I wanted to take a moment to talk about an important topic, Data Literacy. First, I love how Ben is highlighting a very important, and personal to me, topic. I also love how Ben is highlighting the people who are making up this incredible movement, because that is what it is. https://twitter.com/DataRemixed/status/1336063771819667457

I'm also incredibly humbled to be part of the Data Literacy advocates list he has compiled. But I feel it's important for you to understand what advocacy is to me. Advocacy is being a voice for those who aren't heard, and there are far too many of those voices this year.

So much of the focus of data literacy has been on how organizations can improve internal data literacy, which is incredibly valuable and I do not mean to diminish this by any means. Keep the work going! But that to me is not advocacy. That is strategic work toward a data culture.

Advocacy focuses on the number of individuals who are left in the shadows. The millions of people who are furloughed or lost their jobs this year. Especially in service industries, and all the supporting industries. These are people who need data skills to find a path forward.

To find a path forward we have to speak up as those who have data skills. We have to think of how we're going provide training to millions of people who haven't needed data skills, because formal education is too expensive. We need it embedded in workforce training programs.

We need it to be included in after school programs, or curriculum for younger generations. We need it for teachers. We need it for aging populations who are increasingly met with digital challenges and access. We need it for everyone who has a barrier to entry for data skills!

This is NO LONGER about a "nice to have" skill set. This is also about a person's ability to thrive in an increasingly data driven world. A person's ability to read their own medical records, to access school work, to move careers. It is a critical skill for life.

That is advocacy to me. We need more data literacy advocates. We need more people putting a spotlight on the most vulnerable of our populations because that's the right thing to do. My wish for 2021 is that we amplify the voices of those who need it, rather than our own.