Hi. I'm Leslie Sage.

I’m the Director of Data Science at DevResults, a software company that provides a data management platform for the international development community. Working with data in this sphere presents unique challenges.

The bulk of our data team’s labors are in data engineering and education. Our clients are working with information that rarely begins in a structured format and requires wrangling into machine-readable datasets. We’re working to change that. These data represent the investment of billions of dollars in aid from the US government and other donors, but use of data in decision-making is hampered by poor tools and lack of training.

Our challenge at DevResults is to design tools that work anywhere in the world for someone with any level of experience with technology and data. I’ve trained in 16 countries, from Haiti to Afghanistan, Malawi to Bangladesh. Our users include everyone from experts in macroeconomics to folks who are new to the internet. With fresh eyes for what’s truly intuitive and what isn’t, the newcomers offer us an incredible education in design. This makes us a uniquely positioned laboratory for education in technology and data. Our aim is not to provide analysis as a service but to enable data-driven decision-making by the folks doing the work in developing communities.

Previously, I worked with the Obama Presidential Campaign in 2012 as Deputy Data Director for the battleground state of Iowa. In that position I leveraged voter models to allocate campaign resources, created up-to-the-minute dashboards for decision-makers, and discovered Midwestern craft beers.

I hold a Ph.D. in Microvascular Physiology from the University of Bristol in England. My research took me to the Hospital for Infectious Diseases in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, where I collaborated with the Gates Foundation and Oxford University to develop a new way to study dengue infection.

Outside of work, I enjoy hot weather, NPR, brunch, and several other mealtimes.

Check out our company.