Meredith Students Create a Guidebook for Data Storytelling 

Students in the Spring 2025 Honors colloquium course, Data Storytelling for Societal Impact, created a guidebook on data storytelling for nonprofit organizations. The guide will be shared widely with the Meredith community. 

View the guide. 

Anne York, program director and professor of economics, developed this course after reading Storytelling with Data by Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic. By combining data visualization and storytelling, Knaflic aims to present data in digestible and engaging ways. 

“I thought this could be a fun class to teach students how to communicate complex information in meaningful ways,” said York. “Viewing the course through a social science lens, I saw a natural application in the nonprofit sector, where organizations must use data effectively to demonstrate their impact to stakeholders.” 

York collaborated with Note in the Pocket, a nonprofit organization that addresses clothing insecurity in the Triangle, for the course. The organization shared raw data and welcomed the class of 16 students to its facility to learn about its mission, brand, and clothing sorting process. 

The course also covered effective data storytelling techniques and the methods by which the government collects data. Additionally, Director of StrongPoints® Emily Caldwell, who is also a nonprofit consultant, shared her expertise with the class on the challenges nonprofits face.  

The final project was to develop a guidebook as a class explaining the value of data storytelling for nonprofits and how to create data visualizations. Using the data provided by Note in the Pocket, the guide includes examples of effective data storytelling. 

“The students’ creativity, clarity, and dedication were inspiring,” said York. “They not only mastered technical skills but also how storytelling with data can drive change, especially for organizations doing vital community work.”

Students in the course, representing a diverse set of majors, said the knowledge and skills they gained were valuable and applicable in their desired careers. 

“As a studio art major, I didn’t think there would be a connection between this course and my major,” said Perla Gerez Hernandez, ʼ26. “But I am interested in arts administration and nonprofits, so learning how crucial data storytelling is for funding and success was impactful.”

Students with prior experience working with data said they also benefited from the course. 

“What I learned in this class will help me be a better data scientist in the future because I now know how to present data visually,” said Debbie Mong’are ‘26, who is studying computer science. “I’m used to thinking about data from the back end, but I’ve begun to think like a designer, so the audience will be able to understand the data too.” 

Note in the Pocket was pleased with the students’ work. 

“We were thrilled by this work and for taking our data and presenting it in such a beautiful way,” said Dallas Bonavita, executive director of Note in the Pocket. “It’s wonderful for fellow nonprofits to have access to this tremendously helpful and inspiring example of these creative best practices.”

Learn more about the Honors Program.