Community Conversations is a long-running podcast series highlighting community success stories from a wide variety of online community management professionals.
Episode #94 of Community Conversations features Michelle Sneck, Ph.D., Community Builder, Data Literacy Advocate, Host of the USAA Data Bytes Podcast, and Data Science Evangelist at USAA.
Hosts Jim Storer and Shannon Abram chat with Michelle about community building at USAA, starting at the intersection of data science and community building. Michelle also shares her approach to mentorship, which involves understanding the pain points of others, being honest about their own limitations, and leveraging their network to help others succeed.
Listen to Michelle Sneck, Ph.D. on Community Building at USAA
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From Michelle: As promised, here’s a link to a slime mold video. I often think about how communities are like slime molds 
This video is pretty amazing because it unpacks a bit of the behaviors that slime molds exhibit that are emergent – beyond what can be accomplished with only one individual.
About Michelle Sneck, Ph.D.
Michelle Sneck, PhD (she/her) (@MichelleSneck) is a PhD trained ecologist turned data scientist who loves: the outdoors, solving complex business problems, Star Trek, and heavy metal. She is currently a Data Scientist in Bank Business Intelligence and Analytics at USAA with a PhD in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from Rice University. Michelle is skilled in the areas of public speaking, data analysis, inference testing, and currently developing machine learning techniques. She is passionate about leveraging the power of data to better serve our members and upholding USAA’s core values of Honesty, Integrity, Loyalty, and Service.
About USAA
The United Services Automobile Association is an American financial services company providing insurance and banking products exclusively to members of the military, veterans, and their families.
