From Service to Science
Khai Booker, the Massive Data Institute’s program coordinator, uses data to help ‘those who need it most.’
Saturdays have been busy for Khai Booker this year. Studying for an Online Certificate in Data Science from Georgetown’s School of Continuing Studies filled her weekends with predictive modeling, statistical analysis and a Capstone project aimed at forecasting global migration patterns.
Booker explains the real-world impacts of analytic insights
During the week, Booker is program coordinator for the Massive Data Institute (MDI) at the McCourt School of Public Policy. She joined the institute in 2022 to support the MDI Scholars program, putting to use her customer service background.
“We’re all doing it on some level — we think about what the end user needs and how all the high-level things we’re doing touch the people who need it most,” Booker said.
Thanks to this positive approach, Booker became an integral part of the team and now supports many projects at MDI, including its first-ever Administrative Data Research Conference (ADRCon) and the Save the Data initiative. At MDI, she has seen firsthand how activism and analytics come together for the greater good.
Booker’s Capstone project showcased her passion for helped others. Utilizing the Global Database of Events, Language and Tone (G-DELT), she predicted global migration patterns, providing insights that could help governments plan more effectively for required social services or preempt labor shortages through workforce development and training.
Because G-DELT has over 1.5 billion location references, Booker invested significant energy into refining the data. “Cleaning is 80% of the data science process,” she explained. While it’s imperative to narrow down your dataset to relevant information, it’s important not to overly limit your scope and miss key insights.
Booker is looking forward to her next project: an M.S. in business analytics. Her drive to push forward is reflected in her five children, who can see what their mom has achieved with hard work and discipline. One is studying computer science, another aspires to be an engineer and even the youngest finishes their daily home checklist without incentives.
It’s clear that Booker sees limitless potential in her kids, her work and her studies, and the possibility of doing more good work through all of them propels her forward.