I’m Black in Data because I am interested in using data science to assist in the effort to create real-time, measurable impact that benefits marginalized communities.

Pronouns: she/her

Kailande Cassamajor is a senior biology and psychology major attending Howard University and inaugural cohort member of the Karsh STEM Scholars Program. She is currently a Data Science Fellow in Correlation One’s Data Science for All Empowerment Program, where she is learning to advance her data skills alongside other students and data professionals, and working in a team to produce a capstone project.

Most of her undergraduate experience has been in research in neuropsychology and cognitive sciences. She currently works as a remote research assistant in the MIT Early Childhood Cognition Lab in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences. In 2019 and worked on a project that investigates the impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences on later life cognition in Columbia University’s STAR U program.

She is a poet, bibliophile, and loves delving into Africana Studies texts with close friends and study groups. She firmly believes in the power of Black collective imagination and employing our resources and knowledge for the benefit and wellness of our communities. Her long term career goals include studying the social implications of growing technologies, investigating how our environments impact brain health and cognition, and using acquired quantitative research skills and creativity to do so. She is currently applying to graduate programs.

You can find her poetry published in A Gathering Together Literary Journal, Sikk Magazine, and on her blog AfroetryWorks.com.

A Few Favorites!

Musicians: Hugh Masekela, Fatoumata Diawara, Lizz Wright, Boubacar Traore, Dorothy Ashby, Kamasi Washington, Christian Scott Atunde Adjuah

Poets & Writers: Sonia Sanchez, Dionne Brand, Amiri Baraka, Toni Morrison, Keorapetse Kgositsile, Gayl Jones, Toni Cade Bambara