About Us

John is an urban planner and the executive director of DataWorks. His work with neighborhoods and community organizations includes mapping and other data visualization related to demographics, housing, health, economic development and the intersection of these in communities.

L’Tanya is the Data Action Coordinator at DataWorks. Her work aims to facilitate conversations that establish and deepen relationships with community groups and organizations, and to suggest ways data can support the goals unique to each community. She has an MFA in Creative Nonfiction and is particularly interested in combining data and the written narrative to share meaningful stories of our neighbors and communities.

Mad Bankson is a queer geographer and organizer from coastal North Carolina. They currently attend UNC’s masters program in City and Regional Planning, where their studies focus on environmental planning and climate equity. Located in Durham, Mad is proud to work on collective efforts related to housing and labor rights, racial justice, and community-based disaster relief. Mad Bankson is a queer geographer and organizer from coastal North Carolina. They currently attend UNC’s masters program in City and Regional Planning, where their studies focus on environmental planning and climate equity. Located in Durham, Mad is proud to work on collective efforts related to housing and labor rights, racial justice, and community-based disaster relief.

David Vanie is originally from Detroit, MI and has lived in Durham for 8 years, raising 5 children with his wife. He loves empowering his people toward collective liberation using culturally responsive frameworks. David operates from the perspective that gifting and genius are the cornerstone of self-sufficiency necessary for communal freedom.  He imagines the power of data technology being able to function as an equalizing tool for creating equity in historically oppressed communities.  David will be graduating from NCCU with his bachelor’s in human behavioral social science in December 2021. His desire is to continue to cultivate and create pathways for re-imagining the equitable participation in the development and utilization of data driven technology in Durham, NC.

Libby is DataWorks’ health data analyst. Her work is focused on the ways in which historical and structural inequalities produce health disparities.

Research Action Design is a worker-owned collective which uses community-led research, collaborative design of technology and media, and secure digital strategies to build the power of grassroots social movements. RAD partners with DataWorks to support research, design, and development for the Neighborhood Compass and the Neighborhood Health Indicators projects, as well as to support community-based research and engagement around equitable development.

I am an activist, animator, graphic designer, illustrator, comic artist and graphic facilitator based in the South. My artistic work is colored by my identity as a Black, immigrant, Muslim, gay trans guy and comic book nerd. I bring my boldness, quirks, and convictions to every project I work on, producing visuals that pack a punch!

As the child of a first generation college student, Alexandra believes education has the power to be a revolutionary agent for people and communities and a means to create a just and equitable world. To act on those beliefs, Alexandra has worked in partnerships with students, parents and the Durham community here at Student U for the past 7 years. Alexandra’s vision for the world is one where organizations like Student U no longer exist and every person is able to reach his or her full potential because our systems and institutions are just and equitable. Until that vision is reached, she is thankful to do work that is meaningful, urgent and necessary alongside an incredible personal and professional community.

Why DataWorks? I am energized and inspired by DataWorks’ vision of empowering citizens and communities with the data they need to tell true and honest stories about their own communities. My highest aspiration is that DataWorks becomes a mechanism that all Durham citizens can use to hold our city accountable for doing right by all members of our community.

Fred is a Chapel Hill-Durham resident since 1993. He is an Assistant Professor and currently serves as the Vice Chief of Duke’s Division of Community Health in the Department of Community and Family Medicine. Fred grew up in the Mid-Atlantic United States in the state of Maryland, in a large urban city, Baltimore. He completed his undergraduate studies at Loyola College in Baltimore, Maryland. He graduated from Wake Forest University Babcock School of Business with a Master degree in Business Administration. 

He is a former community organizer with several unique accomplishments including the Community Reinvestment Act and while working for The AFL-CIO put 10,000 seniors on the Mall in Washington DC in opposition to President Ronald Reagan’s proposed cuts in Social Security.

Vannessa Mason Evans is a native of Durham, North Carolina. She grew up in Braggtown, and is now the chairperson of the Braggtown Community Association. Vannessa is fighting for fair and affordable housing for those that are in need and stopping the displacement of black and brown people.

Bonita Green is a native of Durham, NC, who grew up, and currently resides in the Merrick-Moore Community. 
Bonita currently serves as Chair for the Merrick-Moore Community Development Group. Her advocacy work is in fighting for safer streets in Durham, clean air and water, and affordable housing for the lower wealth residents of Durham.

David has been a Durham resident since 2007. He is a Patient Account Analyst for Duke University Health System. David graduated with honors receiving a Bachelors degree in Accounting from North Carolina Central University. He also obtained a Masters degree in Business Administration from North Carolina Central University. David believes in education as one of the most powerful tools to shape one’s life and the lives of others. He has a deep reverence for the community that makes up the diverse and highly cultured city of Durham NC.

Marissa has been with the Durham County Department of Public Health for 10 years and currently serves as the Population Health Director. Originally from the Midwest and growing up near Chicago, Marissa migrated south for warmer winters. She completed undergrad at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale and received a Master’s of Public Health from University of Tennessee-Knoxville. Marissa is passionate about working with the Durham community, making health data accessible and racial equity.

Bethany serves as the Open Data Program Manager for the City and County of Durham. She has a master’s degree in quantitative methods from Columbia University, and has lived in Durham since 2013. She believes that data is essential in holding government and institutions accountable to the communities they serve.