Elijah Appelson
Resume

ABOUT

Mathematician and Data Activist with experience in web scraping, predictive modeling, and data storytelling. Using data to create accountability.

EDUCATION

Vassar College | Poughkeepsie, NY

Graduation May 2023

Bachelor of Arts in Pure Mathematics (Phi Beta Kappa, General Honors, and Departmental Honors)

GPA: 4.00 / 4.00

  • Mathematics Major Committee Representative.
  • Class of 2023, Student Senator.
  • Class of 2023, Student Board of Elections Representative.

EXPERIENCE

Data Analyst, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Louisiana

June 2023 - Current

  • Developing multiple dashboards to visualize the impact of police violence in Louisiana reaching 1,000,000+ Louisianans.
  • Launching 20+ reports on youth justice, immigration, voting rights, and redistricting.
  • Providing data and interviews on leading civil liberty issues to reporters across Louisiana.
  • Leading research projects with RFK Human Rights, the Innocence Project, the Department of Justice, and multiple law firms.

Quantitative Tutor, Vassar College

September 2020 - May 2023

  • Tutored 50+ students in physics, economics, computer science (introductory to intermediate), and mathematics (Calculus through Mathematical Logic).
  • Delivered personalized support to improve student comprehension and academic performance.

Data Specialist, Center for Community Alternatives

June 2021 - November 2022

  • Consolidated, cleaned, and managed data for 20,000+ members, supporters, and partners into a unified CRM.
  • Automated media tracking and legislative monitoring using custom Python tools to enhance organizational efficiency.

Court Observation Intern, Vera Institute of Justice

July 2022 - September 2022

  • Collected and analyzed quantitative and qualitative data on 100+ defendants across five Ulster County courts.
  • Co-authored a report published in the Buffalo Times based on findings from the observed court sessions.

Data Fellow, BlueBonnet Data

May 2022 - August 2022

  • Developed Python functions to streamline voter file processing and merge external datasets for West Virginia-based civic engagement initiatives.
  • Designed data fluency strategies for organizations, including Western Virginia Civic Engagement Table and For West Virginia's Future.

Researcher, Consortium on Forced Migration, Education, and Displacement

January 2021 - July 2021

  • Built the "Selective Bibliography on Forced Migration and Displacement" website to educate audiences on refugee studies.
  • Authored bibliographies featured on the website and in EuropeNow Journal.

Community Fellow, End the New Jim Crow Action Network

May 2020 - August 2022

  • Organized protests drawing 500+ participants, advocating for criminal legal reform.
  • Hosted multiple community seminars with Vassar and Marist Colleges, the NAACP, and Justice 4 the Wrongfully Incarcerated.

VOLUNTEER PROJECTS

Technology Working Group Member, BlueBonnet Data

May 2024 - Current

  • Conducting training sessions on leveraging data science for progressive campaign strategies.
  • Overseeing 10+ research proposals and reports for campaigns nationwide.
  • Leading a team to create data visualizations for BlueBonnet Data’s 6th-anniversary report.

Data Fellow, May 2022 - August 2022

  • Worked with the Western Virginia Civic Engagement Table and For West Virginia's Future on voting rights data.
  • Mapped the voting landscape of West Virginia using Python to automatically condense voter files and outside data into a cohesive data set.

Leader, End the New Jim Crow Action Network

May 2020 - July 2022

  • Directed the organization with 100+ volunteers for two terms.
  • Co-authored a 50+ page research paper on the impact of policing in Poughkeepsie.
  • Managed the Court Watch of Dutchess County program, supervising volunteers collecting and analyzing judicial data.
  • Developed the “Court Watch of Dutchess County Interactive Database,” enabling residents to access years of court data.

AWARDS & COMPETITIONS

  • MIT Technology & Policy Hackathon (2024): Created a data dashboard for California District Attorneys to prioritize Second Look cases.
  • New Orleans Society for Human Resources Management Panelist (2024): Served as a panelist to discuss intergenerational knowledge in non-profit organizations.
  • Humane Intelligence Algorithmic Bias Bounty Advanced Challenge Winner (2024): Awarded for building the most accurate likelihood model to predict whether a large language model prompt would elicit a misdirected outcome.
  • Vassar College LAVA Talk (2024): Gave a guest lecture on technology for social change through my work at the ACLU.
  • Eleanor H. DeGolier Prize for Academic Excellence (2022): Awarded for achieving the highest academic standing during my Junior Year.
  • Burnam Fellowship (2021): Awarded to pursue a criminal justice internship with the Center for Community Alternatives.
  • Vassar Community Fellowship (2020): Awarded to support the End the New Jim Crow Action Network as a full-time employee.
  • Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition (2017) and New York State Assembly Certificate of Merit (2017): Awarded for volunteering and community building through music.

SKILLS

  • Languages: Basic American Sign Language and Basic Spanish
  • Programming Languages: R (Shiny, Tidyverse, CARAT), Python (Selenium, Scikit, TensorFlow), CSS, HTML, and Basic SQL
  • Software: GitHub, Tableau, Power BI, ArcGIS, and Excel