Building a Career in Data Management (Panel)

Though data management is a widely recognized professional practice, there are virtually no tertiary courses or academic qualifications designed to prepare you for a career in the field. It is very much a profession where those who succeed have chosen to follow this path, often entering from widely disparate roles, and are “self-made” by their accomplishments in practice. This panel will explore various aspects of building a successful career in data management, drawing on the experience of practitioners who have flourished through good times and survived the lean times. The discussion will cover key skills, certifications, and the paths necessary for individuals to excel in this field.

• How did you get into this space? And why have you stayed? 
• What made you good at it? What did you bring to these roles to make you valuable? 
• How do data professionals grow into more senior roles? Are there conscious things you can do to position yourself for advancement? 
• How to get through a temporary crisis or a layoff? Should you reinvent yourself, find a new role?
• How do you stay relevant? What training and ongoing education have been the most beneficial?
• Recruiting: How do you recruit people and bring them to the DM space? Where will the next generation of Data Management professionals come from?

Speakers: 

Shannon Kempe, DATAVERSITY

With over 30 years of operational business management experience, Shannon is the Chief Digital Officer at DATAVERSITY and is responsible for developing the strategy and implementation of all digital events, publications, and educational experiences. She is also actively engaged with the community as the moderator of DATAVERSITY webinars, online conferences, Demo Days, and the new DATAVERSITY Talks podcast.

Prior to joining the DATAVERSITY team, Shannon worked with Microsoft for a number of years in a variety of roles from Telecom Analyst to Business Manager. Throughout her career she has put her focus on utilizing data to drive efficiency and productivity across organizations.

When not leading the digital team Shannon is an accomplished singer and member of Lake Grove Sanctuary Choir.

April Reeve, Reeve Consulting

April Reeve has spent the last 30 years working as a Data Management Strategist, Enterprise Information Architect, and Data Program Manager. 

April is an expert in multiple Data disciplines, including Data Architecture, Data Integration, Big Data, Enterprise Master Data Management, Data Governance, Data Migration, Data Warehousing, and Data Modeling. 

April is a Board member of DAMA Philadelphia.

David Plotkin, Financial Services Company

David Plotkin is the Director of Metadata Services at a large international bank. He is responsible for managing business and technical metadata as part of rolling out an overall Data Governance and Data Management effort, including the appropriate Business Glossary (Collibra) and Technical Metadata (MetaCenter) tools. He was formerly the Global Head of Data Stewardship for a large insurance company, creating a stewardship strategy, training, and leading the stewardship community, as well as specifying the requirements for the data stewardship tool suite (Collibra and IBM). He has previously been a consultant for EMC, working on data quality, data governance, and master data management engagements at client companies. He has also previously managed Data Governance at an insurance company and managed data quality at two large banks. He has been working with data governance, data modeling, metadata, and data quality for over 25 years. He is a popular speaker at DAMA chapters and conferences and serves as a subject matter expert on many topics around metadata, data governance, and data quality. He is the author of the book "Data Stewardship, an Actionable Guide to Effective Data Management and Data Governance," now in its second edition.

Deron Hook, American Express

Deron Hook is a certified data management professional who is passionate about people, data, and formulating strategies that utilize both to their highest potential. He is currently the Director of Data Governance and Management at American Express and has experience creating foundational Data Governance programs at various companies in the financial services industry. In his current role, he is building out the Data Governance team in the Global Merchant and Network Services business unit at American Express using foundational initiatives such as metadata management, data stewardship, and data quality management. Deron is a recognized data leader, has served on various boards, and was a Chief Data Officer (CDO) summer school graduate by Carruthers & Jackson. He received his MBA with a concentration in Data Analytics from Purdue University and is also a proud Brigham Young University graduate. He and his wife have five children and live in Phoenix, Arizona.

Frank Cerwin, Data Mastery Inc.

Frank Cerwin has a multi-faceted 45-year career serving in several roles that provide a unique perspective of data management. His roles included application developer, application development manager, business analyst, data modeler, data architect, disaster recovery coordinator, IT security analyst, B2B ecommerce manager, and director of data services with responsibility for database administration, data integration, and master data management. Frank has spent the majority of his career employed in the financial services and global restaurant industries with another third of his career consulting within a variety of industries that included a steel mill and a trade union. Frank is certified as Master Data Management / Reference Data CDMP, Six Sigma Green Belt, ISO 8000 Certified Data Manager, and Infrastructure Technology Library (ITIL) Foundations. He has authored two Dataversity Training Center learning plans entitled ‘Mastering Master Data Management’ and ‘Building a Career in Data Management’. He is also a board member of Chicago DAMA.