About

Hi, I'm Jacky. I'm from NYC, and I got into data sort of by accident, but I'm glad I did.

Before any of this looked like a career, I studied Business Administration at Queens College and spent three years in the New York Army National Guard as an Air Battle Management System Operator. The military taught me how to think in systems and stay organized under pressure. Turns out that's pretty useful in data engineering too.

After the Army, I worked at the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation, managing data collection for Trees Count! 2015, a citywide tree census. At the time I was focused on the people-management side of it and didn't think much about the dataset itself. Looking back, I think that was where the seed got planted.

My first real exposure to data was at the NYC Taxi & Limousine Commission, where I spent three years helping shape city transportation policy. One project I'm still proud of: an interactive map of For-Hire Vehicle Relief Stands, designated areas where drivers are legally allowed to pull over. The DOT had a static list posted on their website, which wasn't much help to a driver mid-shift. So I put together a team of analysts and interns, validated every stand in the field, and rebuilt the list as a map drivers could pull up on their phone in Google Maps. It's been viewed over 2 million times and was even featured on Uber's website. Knowing the work actually changed how 8 million people got around the city was what got me hooked on this field.

Outside of work, I like riding my bike, traveling whenever I can, and spending an embarrassing amount of time reading about how different cities run their transit and micromobility systems. Bikeshare, scooters, whatever they're trying next.

If anything on this site catches your eye, feel free to reach out.