Resume
Director, DHCR Data Center | Civic Technologist | Data Scientist
Professional Summary
Digital transformation executive and civic technologist building government technology platforms that serve millions. Secured $11 million in state budget allocation for veteran homelessness infrastructure now advancing through permanent legislative codification. Founded OPRAmachine (75,000+ public records requests) and created zipcodeR (115,000+ total CRAN downloads, 53+ peer-reviewed citations in Nature, Cancer Discovery). Currently directing an in-house civic technology team at NJ DCA, delivering AI-powered resident services and data infrastructure supporting landmark housing policy.
Experience
Director, DHCR Data Center
New Jersey Department of Community Affairs- Built in-house civic technology and web development team from scratch, delivering production applications including the NJ Eviction Guide, Bringing Veterans Home website, and NJ HOMES planning tools
- Secured $11 million FY 2027 budget allocation for Bringing Veterans Home initiative—infrastructure now advancing through permanent legislative codification (S-1838, passed committee unanimously)
- Designed statewide data infrastructure coordinating 6 regional hubs toward Functional Zero veteran homelessness
- Deployed AI-assisted contact center (Operation Right Answer) modernizing constituent services through Amazon Connect and Azure OpenAI
- Developed NJ HOMES Choice Tool enabling all 564 municipalities to implement A4-S50 affordable housing requirements
- Reduced municipal reporting time by 70% through process modernization and automation
- Recipient of Governor's Team of Excellence Award (2025) for affordable housing implementation
Founding Data Scientist
Rutgers Urban & Civic Informatics Lab- Established technical infrastructure and analytical capabilities for flagship research center
- Bridged computational methods with urban policy research under executive dean's office
- Developed spatial analysis tools and data pipelines for policy research
Research Affiliate
New Jersey State Policy Lab- Led research project examining opioid crisis through advanced spatial data analysis
- Applied GIS and statistical modeling to inform state-level policy interventions
Founder
OPRAmachine- Founded New Jersey's first statewide freedom of information platform
- Processed 75,000+ public records requests and released 250GB of government data
- Serves journalists, researchers, advocates, and citizens across 565 government agencies
Education
Master of Science in Data Science & Strategic Analytics
2020Bachelor of Arts in Political Science
2018Certified Public Manager (CPM) Candidate
Oct 2025 – Sept 2026Nationally recognized public management credential. Capstone project: Operation Right Answer — AI-powered customer service modernization for housing programs using Amazon Connect and Azure OpenAI.
Key Projects
OPRAmachine
New Jersey's first statewide OPRA request platform. 75,000+ requests processed, 250GB data released, 565 agencies covered.
zipcodeR
Open-source R package for ZIP code analysis. 115,000+ total CRAN downloads, 53+ peer-reviewed citations including Nature and Cancer Discovery.
Bringing Veterans Home
Statewide data infrastructure supporting NJ's veteran homelessness initiative, coordinating 6 regional hubs toward Functional Zero.
NJ Eviction Guide
Built by my in-house web development team: interactive bilingual self-help tool connecting vulnerable residents to housing assistance and legal resources.
Municipal Lead Reporting Portal
Statewide compliance platform capturing residential lead-paint inspection data for all 564 NJ municipalities.
NJ Civil Service Navigator
Civic technology platform making 5,128+ NJ civil service job specifications searchable with career path visualization, resume matching, and job posting generation.
NJ HOMES Choice Tool
Interactive planning platform enabling all 564 municipalities to implement A4-S50 affordable housing requirements with scenario simulation and compliance tracking.
Skills
Technical
- R Programming & Statistics
- Python
- React / TypeScript
- Full-Stack Development
- AI / Machine Learning
- GIS / Spatial Analysis
- Cloud Platforms (Azure, AWS)
- PostgreSQL / SQL
Domain Expertise
- Digital Transformation
- Civic Technology
- Data Science & Analytics
- Government Operations
- Housing Policy
- Veterans Services
- Public Records Law
- Open Data
Leadership
- Team Building
- Stakeholder Engagement
- Cross-functional Collaboration
- Strategic Planning
- Change Management
Awards & Recognition
Governor's Team of Excellence Award
New Jersey Civil Service CommissionFirst Place, GIS Mapping Contest
New Jersey Department of Environmental ProtectionExcellence in Local News Award
New Jersey Press FoundationSpeaking & Presentations
AI in Higher Education Panel
Stockton University — The Power of Public Colleges & Universities ConferenceRe-envisioning Housing Data Panel
Monarch Housing Associates Annual ConferenceFrom Prompt to Public Service: AI Use Cases in Government
CoPPER (Community of Practice for Public Evaluation and Research)Introduction to GitHub for Analytics
Rutgers Bloustein School — Intelligent Informatics Webinar SeriesProfessional Affiliations
Member
IBEW Local 30 2026 - PresentNotary Public
State of New Jersey 2015 - PresentSelected Publications
zipcodeR: Advancing the analysis of spatial data at the ZIP code level in R
Software Impacts (2021) — 53+ peer-reviewed citationsThe first statewide, open access dataset tracking public records requests in New Jersey
Data in Brief (2020)njtr1: An R package for researching road safety using open crash data
Software Impacts (2021)Research cited in Nature, Cancer Discovery, Environmental Research, and JAMIA Open. View full publications list →