Strategic Data Project Convening 2026

Session Description: Many data practitioners serve as the sole data voice within functional departments or small organizations where they must navigate cultures unfamiliar with rigorous evidence. This session brings these lone strategists together to swap strategies for establishing trust, managing workflows, and avoiding duplicative silos. Data strategists in LEAs/SEAs in HR, Finance, Safety, Federal Programs, etc.—and anyone serving as a "team of one"—are encouraged to attend and find their people.

Intended Audience: Data analysts or independent researchers; Districts, charters or other local education agencies; Philanthropies and Foundations

Session Description: In an era of rising skepticism, how do we build the evidence necessary to sustain bold educational innovations? We will go under the hood of two complex evaluations, a large-scale literacy pilot in Oakland and a workforce redesign initiative, to demonstrate how partial proof and transparent data practices can strengthen stakeholder trust. Data leaders and researchers will leave with strategic understandings for conducting and communicating rigorous evaluation when time is short and data is messy.

Intended Audience: Data analysts or independent researchers; Districts, charters or other local education agencies; Philanthropies and Foundations; State education agencies; Senior leaders (including cabinet-level leaders and executive directors)

Session Description:  This session is centered on aligning behavioral health metrics with key P–20W milestones (e.g., kindergarten readiness, 9th-grade transition, postsecondary persistence/completion, and early workforce outcomes). 

School mental health is often treated as a support function separate from academic outcomes measured in service counts and compliance checkboxes rather than in evidence that moves students forward. This session challenges that framing. Too often, state policy and frontline practice operate with different mental models of what "good" looks like. State agencies optimize for reportable metrics; school counselors and community health workers respond to what they see in the room. This session examines the confidence gap between those two realities and offers a framework for closing it.

Participants will leave with:

• A P–20W indicator alignment map connecting behavioral health measures to key educational milestones
• Practical guidance on reframing mental health data as "barriers to learning" and "bridges to the workforce" for different stakeholder audiences
• Lessons from the field on building data systems that are useful to both policymakers and practitioners — not just one or the other

This session is designed for data strategists, state agency leaders, and district decision-makers who are ready to move beyond counting services and toward using behavioral health data.

Session Description: Fast-growing public-sector and nonprofit organizations often need data insights before their systems are ready. This session shares how our team developed a sprint-based Data Strategy Delivery System to deliver useful dashboards, tools, and data products while still supporting a long-term data strategy. Data practitioners and leaders, especially those working in low-maturity data environments, will leave with concrete approaches for turning fragmented data into actionable insight.

Intended Audience: Nonprofit organizations; Managers of data or technology teams; Data analysts or independent researchers