After years of being out of the workforce and home with my children, I had the great fortune of being hired as the Director of Community Outreach for The Institute, a research organization for the region.

An English major with a background in pharmaceutical sales, I am a big picture person. My eyes glaze a bit in discussions involving data and numbers and that is what The Institute is all about.

It is a living, breathing data warehouse where researchers are working every day to determine what is actually happening in our communities, based on true statistics. Leaders in the community use this research to help them make decisions based on facts, not guesswork. Many of these decisions directly affect the quality of life and economy of our region.

Through the course of my first year, I learned a lot. I learned that getting back into the workforce after several years has its challenges both professionally and personally. I learned that working for a nonprofit requires wearing many hats and the ability to juggle a lot of things at once. But most importantly, I learned that data (as unexciting as it sounds) can actually change lives and improve communities.

It has been eye-opening to learn how data and research has been used by people to advocate for our region. It is being used in initiatives to tackle the region’s opioid problem, help the aging population, develop our workforce, improve transportation, and so much more. It was data that was behind state Sen. John Yudichak’s effort to prevent prison closings in January 2017.

Data helped prevent the loss of over 1,000 regional prison jobs – which would have seriously hurt the regional economy and the lives of so many families in our communities.

Through this column, we want to bring this data to you, in ways that can help with every day decision-making. How can you guide your child to choose a career path that will end in a job? The data can help.

Is it best for your aging parent to remain in his or her home? Research can provide some answers. Why is knowing what is happening in the region in terms of demographics, workforce, infrastructure, industry, education, public safety and health care based on actual statistics important to you, your family and your livelihood? We will show you!

It is through new eyes that I see the value of paying attention to the numbers. The average person in the community probably does not know that The Institute for Public Policy and Economic Development exists. I didn’t. An organization with a long name and a simple mission – to help improve the quality of life in our communities and our economy by providing tools and resources to make good decisions.

It is our intention to bring you information, data and tools that you can use to create success in your own life one good decision at a time. And it will come from a newly converted data girl with a big picture brain. I look forward to our journey.

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Susan Magnotta

Susan Magnotta is the Director of Community Outreach at The Institute, a community-minded organization providing regional research, data and analytics to help drive discussion and inform decisions. Proud natives of the region, Susan and her husband, Marc, are delighted to be living, working and raising their five children in NEPA. Reach her at magnotta@institutepa.org.