OUR TEAM
DAISEY TEAM
A passionate team of cross-sector specialists committed to helping at-risk children, youth, and families.
DAISEY DIRECTOR
Teri Garstka, Ph.D.
Associate Director
Teri leads the strategic vision of DAISEY. She and her team developed DAISEY in 2013 to fill a need for good data and thoughtful design for early childhood and social service providers. Two principles guide this work: Connect the first five years to a lifetime of success and measure what matters for kids and families. Teri received her Ph.D. in social psychology in 1997 from KU and has built a career that blends research, evaluation, and data science in the service of social good for all. .
DAISEY LEADS
Randi Harms, MA
Project Manager
Randi coordinates the implementation and use of DAISEY for multiple large-scale initiatives and uses her data science and facilitation skills to impact policy and programs that improve outcomes for children and families. She’s a skilled problem solver with an aptitude for understanding data and policy, as well as furthering our partners’ work to align policies at the state and local levels. Once the computer is turned off for the day, Randi loves to be outdoors, gardening, playing with her kids, and learning to identify different birds, plants, and trees.
Favorite Books: Mysteries
Happy Place: Her garden
Sarah Hernandez, LMSW
Project Manager
Sarah supports the implementation and use of DAISEY for multiple state partners. Serving as a social worker for more than a decade, Sarah taps into her real-world experience every day as she works with our team to make meaning of the data that impacts children and families served by our partners. After work, Sarah recharges by listening to music, often launching into song from the random things life has to offer.
Favorite Food: Indian food
Happy Place: Stoking a firepit with family and friends
IMPLEMENTATION TEAM
Hugh Naughtin, BM
Initiative Coordinator
As part of the DAISEY team, Hugh coordinates with several of our state partners and contributes to our reports team. He likes to work collaboratively with external partners to achieve shared goals and enable them to evaluate the impact of their work, whether that be serving as a facilitator or in designing and enhancing DAISEY reports in Tableau. After hours, he sings professionally with the Grammy Award winning Kansas City Chorale.
Favorite Sport: College Basketball
Favorite Binge Foods: Coffee and cheese
Mary Palermo, MCP
Research Project Coordinator
Mary uses her considerable talents, including project management skills, technical acumen, and bubbly personality, to support a wide variety of DAISEY partners, whether they are veterans or newcomers. She handles every task and help request with determination, working toward the most perfect solution for all. She uses that same skill set with her two young children. One of her favorite things in the world is watching the excitement on their faces when they learn something new.
Superpower: Finding her children’s lost things
Happy Place: Being with family
Kenzie Wilson, MPA
Research Project Coordinator
Kenzie coordinates our projects with several DAISEY partners, assists with initiatives in maintaining and understanding their data, and acts as a thought partner for future programmatic data applications. Prior to joining the DAISEY team Kenzie, worked as the data quality analyst for a domestic violence shelter. When she clocks out for the day, Kenzie and her husband (and their dogs Dex and Lacey) like to escape to the mountains every chance they get to camp and hike.
Side Hustle: Restoring antique wood furniture
Biggest Weakness: Any sour candy!
DATA ENGINEERING TEAM
Nathan Kuhn, MPA
Assistant Researcher
Nathan is a data guardian and analyst, providing backbone support to DAISEY by managing data sources and reports and by securely shepherding data from collection to visualization. Nathan takes service seriously, both at work and in his personal life. He has served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Morocco and with immigrants and refugees across the U.S. Outside the office, he loves spending time with his family and volunteering.
Hidden Talent: Spanish translator and interpreter
Favorite Quote: “Drop by drop the river overflows.”
Sami Dhaliwal, Ph.D.
Research Engineer
As part of our DAISEY team, Sami works alongside our partners to use data not only to meet compliance needs, but also to improve practices. Like the particles she has studied throughout her impressive academic career in high energy physics, Sami is full of kinetic energy. She has traversed the world, bouncing from her childhood home in London to Toronto to France to Switzerland, finally landing in Kansas. After work, she enjoys her two dogs, reading, and learning new things.
Drink of Choice: Tea
Happy place: Home, especially after traveling.
Gowtham Kanneganti, MS
Research Informatics Analyst
Gowtham uses data analytics to extract insights from data and communicate them to DAISEY partners using data visualizations. Prior to joining our team, he worked on a machine learning project with the Oklahoma Department of Transportation. He likes being a part of the DAISEY team, having a positive impact in people’s lives. When he’s not extracting the beauty from numbers, he enjoys time family and friends, reading, listening to music, and cooking.
Favorite Binge Activity: Blogs on technology and on cooking
Favorite Dish to Prepare for Friends: His mom’s recipe for eggplant masala
TECH TEAM
Joe Coburn, MSW
IT Project Manager
As part of the DAISEY team, Joe specializes in complex syntax development, quality assurance testing, and interpreting design use cases. His past work with non-profit data systems informs his understanding and expertise in user interface and administrative data system integration. After work, Joe loves to kick back with his family at the pool, going to the lake, or just sitting outside and reading while he watches his kids play.
Favorite food: Middle Eastern foul (mashed fava beans with garlic, lemon juice, and olive oil)
Favorite hobbies: Music, sports, and art
Charlie Moore, MA
IT Project Coordinator
Charlie is a member of the DAISEY training and technical assistance team, where she enjoys speaking with DAISEY users and answering their questions. She has spent multiple years in the software and IT fields, which helps her bring a technical skillset to the DAISEY team. After work you will find her hanging out with her kiddo, playing games, playing musical instruments, and reading comic books.
Side Hussle: Illustrations and graphic design
Drink of Choice: Brown sugar milk tea
SUPPORT
Tanya Spacek
Research Project Specialist
Tanya does so much behind the scenes at DAISEY it’s impossible to list it all. But we’ll try. She keeps the website updated, creates monthly and quarterly reports, and pitches in wherever needed. She’s firmly committed to making the world a better place, whether that’s weeding a community garden or taking to the streets to demand change. In her free time, you’ll find her listening to music or reading speculative fiction.
Happy Place: In the forest with a hiking buddy
Superpower: Knowing obscure trivia
Bob Dykes, BA
Support Technician
Bob is our go-to guy for DAISEY account management and access issues. Bob is also a member of the Agile Technology Services help desk for the University of Kansas. When Bob’s off the clock he enjoys attending Comic-Con conventions and riding motorcycles.
Superpower: Creating new lyrics to popular songs
Happy Place: The sun room with a cup of coffee
Kirk Rhorer, BFA
Support Technician
Kirk comes to DAISEY with an extensive knowledge of the DAISEY system from several years’ worth of quality assurance testing on the program and support on new features. Kirk is also a member of the Agile Technology Services help desk for the University of Kansas. When Kirk isn’t at work, he’s either spending time with his family and pets, or listening to music or attending a concert.
Superpower: Attention to detail
Happy Place: Playing with my daughter, a concert or record store
DEVELOPMENT PARTNER
Agile Technology Solutions
Agile Technology Solutions (ATS) has a history of collaboratively developing web applications with public agencies. Partnering with the Center for Public Partnerships and Research to develop DAISEY, the ATS team drew upon their extensive experience in developing secure data-collection and reporting software.