Bringing Tech Excellence to Public Policy

Samantha Carley studied public policy and biology in college, so the idea of one day embarking on a technical upskilling program as part of her career seemed “beyond the realm of possibility.” Yet, just a few years into her career at Booz Allen, she joined the Data Science Technical Excellence program, a six-week journey of virtual classes and assessments, and Samantha came out the other side as a bona fide data scientist.

In retrospect, she says, taking the course was “one of the best decisions I could have made.” Samantha shares her experience going through the program and how the skills she gained transformed her perspective.

Soon after Samantha joined Booz Allen, a colleague suggested that she join the program. “Data science? Not really my thing,” she remembers thinking. Nevertheless, she decided to give the program a shot.

“I'm not going to lie, especially without having that technical background, it was like drinking from a fire hose at first,” she recalls.

Particularly in the beginning, she says there were many times when she thought, “I shouldn't be here.”

But then she started to catch on. Samantha’s understanding of the coursework grew, especially after a session on natural language processing and as she worked on the course’s capstone presentation.

She needed to pick a topic area for this important project. “It could be anything with data,” she recalls. Some of her classmates chose a focus of their daily work, like transportation, while others explored a personal interest.

For Samantha, this was baseball. “I am a huge baseball fan,” she says. “I looked at Major League Baseball statistics from 2021 when they started implementing and enforcing the ‘sticky tack rule’ on pitchers, prohibiting them from applying any sticky substances to their baseballs. Was there a noticeable difference on spin rates before and after the rule took effect? It was a cool way to put my new skills to use.”

Samantha calls her newfound data science knowledge “a great skill to have in my toolkit.”

In her current role at Booz Allen, Samantha combines data science with policy expertise for the Department of Defense, specifically the Joint Chiefs of Staff. “We're getting statistics about budgets, timelines, numbers of people, and more from all corners of the department,” she says. “We take all that and understand how it’s assessed and brought together.”

“Data science touches everything you do. With my technical experience, I am able to read policy briefs and give my clients context to the numbers that are on that page,” says Samantha. “I understand how the statistics were evaluated and assess what's valuable and what's not. I am able to bridge the two worlds.”

In the next step of her learning journey, Samantha is now pursuing a master’s degree in biodefense. Continuing to build her skills through Booz Allen’s FlexEd program, she is “bridging the gap between defense and science policy and science.” Samantha also just completed her AI Awareness badge through Booz Allen’s AI Ready program, with plans to take more.

“As with data, artificial intelligence and machine learning impact everything we do,” she says. As these areas continue to grow, programs will need expertise in both technology and the mission, as will the professionals who work on them.

Samantha is thoughtful as she reflects on her learning journey. She advises that people with an engineering or data science background learn things like technical writing and communication, soft skills that perhaps they either don’t currently have or that they're not using on a day-to-day basis.

Regardless of your background or role, it’s valuable to “have a lot of tools in your kit,” Samantha says.

What’s her top advice for those similarly daunted by a new area or topic? “Don't let preconceived notions of what your abilities are stop you from pursuing an opportunity.”