Rebecca McGavin, MSSP+DA’18

Rebecca is originally from Silver Spring, Maryland where she attended high school in D.C. and grew up questioning social tropes and systems. Rebecca then graduated from Hamilton College with a major in Anthropology with a double minor in Women’s Studies and Photography. Throughout undergrad and the following years working as a data analyst, Rebecca was passionate about people’s stories, perceptions, and visualization. Finding a way to combine data visualization and social justice is what brought Rebecca to the University of Pennsylvania for her Master of Science in Social Policy and Certificate in Data Analytics. While completing her MSSP+DA, Rebecca was a data analyst for the Program on Sexuality, Technology and Action Research lab through the School of Nursing, the student government chair for all of SP2, and a member of the Data for Equitable Justice Lab. Immediately following graduation, Rebecca was a policy fellow with the Montgomery County Council and researched health policy cross collaboratively with the council and HHS. After her fellowship, Rebecca moved to North Carolina to begin work as a policy and planning analyst for Duke Health where she works to expand care for all North Carolinians, while understanding the changing landscape of healthcare and health policy at a local, state and federal level.

“The MSSP+DA program allowed me to study, research, and find a way to combine my passions for data, visualization, and social policy. It was the people: my cohort, professors, and the administration who enabled me to thrive and pursue my passions while developing advanced quantitative and critical methods.”