Jennifer Koester is the Director of Enterprise Data for the State of Delaware.  She manages five teams including Data Management/Modelling, Location Intelligence (GIS), Business Intelligence and Analytics, Open Data, and the Delaware Integrated Data System.

Upon completion of her undergraduate degree in Sociology, she began her first graduate program, also in Sociology.  During this time, she focused on quantitative methodology and social inequality while working for the National Science Foundation. She then moved to a mid-sized non-profit organization, focused on decreasing student dropout.  Here her work focused on program improvement using increased data gathering, integration, and analysis. In 2014, Jen accepted a data analytics position at the Delaware Department of Education where she focused on early childhood, school rankings, and assessment.  Two years later, Jen began a multi-year fellowship at Harvard University (Strategic Data Project).  In this capacity she refined technical skills, mentored new data professionals, and helped determine a comprehensive analysis strategy for K12 education.  The following year Jen began her second graduate program, Data Analytics.  Following completion of this degree, she accepted her current position, Director of Enterprise Data for Delaware.

Jen lives in coastal Delaware, minutes away from the Atlantic Ocean.  She has two children, Jack (10), and Avery (5).  She enjoys crossword puzzles, reading, playing with her children and dog, visiting museums, and encouraging everyone she meets to learn R.