On May 18, 2021, Juliane Stephan, Associate Partner at Bain, facilitated a panel of Team Leaders and Team Coordinators as they shared their experiences leading the first WiBD data challenge team cohort.

The adventure started in December 2020, when various members of our WiBD community shared how important hands-on experience with real data, real constraints, and real challenges will positively impact their learning, their careers and their progression.

We heard you! We called for volunteers, regardless of experience level, and we received an overwhelming response from our community. We were able to form three teams. All three completed their respective challenges—each with very competitive and compelling results.

The lessons learned from this experience were many. During the panel we heard how coming together as a team allowed all team participants to gain:

• A sense of accomplishment by challenging oneself, and by supporting others on their data journeys.
• The ability to cross the bridge from theory to practice.
• A supportive network of new teammates and friends.
• A proven set of tools to tackle complex data sets and problems.
• The conviction that their goal of making their mark in the data world is within reach.

Thank you to all participants. You will all receive a certificate of accomplishment issued by WiBD.

Our immense gratitude to the following volunteers:

• Team leaders: Rupa Gangatirkar, Mansi Maharana, and Nishrin Kachwala
• Team coordinators: Chenyuan “Christine’ Wang, Shruthi Ramalingam, and Mridula Allani
• Executive sponsor: Juliane Stephan

Your leadership made a difference!

View video.