Aleszu Bajak
About Aleszu Bajak
Aleszu Bajak is the Director of Data Visualization at the Urban Institute, where he has worked since 2022. He has held various roles in journalism and academia, including positions at USA TODAY, Northeastern University, and the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard.
Current Role at Urban Institute
Aleszu Bajak serves as the Director of Data Visualization at Urban Institute, a position he has held since 2022. In this role, he focuses on data visualization and development, contributing to various projects that aim to present complex data in an accessible manner. His work supports the Institute's mission to inform policy and improve lives through data-driven insights.
Previous Experience at Northeastern University
Bajak has held multiple roles at Northeastern University. He worked as the Innovation Lead for the Co-Laboratory for Data Impact from 2019 to 2020. Additionally, he served as the Graduate Programs Manager from 2017 to 2020 and as a Part-Time Lecturer from 2014 to 2020. His diverse roles contributed to the university's focus on data and analytics.
Experience in Journalism
Bajak has significant experience in journalism, particularly in data reporting. He was a Senior Data Reporter at USA TODAY from 2020 to 2022. Prior to that, he worked as an Instructor at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard in 2016. His writing has appeared in notable publications such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Nature.
Educational Background
Aleszu Bajak studied at Amherst College, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Biology and Spanish from 2002 to 2006. He later obtained a Master’s degree in Analytics from Northeastern University in 2019. His educational background supports his expertise in data visualization and analysis.
Projects and Initiatives
Bajak has been involved in various projects throughout his career. Notably, he contributed to the project 'Nine Charts about Wealth Inequality in America' at Urban Institute. He also founded and edited Storybench.org, a guide to data and digital storytelling, and LatinAmericanScience.org, a resource for science news from Latin America.