Nielsen is providing volunteer support and continued sponsorship of AI4ALL, a nonprofit focused on opening doors to artificial intelligence (AI) for underrepresented talent through education and mentorship.
Over the summer, Nielsen collaborated with AI4ALL to launch the inaugural Data Jam initiative for students in their College Pathways program. The Data Jam provided a unique opportunity for students to hone their data visualization skills while connecting with and learning from real life data professionals. Ten Nielsen data scientists volunteered their time and expertise to introduce AI4ALL students to best practices in data analysis and visualization and coach students to develop visualizations using a data set provided by Nielsen. The Data Jam culminated in a live event where students presented their data visualizations to Nielsen volunteer judges. The winning teams of students received one-on-one mentorship support from Nielsen data scientists.
“Volunteering for the Data Jam was an incredible experience. I had the opportunity to mentor students, answer career-related questions and share my experience in the data science industry,” said Mari Mizoguchi, Director of Data Science at Nielsen. “As a local leader for Cares, our volunteering Business Resource Group, I know how important opportunities like this one are in cultivating more diverse and inclusive future generations of talent in the field.”
Since 2019, Nielsen has sponsored AI4ALL’s education programs to help train talent from historically excluded groups to become ethical leaders in the AI industry through education and mentorship, to ensure that AI can benefit all. Through continued support of student programs and volunteering opportunities like the Data Jam, Nielsen is proud to help diverse cohorts of AI4ALL students and alumni to pursue impactful careers in AI.
“Partners like Nielsen who are willing to roll up their sleeves and get involved are invaluable to AI4ALL’s work to prepare historically underrepresented youth for fulfilling careers in AI,” said Rockelle Morris, AI4ALL’s Vice President of Development. “We look forward to continuing to partner with Nielsen in meaningful ways that truly advance the possibilities for new talent entering into the AI field.”
The Data Jam is built on past data sharing and volunteer efforts between Nielsen and AI4ALL. In 2021, Nielsen’s summer interns organized a conference for high school students in AI4ALL’s programs to learn about the skills and practices important to securing internships in data science and related fields. And in 2020, volunteer data scientists used Nielsen’s audience measurement data to develop a student lesson about cleaning, displaying and making predictions from a dataset. The lesson is part of AI4ALL’s free high school curriculum offering, which is available online and at no cost for educators on AI4ALL’s website.
This relationship is part of Nielsen’s Data for Good program, which involves the pro bono donation of Nielsen data, solutions and talent to nonprofit organizations to make a positive impact, especially in causes related to representation and inclusion. This year, Nielsen committed to a new goal to contribute $30 million in total in-kind value by the end of 2024 in pro bono data donations, public reports and other support for organizations and topics that are powering a better media future for all people.
