The source of my scribbles.

Welcome to Data Uncollected, a newsletter designed to enable nonprofits to listen, think, reflect, and talk about data we missed and are yet to collect. In this newsletter, we will talk about everything the raw data is capable of – from simple strategies of building equity into research+analytics processes to how we can make a better community through purpose-driven analysis.

Hey, you. Did you notice we are on our 10th issue?! That means it has been almost ten weeks since you and I have been working to create this space of real data struggles and accomplishments. It almost feels like yesterday when I reached out to you with my first hello. I wouldn’t deny, I’m still a bit anxious when I hit that “publish to all” button to send you this newsletter. But that does not diminish the appreciation I always have for you. Building a community-driven space - exploring topics that often go unexplored/less heard – takes trust, humanity, and time. And we are just doing that – in a?daroon?way (daroon?is a Bengali word. It is one single word to encompass all those words like splendid, fantastic, etc.)

So, to make this edition a bit special (though who am I kidding – all editions are special to me), I am bringing a?meta-data uncollected?topic to you, i.e., something about this newsletter. Have you seen any of those Thursday posts where I share the link to that week’s newsletter? I have two almost consistent sentences at the end “Please know, like most of my articles, this one is coming out of scribbly notes from some good conversations and weekly readings. Writing this piece also involved some tangential reading from non-data topics. So, I encourage you – if you find something relevant from your world to add to these ideas, please do so.”. I always write these two little sentences because I want to include what I am reading and where those thoughts are coming from. So today, I want to share what are the?current?sources of my research and learning behind these weekly articles?

Typically, my list of go-to resources does depend a bit on the topic I am planning to bring in this space. However, more or less, the thoughts, lessons, and questions from these sources, when seen in tandem with my own life experiences, do give me enough to journal a few pages – to sketch out how the flow of the story here could be. So, here is a list of my go-to sources:

?#1. Books I am reading these days:

• Design Justice by Sasha Costanza-Chock?, and,
• Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain

Both books offer me perspectives and comfort from two different types of worlds. One challenges me to look at misalignments between data, systems, and narratives. The other offers me a simple day-to-day life narrative, like someone would share with a stranger on a train.

#2. Two websites that I frequently visit these days:?

• World Economic Forum’s fantastic, in-depth resource (non-technical), and,
• Algorithmic Justice League

#3. An author whose journey I am following these days:

????Linda Tuhiwai Smith (for her book Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples)

#4. Online lectures/talks I follow:

Coursera/Udemy/EdX/other such platforms offer virtual courses. At any given time, I try to take a combination of these courses.

1.????Machine learning, qualitative research techniques, or strategic AI. The platforms offer a lot of courses. I pick the ones that provide samples and listen to a few to form some thoughts before committing to one long-term course.

2.????A non-tangential course like forming narratives, the psychology behind asking better questions, decoupling societal challenges, etc. A course that doesn’t directly relate to my day-to-day work but does affect me in the long run.

#5. And, most importantly, creating space for lots and lots and lots of conversations:

This is perhaps my favorite point. Nothing beats talking to someone – a plain old one-on-one conversation. I use my conversations the way I read books – to ask questions vulnerably and generously offer answers. Many questions/struggles I contemplate but can’t define an endpoint around it have been translated into meaningful actions via my conversations.

A question I like to ask – how do you know you are making an impact?

Literally those exact words. I leave it loose, so every individual translates it differently. Some share they don’t think about impact; some say they see it via the generous support of their donors, while few respond to it from the lens outside of their work.

That question also gives me a chance to learn from someone else in those few moments of reflection when they think if the “impact” they are going to talk about – did that definition change over the years. Because the definition of that impact is allowed to change and evolve.

Do you have a question like that?

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Before I wrap up – I will talk to you the week after next. With everything happening in the world, I realized I needed some dedicated space to uplift my mental energy. So, next week I am taking the time from our conversation to read, walk, and watch movies of the 80s.?

***?So, what do I want from you today (my readers)?

Today, I want you to

• Create some dedicated space for rest, recharge and heal.
• Share when you can – what are your go-to resources these days? What are you reading? Learning? Struggling?

***For those reading this newsletter for the first time,?here is some intro of this newsletter?for you. :)