Joy Bonaguro will share hard-won insights from the trenches of public data work. In her public sector Chief Data Officer (CDO) roles, she didn't just build data infrastructure—she navigated the messy realities of using public data to solve real problems for real people.
Joy has wrestled with everything from getting departments to share data to building systems that work across complex and occasionally rivalrous departments to introducing data science to distrustful employees. She understands both the transformative potential of public data and the very real obstacles that prevent it from being used well. Whether it's navigating procurement nightmares, building trust with skeptical stakeholders, or designing governance frameworks that actually work in practice, she's been there.
Joy Bonaguro has spent her career working at the nexus of data, design, technology, and policy. She now works as an independent consultant using a blend of data, technology, design, and policy to help make organizations work well. She has extensive experience working in complex, highly regulated organizations to accelerate use of data and technology in an agile, iterative, safe, ethical, and durable manner. She’s an international speaker and writer on leading practices in data infrastructure, management, analytics, data science, and responsible AI.
Prior to her consulting, Joy served as Chief Data Officer of the State of California with an overarching goal to improve government use of data. She established the Office of the CDO along with a suite of statewide data services. Prior to her state role, she was responsible for scaling internal systems, data, and information security at Corelight, a high-growth cybersecurity startup funded by Accel and General Catalyst. She served as the first Chief Data Officer for the City and County of San Francisco, where she pioneered multiple initiatives to introduce data science, streamline data access, improve data management, and boost capacity to use data. Before that, Joy developed technology, cyber and privacy policy across the Department of Energy’s National Laboratory System. Her career started in New Orleans with seven years designing and managing the development of information systems to support planning and decision-making for local governments and nonprofits. Joy earned her Master's degree from UC Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy and her Bachelor's in Mathematics and Philosophy from Tulane University.
The Public Data for the Public Good summer webinar series is co-sponsored by the Center for Urban and Regional Analysis and the Research Commons at the University Libraries.
This event is approved for 1 AICP CM credit. To claim your CM credits, log into your My APA account on the APA website and enter the event into your online CM event log.
