We are beyond excited to officially welcome the 2022 class into the Maven Analytics Hall of Fame!
First, a big thank you to everyone in the data community who submitted a nomination to help us select this group.
Like last year, the field of nominees was extremely talented, which made narrowing down such a great list of people an almost impossible task.
Everyone who was nominated should feel proud. You are an impressive group of people, and we are so very happy to have you and your continued contributions in the data community.
Before we introduce our inductees, let's have a quick reminder about the qualities that earned these individuals their spots.
This new class represents the characteristics that we most value in our students and in the broader data community.
1) Maven Hall of Famers are committed to lifelong learning.
2) They actively participate in the Maven community and broader data community.
3) They consistently support and encourage others in the Maven community.
4) They bring a positive energy to their learning and their work.
To sum it up, these are the people that make being a part of Maven such an enjoyable experience for instructors, and for the entire data community.
There was more than just bragging rights on the line. Each of the folks being honored today will receive the exclusive Hall of Fame badge, and have also been given free lifetime access to the entire Maven library of courses.
Now, let's introduce the Hall of Fame Class of 2022!
Gerard Duggan
In November, Gerard made history, becoming the first person ever to be inducted into the Hall of Fame early, before the rest of his class. Because of Gerard's above and beyond contributions to the data community, we knew it would be extremely difficult to surprise him with the news, so we unanimously agreed to move early and catch him off guard.
You can read more about Gerard's induction here, but this quote sums it up well...
More than anything else, the reason we so admire Gerard is the absolutely stunning generosity with which he gives back to the data community.
That is the magic of Gerard Duggan.
Selfless, giving, and always there to support his fellow data people at every turn.
He's not just doing all of this for himself. He's doing it for YOU.
It's hard to think of anyone more worthy of this honor. We are proud to induct Gerard into the 2022 Hall of Fame Class.
Congratulations Gerard!
Idris Alugo
Many of you likely know Idris from his frequent finalist appearances in the Maven Challenges. He's also one of the most consistent positive voices cheering others on in their submissions and their data journeys.
In the time we've known Idris, he has pushed himself to learn new skills in a way that few others have. His commitment to lifelong learning and self improvement is a big part of what earned Idris his spot in the Maven Hall of Fame. His effort has paid off, landing a pretty cool data role using some bleeding edge tech and working with large datasets.
Recently, he's been creating YouTube videos to give back even more to the data community. Awesome!!
One of my favorite things about Idris is that despite his impressive skills, he remains a humble and grateful person. Wonderful human being to know and get to interact with.
We are proud to induct Idris into the 2022 Maven Analytics Hall of Fame.
Congratulations Idris!
Ewa Devaney
Speaking of commitment to lifelong learning, Ewa displayed impressive persistence in 2022, becoming the first person ever to earn our 180 day active learning streak badge. With 2021 Hall of Famer Marjolein Opsteegh becoming the second only 2 days after Ewa, their simultaneous impressive runs were reminiscent of the Mark McGwire-Sammy Sosa MLB home run race of 1998, just without the performance enhancing drugs. And yes, I know I'm dating myself :)
Ewa shared her journey and her advice for the data community last year. There's some great stuff in here. You should check it out if you haven't seen it yet.
And here's a fun fact:
On our data analyst portfolios, we had to re-think how we displayed credentials because Ewa earned so many badges. AMAZING!
Personally, I'm a big fan of Ewa. She's a strong practicioner who's still committed to learning more, has a great attitude, and has given a lot to the data community.
We are proud to welcome her into the Maven Hall of Fame.
Congratulations Ewa!
Jeroen de Bondt
When we looked at the nominations and met to vote on the 2022 class, one of our instructors was surprised to see Jeroen on the list, saying "I thought we already inducted him last year".
To be honest, we probably should have. Jeroen has been a consistently amazing contributor to the data community for a long time now.
From inspiring others with his story about getting active in the data community on Linkedin and having it lead to a surprise job offer that became a job he loves.
Check him out on LinkedIn. You'll see some amazing educational content that he's putting out there for the entire community to benefit from.
Jeroen's contributions to the data community have been huge, and he is the epitome of what it means to be a Maven Hall of Fame. We're proud to induct him with the 2022 class.
Congratulations Jeroen!
Marco Michelini
Marco redefined our definition of the ideal candidate for our Data Analyst Bootcamp after his participation in our first ever part-time cohort last year.
Now, during our bootcamp admissions process, we talk about candidates who have "the Marco factor". When someone has this quality, we want them in the bootcamp every time. But what exactly is the Marco factor?
Well, during the bootcamp, Marco was so enthusiastic and so positive, that he brought everyone else up around him, including the instructors. He organized study session meetups for his cohort, and always brought this amazing energy that you couldn't help but borrow from.
Marco has also gotten very active online in the data community, sharing experiences and cheering others on. But to me, you haven't truly experienced the Marco magic until you get him live. It's a really special thing.
Marco shared his story and his projects here. Check out his presentations on SQL, Excel, and Tableau if you haven't seen them yet.
We owe Marco a huge thanks for making that first part-time cohort such a fun experience for everyone. He is a big reason we decided it was rewarding enough to keep going, and since then we've welcomed two more cohorts and have another opening up in April 2023.
Marco brings the exact attitude toward learning and helping others that makes him the perfect fit for the Maven Analytics Hall of Fame. We are proud to call him a member of the 2022 class.
Congratulations Marco!
Annie Nelson
Last, but certainly not least, Annie Nelson!
In 2022, Annie put her data journey on display in a way few others have, by launching her own TikTok channel to document her transition into data.
You can see her jumping off video here, from back in January. Since then, she has made over 300 videos (NOT a typo!!) talking about her journey. Wow, just wow.
To me, Annie's channel, 'Annie's Analytics', is one of the most valuable resources anyone trying to break into data should be looking at.
What I love about Annie's TikTok channel is that she put herself on display at the beginning, not just after she found success. So you can get a real sense of everything that went into her journey. She shares frustrations, rejections, what worked and what didn't, AND the eventual win of breaking into data and thriving in a job she loves. Best part is, she's still going, and has started sharing her experiences on LinkedIn too.
Annie is an absolute must follow for anyone looking to learn more about data, and we are proud to induct her into the Hall of Fame.
Congratulations Annie!
Everyone of us at Maven is sincerely proud of this group, and you all deserve a huge thanks for your contributions to the data community.
We look forward to continuing this Maven tradition for many years to come.
Until then, happy learning!
