DataHaven

06/05/2026

The DataHaven Youth Action Council (DHYAC) hosted their end-of-year research symposium on Thursday last week, celebrating a year of learning data literacy and conducting individual research on key community issues.

The DHYAC is a group of high school students from throughout Connecticut who are interested in understanding and using data to create change in their communities. Over the course of the last school year, students from Fairfield County, Greater New Haven, the Naugatuck Valley, and Greater Hartford met every other Saturday to develop an understanding of data availability, collection and analysis methods, and visualization and reporting techniques.

The symposium was open to the public and attendees included student family members, DataHaven staff, and community partners. The event also featured a guest appearance from Mayor Justin Elicker.

DHYAC is entirely youth-led, allowing students the autonomy to decide the curriculum, their research focuses, and which events they host and participate in. This was the inaugural cohort of DHYAC, a program created last summer by two high school seniors interning at DataHaven, Janet Fan and Linda Chen, and then designed and led by 3 high school student facilitators (Janet, Linda, and Saanika Tipnis) throughout the school year, with support from Drew Thomas, a UConn PhD student and teaching fellow.

In addition to hosting the symposium, students also led a module at Yale School of Public Health in April. At that event, DHYAC members facilitated an interactive data-centric activity for other high school students in the New Haven area.

At the symposium last week, the students’ research projects included topics such as affordable housing and homelessness in Connecticut, legacies of redlining in Connecticut cities, the relationship between teen mental health and social media, and transportation barriers and access. Many of the students plan to continue their work, sharing their research findings and using them to support advocacy efforts and enact change across .

The program will continue next school year, inviting a new cohort of high school students to participate in research for community action. High school students interested in learning more about the program can find more information on DataHaven’s website.

Thank you The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven Greater Hartford Gives The Connecticut Project and individual donors for supporting these students.

05/31/2026

It was a CVLC family reunion at the Fair Housing + Civil Rights Conference earlier this week! 🏘 ❤ ⚖

CLU Supervising Attorney Darren Pruslow was joined by Carter Shannon (now with DataHaven) and Margaret Middleton (now with Open Communities Alliance ) along with our colleagues Mary Vardaro and Brittany Perdigao to discuss remaining gaps in the housing voucher system.

Thank you to all who joined and to the organizers and Connecticut Fair Housing Center for bringing us all together.

05/27/2026

Today, DataHaven Research Associate Carter Shannon MPH is presenting at the 20th Annual Fair Housing &
Civil Rights Conference.

05/21/2026

DataHaven ended yesterday at Milner Middle School, presenting at an evening “data walk” for residents of North Hartford, organized by our partners at . Residents had great questions and suggestions for the ongoing statewide DataHaven Community , which has interviewed tens of thousands of randomly-selected adults statewide including thousands in the City of . The survey includes an additional Family & Child Wellbeing questionnaire used to inform the Ascend program.

05/19/2026

DataHaven thanks for hosting yesterday’s 2026 Legislative Debrief in . We had a chance to hear from Senator , Representative Nick Gauthier, and leaders at , , and about legislative session themes, wins, and hopes for the path forward. Key topics covered included housing, access to affordable childcare, transportation, the future of energy in , and striving towards food security - each encompassing aspects of the quality of life, equity, and well-being that drives DataHaven’s work.

05/11/2026

On Thursday last week, DataHaven led a data workshop and data use training for organizations involved with the Office of Firearm Injury Prevention. Our Executive Director Mark Abraham, MPH joined Senior Research Associate Camille Seaberry, MPS and Research Associate Carter Shannon, MPH in leading a half day of interactive sessions with participants. Thank you to Firearm Injury Prevention Initiative and in Wallingford for hosting the event!

05/10/2026

So much to do near the DataHaven office. night market is coming up this week!

05/07/2026

DataHaven was grateful to participate in the edition of the William Caspar Graustein Memorial Fund’s “Dream & Build” strategy sessions this week. Through a simulation activity and robust conversation, participants had the opportunity to wrestle with the complexities and tensions of grantmaking and educational equity work. , , and were just a few of the voices in the room. DataHaven was proud to contribute to the conversation today and welcomes all opportunities to bring a data-oriented lens to equity and community well-being work in all forms. Thank you for the invitation! (As always, shout out to the Lyceum and for such a comfortable and delicuous complements to the day.)

05/06/2026

Support DataHaven and other area nonprofits during The Great Give! Your support helps ensure access to critical information on community needs. https://www.thegreatgive.org/organizations/datahaven

An estimated 38% of all health aides in Connecticut are immigrants, according to DataHaven.

04/29/2026

On Saturday, DataHaven had the pleasure of attending an all day convening for the Transforming Communities Initiative (TCI). TCI is a powerful re-representation of the huge strides possible when local and statewide leaders come together to lend their voices, expertise, and talent in furtherance of healthier and stronger communities. , thank you for bringing together such an extraordinary group and for cultivating such an inspiring space.

Resounding themes from the day include the need for increased investment in mental health, transportation, healthcare, food security, and housing. (*Visit DataHaven’s website for data on each of these critical topics!*) The featured partners are “walking the walk” and bringing action-oriented commitment and care to our collective work. , , , . Special thanks to Thea Montanez () for your poignant keynote address.

In the wise words of ’s Amari Brantley, “people change places, and places shape lives.” The event was a reminder of the impact we all have on the people and places around us when we work as a collective.