Q&A with Megan Lane Conklin, Cohort 9 SDP Fellow Alumna

Megan Lane Conklin is the Director of Data at Hope Chicago in Chicago, IL. Prior to her role at Hope Chicago, she worked as a Strategic Data Fellow in Chicago Public Schools, opened and ran a charter school, and taught in the U.S., Namibia, and Spain. She holds a PhD in Education Policy from the University of Florida, a Masters in Education Policy from Vanderbilt University, and a B.A. from Flagler College in St. Augustine, FL. 

What drew you to the SDP Fellowship? What did you do prior to the SDP Fellowship? How did you get started in the education data/policy field? 

The SDP Fellowship was an appealing next step for me in the field of education. I had worked in schools for a long time in various roles and had also gotten my PhD. From these very different viewpoints, I saw a need to bridge policy, practice, and research/data. SDP was an amazing opportunity to bridge the gap between these three in the name of education reform. 

What is the most memorable or impactful moment or experience from your time as an SDP Fellow? 

I have so many fond memories of my time as a SDP Fellow. At my placement, I remember the moment I got to pitch my capstone to the CEO of CPS. It was so rewarding to get to pitch my idea and have her fully endorse it. In the fellowship, I remember having the honor of delivering a "graduation" speech. As I reflected on our shared experience together, I couldn't help but feel so proud of all that we had accomplished in our time together. 

Tell us about your current job.  

I am currently working at my dream job. I get the privilege of overseeing the use of data at a non-profit dedicated to improving the lives of young adults in Chicago. We are a small & young company, with a start-up vibe. There is an extreme sense of urgency in the work we do, and that shows up in how we all work together for a greater purpose. I love that there is always a new problem to solve, be it how to define something in data, how to measure something, how to collect the data we need to answer a question, how we use the data we have to improve our programming, or how we make our data systems talk to each other. 

What skills did you gain from your time as an SDP Fellow that you find helpful in your current role? 

SDP instilled in me valuable skills- both hard and "soft." I specifically remember taking a survey design class in SDP that has forever changed the way I design my surveys. The technical skills around data cleaning and analysis in R and other programming software has also been super helpful in the work I do now. In terms of softer skills, I got tons of practice in SDP learning how to communicate to a variety of audiences and tell stories with data. Using data to influence policy is a significant portion of my work, and many of the skills I built in SDP have greatly improved the work I'm currently doing. 

What advice would you give for prospective SDP Fellows? What would you say to encourage prospective applicants to apply? 

I'd start by asking where they want to be in 5 years or what kind of work they are interested in doing. I'd then frame SDP as a "gap-building" experience- one that bridges policy, practice, and data- something rare in the world of education. 

What is something you enjoy in your free time?  

In my free time I love to play tennis. I also watch/follow professional tennis. As a player, my favorite part about tennis is the strategy- I love that you have to play a mental game as much as you have to play a physical one. As a fan, my favorite part is all of the statistics and data used to predict the winner of a match.