the division’s data mining team. He holds a B.S. in Mathematics and a B.S. in Psychology from Kansas State University.

Dulcinea Rakestraw

Research and Program Evaluation Manager - PPMC

Dulcinea Rakestraw serves as the Research and Program Evaluation Manager at the PPMC. With over 20 years of experience, she provides program evaluation, management, research, and consulting services. Prior to joining Wichita State, she held roles at the Sedgwick County Health Department, the Kansas Department for Children and Families, Kansas Department of Aging and Disability Services, Preferred Family Healthcare. Dulcinea earned both a BSW and MPH from the University of Kansas. Dulcinea earned her PhD in Community Psychology with an emphasis in research methods and program evaluation from WSU.

Jill Jolicoeur

Assistant County Administrator - Douglas County, Kansas

Jill Jolicoeur has served as the Assistant County Administrator since November 2019. She currently supports a variety of special projects in the areas of housing and human services, and serves as the lead convener of Douglas County's Anti-Poverty Community Health Plan. In May 2016 Jill was hired to serve as Douglas County's first Assistant to the County Administrator. While serving in this position, Jill was selected to lead a project implementation team to expand My Resource Connection (MyRC) to serve Douglas County as the result of the county's participation in the National Association of Counties Data Driven Justice Initiative.

Jill previously served as a Management and Budget Analyst for Johnson County, Kansas for several years, and worked in Kansas and Missouri Congressional Offices. She holds a Masters in Public Administration from the University of Kansas.

Kaylee Hervey

Epidemiology Program Manager - Sedgwick County Health Department 

Kaylee Hervey is the Epidemiology Program Manager at the Sedgwick County Health Department. Through that role, she served as the Epidemiology, Surveillance, and Data Branch Director for Sedgwick County's COVID-19 response. Kaylee has an Master's of Public Health from Kansas State University in Infectious Disease and Zoonosis and a Bachelor's of Science in Animal Science, Bioscience, and Biotechnology, also from K-State. She is also currently completing a Doctorate of Public Health from the University of Nebraska School of Medicine.

Kevin Donahue

City Administrator - DC Government

DC City Administrator Kevin Donahue will share how he used data to drive decision making in his roles in both local and federal government.

Matthew Cravens

Senior Data Analyst - Criminal Justice Coordinating Council Douglas County, Kansas 

Dr. Cravens began his tenure with Douglas County in December 2019 as a Data Analyst supporting the County's Criminal Justice Coordinating Council (CJCC). He previously worked as a statistician for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Citizenship and Immigration Services in Washington, D.C. While there, he analyzed and provided reports on immigration data. He collaborated with field officers and leadership and helped develop guidelines and performance measures. Dr. Cravens has also worked as a senior associate in research for the Pew Charitable Trusts’ Public Safety Performance Project, where he conducted analyses on public safety, juvenile placements, adult incarceration and policy reforms. For about three years, he was a visiting assistant professor and postdoctoral research associate at Dartmouth College’s Nelson A. Rockefeller Center for Public Policy and the Social Sciences.

Cravens has received a bachelor’s degree and doctoral degree in political science. He also completed the Inter-university Consortium for Political Social Research (ICPSR) summer program in Quantitative Methods of Social Research at the University of Michigan.

Michael Mayta

CIO - City of Wichita

As the CIO for the largest City in Kansas, Mike is accountable for all Information Technology and Innovation serving 17 City departments in over 90 locations. Mike has oversight of the full suite of technology and innovation services; security, policy, process, digital transformation, Smart City, network, development, data services and budget management across the enterprise. In his tenure, Mike has implemented What Works Cities, Open Data, Smart City, a first of its kind IoT Network, ERP implementation, and numerous P3’s executed for business value attainment without increasing staff. Increased online transactions from 2 million to almost 60 million dollars annually. Always focused on business process change and the citizen experience, placing technology for impact and outcomes, where it is needed. Partnered with Comcast on the first municipal deployment of LoRa infrastructure for IoT use.
Mike has a Bachelor of Arts in graphic design a Bachelor of Business Administration in MIS and an MBA from Wichita State University. He teaches for the school of business at WSU in MIS and is the outside technology director for the Board of AgVantis, Inc., a technology service provider for the financial sector. Mike also is active on numerous boards; Board Chair for Mennonite Housing, appointed – FirstNet representative for South Central Kansas, and appointed by the Governor to the Information Technology Executive Council (ITEC) for the State of Kansas. Mike was also appointed by the Governor to in late 2021 to co-chair the Cyber-security task force for the State of Kansas.

Nigel Soria

Research Economist & Data Scientist

Nigel uses data and economic theory to study programs and address questions that impact individuals, families, and communities. His expertise includes applied econometrics, causal inference (a component of program evaluation), and predictive modeling. Specific fields of interest include labor economics, health economics, and child and family welfare. Prior to joining Wichita State, he held roles at Flint Hills Resources, Rice University, and the Kansas Department of Commerce. Nigel has a BBA in Finance and an MA in Economics from WSU and a Ph.D. in Economics from Rice University.