Denice Ross
Information Strategy, City of New Orleans

Denice Ross has fifteen years of experience in user-centered design and specializes in creating large web sites that convey complex information through an intuitive user experience. When Denice joined the Greater New Orleans Community Data Center in 2001, data from Census 2000 was being released and there was great promise of using the Internet to democratize federal statistics so they would be easy for non-data-experts to access and use. She designed the GNOCDC.org web site with data for all 73 New Orleans neighborhoods – from the Lower Nine to Lakeview – and built a loyal following of 5,000 unique monthly visitors. When Katrina hit, the site received 120,000 visits in one month; three years post-Katrina, GNOCDC.org has a wide audience that includes neighborhood leaders, national media and the White House as they all track the recovery of New Orleans. Denice has been a long-time contributor to the field of “public participation GIS” and is an active member of the Urban Institute’s National Neighborhood Indicator Partnership.