how do we tackle complex problems to create lasting change?

👋 I’m Alex, MBA Candidate @ University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business

How do we make better decisions using data? How can we build to improve student experience and outcomes? I believe data-empowered decision-making only comes about intentionally. I build data products and infrastructure to enable leaders with the information they need. I believe in democratizing information. I’m an advocate for education.

My name’s Alex Ahlstrom and I’m the Assoc. Director of Data Products at SimpsonScarborough. During my time at SimpsonScarborough, I’ve helped grow the analytics team from one person in 2020 to five. I built our data tech stack that services dozens of clients, and data products. I’m leading the design of SimpsonScarborough’s brand equity index. My passion for my work stems from my belief that better data provides better and more equitable outcomes. As the son of educators, I know the power of education. While studying development economics at American University, and time living in Madagascar, I came to understand that education is an unrivaled force for good and unparalleled in its ability to expand opportunity.

Educators must be able to make better decisions. They need insights at their fingertips without the effort of costly analysis. I build products that are force multipliers for the institutions I work with – allowing them to focus on what matters most – delivering for students. In my approach to data, I have 3 guiding principles that set me apart – equity, innovation, and creativity.

Learn Why Data Matters →

Education

BS in Economics

September 2016 - May 2019
American University — Washington, D.C.

MBA

August 2024 - May 2026
University of Virginia, Darden School of Business — Charlottesville, V.A.

MEd (Innovation and Public Policy)

May 2024 - May 2026
University of Virginia — Charlottesville, V.A.

Expertise

Website Analytics

Google Analytics 4, Universal Analytics, Google Optimize, and Google Search Console

Website Tracking

Google Tag Manager and JavaScript

Data Management, Administration, and ETL

Adverity, R Plumber, Google BigQuery, and Google Cloud

DevOps and Production

testthat, devtools, GitHub, and Google Cloud

Dashboarding and Visualization

Tableau, Google Data Studio, and R Shiny

Data Wrangling, Analysis, and Visualization

R, ggplot2, tidyverse, tidymodels, SQL, and Excel

Survey Design and Programming

Qualtrics

Social Listening and Web Scraping

R, Rvest, Selenium, and BrandWatch

My Projects

CMO Study Dashboard

Each year SimpsonScarborough conducts a study on the experience of higher ed CMOs and their teams.

Thought Leadership

Prometheus University: The First Problems

  • 23 Jan, 2023
  • read

Prometheus.edu is where I’ve started running into trouble. I think this was partially my fault, although it was interesting to kick the tires on chatGPT and start to hear where things rattle about a bit.

Read More

Presentations

GA4 Migration Panel

Analytics Panel Link This panel discussion is hosted on Google Meet to allow for enhanced attendee participation.

Let’s Get in Touch

  • ahlstrom.alex@gmail.com

  • 281-995-1211

  • Charlottesville, Virginia