NEWS RELEASE
The Data Center's Executive Director will step down in June 2017
CONTACT:
Allison Plyer, Executive Director and Chief Demographer
cell: 847.772.1716
NEW ORLEANS – (November 1, 2016) –The Data Center announced today that Dr. Allison Plyer, Executive Director and Chief Demographer, will be stepping down from her role as Executive Director of The Data Center effective June 30, 2017 in order to pursue new challenges. A selection committee, led by Vice Chair, Keith Crawford, has been formed to oversee the search for a new Executive Director. The selection committee aims to have a new Executive Director in place by spring in order to ensure a smooth transition. Starting July 2017, Dr. Plyer will continue to serve as a key content expert and author key publications for The Data Center, while she branches out to tackle new challenges.
“Thanks to Allison, The Data Center has an assemblage of top notch professionals. She has laid a strong foundation for our exciting tomorrows,” stated Reginald Harley, Board Chair. “We at The Data Center are grateful for Allison’s professional ethics, the academic rigor upon which she insists, and her deep understanding of data and its importance as an equalizer. She has always emphasized the importance of putting community first and focusing our efforts on impact” said Keisha Smith, Production Manager.
“It has been my honor to work with a long line of amazing professionals at The Data Center—publishing reports that provide solid evidence of New Orleans’ accomplishments, remaining challenges, and possible futures,” said Dr. Plyer. “Everything we do at The Data Center is a team effort, and the current staff of professionals is ideally poised for growth and expansion."
Allison Plyer joined The Data Center (then known as the Greater New Orleans Community Data Center or GNOCDC) in 2001. Before Katrina, she supplied essential audience insights that informed GNOCDC’s neighborhood indicators web site which became renowned for its usefulness to local nonprofits and community groups. After Katrina, Dr. Plyer began co-authoring The New Orleans Index, developed in partnership with the Brookings Institution, to track the recovery of the city. Allison assumed the role of Executive Director in 2013, recruiting and training new staff, and collaborating with scholars from universities across the city to execute important new publications, including The New Orleans Index at Ten Collection and The Coastal Index.
“Dr. Plyer and her team have helped shed light on Louisiana’s most pressing water management issues and, through The Coastal Index, inform the economic opportunities inherent in the solutions that allow Louisiana to better ‘live with water’. The data provided through the Center’s research helps inform the thinking of citizens and decisionmakers across the region," says Kristin Tracz, Gulf of Mexico Program Officer of The Walton Family Foundation.
A recent independent evaluation found that The Data Center’s reports have been essential to settling debates and creating a common understanding in an uncertain environment, have informed national and state recovery policies by enabling decisionmakers to set priorities and develop strategies, and drove millions of dollars of investment, both public and private, to the region.
“When we all come together for a strategic and purposeful mission, change happens. Under the leadership and direction of Dr. Plyer, The Data Center has proven to be a valued and neutral partner, helping drive data-driven conversations about the well-being of our community and a myriad of potential investments,” says Jennifer Roberts, Vice President of Education Grants at Baptist Community Ministries. "We congratulate Dr. Plyer and the Center on these accomplishments and look forward to ensuring that The Data Center remains a visible, reliable partner of our community's changemakers."
The Selection Committee will begin a formal application process to select a successor in early January 2017. For more information, visit The Data Center website Job Opportunities page at www.datacenterresearch.org.
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The Data Center is the most trusted resource for data about greater New Orleans and Southeast Louisiana. Since 1997, The Data Center has been an objective partner in bringing reliable, thoroughly researched data to conversations about building a more prosperous, inclusive, and sustainable region. The Data Center became the local authority for tracking post-Katrina recovery with The New Orleans Index, developed in partnership with the Brookings Institution. The Data Center is also recognized across the country for expertise in New Orleans demographics, disaster recovery indicators, and actionable data visualization.
