About me
I am a technology and data professional whose career has focused on renewable energy, entrepreneurship, and rural economies.
Most recently, I was the Director of Technology and Data Analytics at the Center on Rural Innovation, where I provided guidance to enhance data utilization, collaborated with critical stakeholders to operationalize data, and oversaw the development and implementation of data-driven solutions to meet strategic objectives of the organization and its partners.
Before joining the team, I served as a Senior Analyst for various energy and environmental clients. My prior roles include co-founding a technology startup that created, designed, and developed low-energy environmental sensors for everyday use. I also served as a quantitative analyst for The Brattle Group, contributing to software and economic analyses that informed integral energy decisions across the country.
Born and raised in rural Vermont, I currently live in the Green Mountain State with my wife and two dogs.
Tech Talent Tracker
The Tech Talent Tracker helps rural leaders understand tech ecosystems by identifying local tech employers and assessing residents' digital skills. The tracker wields county-level data to create comprehensive reports, detailed maps, and charts on key metrics such as employment in digital jobs and broadband connectivity—all while providing comparisons to peer counties and the nation. These interactive reports are downloadable and easily shared to inform resource allocation, effective grant writing, and community storytelling.
Deaths of Despair
A six part data-driven article series written in collaboration with the American Communities Project and supported by The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation. This series was based on a 30-month study of deaths of despair across the country. The study includes data analysis as well as on-the-ground reporting in Georgia and Montana examining death statistics resulting from drugs, alcohol and/or suicide. Participants are: Dante Chinni, director; Ari Pinkus, senior editor; Lee Banville, professor at the University of Montana; Andy Miller, CEO and editor of Georgia Health News; and Ray Suarez, on-the-ground reporter. Data analysis, mapping and graphics by the Center on Rural Innovation.
COVID-19 County Preparedness Index
Awarded Fast Company Innovation by Design Finalist in Social Good and Honorable Mention in Health
Featured Carto.com article and webinar: Assessing Potential Impact of COVID-19 on Rural Communities
Partnered with Applied XL and health publication STAT to develop a global COVID-19 tracker and U.S. county preparedness index as a diagnostic response to the pandemic. This platform aggregated data on COVID-19 cases while also assessing pandemic preparedness in all counties country-wide. This tool was used by health journalists like STAT news, Business Insider, and experts world-wide to better understand the crisis.
The Rural Opportunity Map was born out of the need for a new framework to understand opportunities in small town America in the 21st century – a framework that takes into account the way industry and employment are changing, and the demographic trends that have defined small towns for the past decade. The tool is meant to allow anyone - from nonprofit leaders to academics, Opportunity Zone investors to journalists - to find insight and opportunity in small town America.
The Rural Opportunity Map
Maps and other tools
Contact
Feel free to contact me with any questions.
Email
alexander.tenenbaum@gmail.com