Jay Neuman

I entered grad school at the University of Southern California with an idealistic vision to help solve the problems of society by combining the wisdom of the local feet on the ground with the economies of scale of a large network of like-minded organizations.

My MPP degree focused on what are now called Improvement Science and Data Science with an emphasis on partnerships between public agencies, private companies, and nonprofit organizations.

The pivot into private sector came by necessity. There was a hiring freeze on all public sector jobs in California the year I finished my MPP degree. I took a job at Toyota, the global pioneer and leader of the improvement science practices I had trained in.

I joined a new team tasked with leveraging the latest data and digital technologies to advance their direct-to-customer outreach programs. Our team launched Toyota's first website, which went on to win nearly every award for best corporate website in the 1990's. I was the data scientist on the team. I integrated their data systems and customer feedback across all channels. I also created the methodologies used to target, measure, and continuously improve direct-to-customer outreach campaigns – national, local dealership, and brand activation.

I found myself practicing Improvement Science and Data Science  with the newest, cutting-edge technologies at the company who basically invented the field of Improvement Science and were at the forefront of using the new technologies.

I was then recruited by R.L. Polk & Co., the largest provider of data services for the Automotive Industry, to do the same for all the car companies in the US. Polk pioneered many of the core data science techniques used today. I called it the Data Disneyland.

Aramark is one of the largest employers in the US. But they lagged far behind in using the latest data-driven technologies. Their Uniform division had fallen from #1 to #2 in the nation. The new #1 was embracing all the latest tools. I was one of the first hires in a new "skunkworks" Marketing team tasked with catching up.

I established and led business intelligence and web-based technologies for the nationwide network of districts and local facilities. That both supported district and national improvement while also enabling sites to reflect their own local conditions. In addition to business intelligence, this included their corporate website, automated product and service recommendations, and building a stealth marketing data warehouse on a computer under my desk.

Having led some of the major data-driven decision making initiatives, I was asked to write much of the strategic plan for the Uniform Division, establishing data-driven goals and actions for achieving them.

When I took a consulting job with a Charter Management Organization in Southeast Los Angeles, I did not realize my life was about to change course. Alta Public Schools is an International Baccalaureate (IB) school serving a community with 98% of students in low income and 50% with non-English speaking parents. Xavier Reyes, the founder, had grown up in that community and was troubled that there were no good schools. He wanted to bring the best quality education available. That was the IB. Most IB schools are found in affluent suburban communities. Xavier's vision was to bring that quality of education to the students who need it most. 

They had grown from an elementary school, to add a middle school, and were starting a high school. In the process, they had expanded from basically a mom-and-pop operation to a complex organization with three schools. I was brought in as a management consultant to help navigate the transition. 

I helped with all aspects of organizational growth. We implemented digital technologies in the classroom and for parent communications. We implemented business intelligence technology for data-driven planning and improvement. A voice of the school feedback process was put in place. I also helped put in place strategic planning and project management to keep the staff of the three schools focused and on track with key initiatives.

This is where I began my pivot into Education. I fell in love with the school, the students, and the team of educators and staff. They were all wearing many hats to deliver a quality education to one of the poorest communities in LA. I discovered that everything I had done before in my career and volunteer roles came into play.

Career Labs USA was incorporated as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit in October 2019. My co-founder, Pernell Marsh, and a coworker from Evite, Mischalay Williams, held a design sprint in the Summer and launched in the Fall semester. The original programs were the after school Career Labs workshops we had been doing as a volunteer program at Alta Public Schools. We added an in-class career discovery program we called STEAM Heroes.

After the COVID-19 school closures, we spent the rest of 2020 producing a series of distance learning courses based on the STEAM Heroes curriculum. We were unsuccessful in getting distance learning programs off the ground during the pandemic but completed five mini career discovery courses.

After schools reopened in 2022-23, we launched a comprehensive career and college preparation program for middle school. It includes in-class instruction for all middle school students, career assessments for 8th graders, an after-school program, career and college fairs, and field trips.