Elijah Appelson
Resume

Resume

Elijah Appelson is an activist, mathematician, and computational social scientist. Since graduating from Vassar College in 2023 with a Degree in pure Mathematics, he has served as the first Data Scientist at the ACLU of Louisiana, specializing in immigration, policing, and the broader criminal legal system. Skilled in web scraping, machine learning, and data storytelling, Elijah uses these tools to promote accountability. Previously, he held positions at the Human Rights Research Center, the Center for Community Alternative, and the Vera Institute of Justice, blending technical expertise with a commitment to civil rights. His research interests lie at the intersection of technology, human rights, and the political economy.

EDUCATION

Stanford University | Stanford, CA

September 2025 - Current (On Leave)

MS Candidate, Management Science and Engineering, Computational Social Science Track

GPA: 4.30 / 4.00

Vassar College | Poughkeepsie, NY

Graduated May 2023

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

GPA: 4.00 / 4.00

EXPERIENCE

Research Assistant, New York University

January 2026 - Current

  • Lead a project analyzing the effects of recent attacks on press freedom in the U.S. using data scraping and custom large language models.
  • Collect, clean, and structure datasets from multiple major outlets to support quantitative analysis.

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

June 2023 - Current

  • Engineer and launch 5+ public-facing dashboards visualizing systemic police violence in Louisiana, reaching 1M+ residents and directly informing advocacy campaigns that influence state legislation.
  • Serve on the National ACLU's Reimagining Community Safety and Generative AI working groups, contributing to nationwide policy strategy.
  • Author or co-author of 20+ data-driven reports on youth justice, immigration, voting rights, and redistricting, cited by policymakers and media outlets, including MSNBC and More Perfect Union.
  • Lead cross-organizational research collaborations with RFK Human Rights, Innocence Project, DOJ, and civil rights law firms, coordinating data collection and analytics across partner organizations.

Quantitative Tutor, Vassar College

September 2020 - May 2023

  • Tutored over 50 students across a range of quantitative disciplines, including Mathematics, Computer Science, Physics, and Economics.

Legislative Data Specialist, Center for Community Alternatives

June 2021 - November 2022

  • Consolidated and cleaned data for 20,000+ members into a unified CRM system, reducing data entry time and enabling targeted outreach that increased campaign engagement.
  • Automated media tracking and legislative monitoring using custom Python scrapers, reducing manual research time from 15 hours to 2 hours weekly and enabling real-time strategic responses.

Court Observation Intern, Vera Institute of Justice

July 2022 - September 2022

  • Collected and analyzed quantitative and qualitative data on 100+ defendants across 5 Ulster County courts, identifying patterns in bail decisions and sentencing disparities.
  • Co-authored findings published by the Vera Institute and featured in the Buffalo Times, contributing to regional bail reform discussions.

Data Fellow, BlueBonnet Data

May 2022 - August 2022

  • Developed Python functions to automate voter file processing for 1000+ records, reducing processing time for civic engagement campaigns: Western Virginia Civic Engagement Table and For West Virginia's Future.

Researcher, Consortium on Forced Migration, Education, and Displacement

January 2021 - July 2021

  • Built "Selective Bibliography on Forced Migration and Displacement" website, curating 200+ academic resources for refugee studies audiences.
  • Research featured in the EuropeNow Journal, reaching international academic and policy audiences.

VOLUNTEER EXPERIENCE

Research Analyst, Human Rights Research Center

October 2025 - Current

  • Conduct research and monitor human rights issues globally by collecting and analyzing data.
  • Drafting a report on the history of age-verification laws.

Technology Working Group Member, BlueBonnet Data

May 2024 - August 2025

  • Delivered data science training to 30+ volunteers working on political campaigns, covering statistical analysis, visualization, and quantitative policy analysis.
  • Oversaw 10+ research projects, providing research support.

Leader, End the New Jim Crow Action Network

May 2020 - July 2022

  • Directed organization with 100+ volunteers across two elected terms, managing recruitment, training, and project coordination.
  • Developed the "Court Watch of Dutchess County Interactive Database," enabling public access to 4+ years of judicial data on 500+ cases.

SELECT AWARDS, HONORS & COMPETITIONS

  • Eleanor H. DeGolier Graduate Prize (2025): Scholarship for graduate education.
  • Humane Intelligence Algorithmic Bias Bounty Winner (2024): Built the highest-accuracy LLM bias prediction model among 200+ competitors.
  • MIT Technology & Policy Hackathon (2024): Created a dashboard for California District Attorney Second Look case prioritization.
  • Vassar College LAVA Talk (2024): Guest lecture on technology for social change.
  • Eleanor H. DeGolier Prize for Academic Excellence (2022): Highest academic standing, Junior Year.
  • Burnam Fellowship (2021): Funded criminal justice internship.
  • Vassar Community Fellowship (2020): Funded full-time community organizing work.
  • State and Congressional Honor (2019): Community building through music.

SKILLS

  • Programming: Python (Selenium, TensorFlow, Scikit-learn), R (Shiny, Tidyverse), SQL, HTML, CSS
  • Data Science: Machine Learning, Statistical Modeling, NLP, Data Visualization, Geospatial Analysis, Web Scraping, Network Analysis, OCR
  • Tools: GitHub, Tableau, Power BI, ArcGIS, LexMachina, Excel
  • Languages: Basic Spanish, Basic American Sign Language