For all intents and purposes, Kate Rabinowitz taught herself coding through online programs like CodeAcademy and CodeSchool.
But she wouldn’t have gotten very far in her project — a new website that helps explain D.C. with data — without help from the thriving women-in-tech community here.
“I had times where I was so lost I didn’t even know what to Google or I had problems with seemingly unfindable solutions,” Rabinowitz said in an email.
So she turned to groups like Hear Me Code and Women Who Code DC for judgement-free support.
“Having a safe space to ask near endless questions was relieving,” she said. “Encircling yourself with a group that checks your imposter syndrome and pushes you forward was empowering.”
In her journey, she also tapped into the open government ethos, and realized that she had useful skills to bring to helping the public benefit from the growing reams of available data.
“This data is often inaccessible to those without programming experience and not at all consumable to those without a background in data analysis,” said Rabinowitz, an economics researcher at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.
Late last month, she officially launched DataLensDC, a website that explores the city through various data sets.
Visit
The first post is a map that shows D.C. to be one of the most migratory cities it the country.
“Through DataLensDC I hope to unlock the value of this data to contextualize for readers the trends happening around them and the character of the city we live in,” said Rabinowitz.
Of particular interest to Rabinowitz, who moved here in 2010, are the fast-paced changes the capital has undergone.
“I continue to be amazed when walking down 14th street and remembering when Le Diplomat was a burned out, abandoned laundromat,” she said. “Capturing that dynamism through data and visualizations in a way that people can attach to became really interesting to me.”
Before you go...
Please consider supporting Technical.ly to keep our independent journalism strong. Unlike most business-focused media outlets, we don’t have a paywall. Instead, we count on your personal and organizational support.
3 ways to support our work:- Contribute to the Journalism Fund. Charitable giving ensures our information remains free and accessible for residents to discover workforce programs and entrepreneurship pathways. This includes philanthropic grants and individual tax-deductible donations from readers like you.
- Use our Preferred Partners. Our directory of vetted providers offers high-quality recommendations for services our readers need, and each referral supports our journalism.
- Use our services. If you need entrepreneurs and tech leaders to buy your services, are seeking technologists to hire or want more professionals to know about your ecosystem, Technical.ly has the biggest and most engaged audience in the mid-Atlantic. We help companies tell their stories and answer big questions to meet and serve our community.
Join our growing Slack community
Join 5,000 tech professionals and entrepreneurs in our community Slack today!