To say 2013 was a year of transition for Data Driven Detroit might be a bit of understatement. The TechTown-based non-profit’s founder retired, it joined the Michigan Nonprofit Association and it started to take part in some big projects, such as Motor City Mapping.
"We have been through a lot of transition in the last year and a half," says Erica Raliegh, acting director of
Data Driven Detroit.
Despite all of that, Date Driven Detroit has hired five people over the last year. Those new hires include data analysts and project managers. The organization now has a core staff of 11 people.
Raliegh is filling in for Kurt Metzger, Data Driven Detroit’s founder. Metzger retired last summer and has since been elected as the mayor of Pleasant Ridge. He is currently serving as Data Driven Detroit’s Director Emeritus.
"We are so glad to have had Kurt throughout the years," Raliegh says.
She adds that Data Driven Detroit plans to continue its push to bring greater transparency to Metro Detroit by "opening up data holdings." That includes publishing MEAP scores for every school in the state, analyzing population statistics and trend and making information about recorded offense in the city of Detroit more accessible.
One of its largest projects is taking part in the Motor City Mapping project, which aims to catalogue the condition of every piece of property in the city of Detroit. "Every piece of property across the city, including those that don’t have buildings," Raleigh says. That project is currently underway and is expected to wrap up by the end of this winter.
Source: Erica Raliegh, acting director of Data Driven Detroit
Writer: Jon Zemke
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