DASH celebrates community collaboration with YWCA Hamilton

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Woman pictured. YWCA banner for Uplift technology workshop series

Uplift Dash Series

By Veronica Litt

DASH: The Data Analysis Support Hub and YWCA Hamilton are celebrating five successful workshops on “Machine Learning with R.” 

This community collaboration was spearheaded by Shaila Jamal (Ph.D. Candidate at the School of Earth, Environment, and Society, DASH Support Assistant, and SCDS Graduate Resident 2020-22) and Carmen Robles Messam (Former YWCA Uplift Program Coordinator), with support provided by DASH and the Sherman Centre for Digital Scholarship.

The five workshops provided beginner-friendly sessions on several aspects of Machine Learning with R including K-Means Clustering, Linear Regression, Logistic Regression, Support Vector Machine Classification, and Random Forest Classification Approach. Browse materials associated with the workshops, including modules and recordings, on our collection of 2022-2023 DASH workshop recordings.

All workshops were created and delivered by Shaila Jamal to support the YWCA’s Uplift Program, which reskills women and non-binary people to enter new sectors. DASH worked with the Data Science cohort, which focuses specifically on the tech industry.

In partial recognition of this work and her broader commitment to STEM mentorship and social justice research, Shaila was selected as a 2023 Woman of Distinction Award recipient, out of 65 nominees. 

In her acknowledgements, Shaila highlighted the DASH program, writing:

Thanks to the DASH team at McMaster University Library for allowing me to support McMaster and the greater Hamilton community in solving their data analysis issues. It has been a great journey in learning where clients face challenges in analyzing data and developing workshops and resources to support them.”

Shaila Jamal, Acknowledgements for YWCA Woman of Distinction 2023 Award

Congratulations on this exceptional achievement, Shaila!

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