“I had the pleasure of working with Emilie during her final capstone course in MICA’s Data Analytics and Visualization graduate degree program. It’s rare to find someone with Emilie’s incredibly strong work ethic, talent, and dedication to getting it right. Emilie embraces the iterative process until she lands on the right solution. When others might settle for ‘good enough,’ Emilie doesn’t stop until her work reaches a level of perfection she’s satisfied with. Emilie is a lifelong learner, with a growth mindset unmatched.

Emilie’s project, ‘Perpetuation of Privilege,’ asks the audience to re-think their trust place in the U.S. News College rankings system. Her research and analytics build on questions raised during Malcolm Gladwell’s original podcast on the topic, further exposing the discrepancies and alarming gaps in U.S. News’ processes and data behind their well-known publications. She walks the audience through a compelling visual data story, articulating the discrepancies, while also revealing a misalignment between the metrics and assumptions on what is being measured. Emilie developed a consistent visual system, which she uses to encode information and data to successfully help the audience decode and digest what was originally a complex data set. ‘Perpetuation of Privilege’ doesn’t leave the reader hanging, providing vetted alternate sources. Perhaps most importantly, this piece asks readers to dig a little deeper into all publications’ findings moving forward, especially when it will be used as the basis for life changing decisions.

I would gladly work with Emilie again and recommend her for any role or project that requires a strong analyst and talented visual storyteller.”

“I had the pleasure of working with Emilie Schaffer during her studies at MICA's Data Analytics and Visualization program. I was impressed with Emilie's clear thinking, whether it was in data research, storytelling, information design, or graphic design. Her capstone project shows not only these qualities, but that she is also someone who recognizes the power of data and visual storytelling and is willing to use it to help make the world a better place.”

“Emilie's devotion to learning and commitment to her craft is readily apparent through her portfolio, but what stands out to me is her leadership and engagement. Emilie was a student in my Data Storytelling course at MICA and it happened to be my first time teaching the course. From the first week she was willing to provide feedback to ensure she and the entire class were working through material that would make them better data analysts. It takes a special person to be willing to negotiate power dynamics and have direct conversations about what is working and what isn't and I remain appreciative for her bravery and leadership. The entire class benefited from her presence and engagement, to say nothing of her own rapid growth in her ability to communicate technical work and analysis. I'm still hopeful I can work with her in another capacity someday!”