Lillyana J Najafzadeh

Work History

Survey Statistician

U.S. Census Bureau - Economic Management Division

Suitland, MD

11.2015 - Current

Coordinate response, data outreach, and promotion efforts for various economic surveys and the U.S. Economic Census and its territories.
Gather and analyze requirements to implement outreach and publicity plans to partner with professional and trade organizations (intermediaries) located in low-response regional markets in the U.S.
Lead the Small Business Development Centers' (SBDCs) pilot program to engage SBDC advisors and small business owners in the usage of Census Bureau economic data and tools.
Build partnerships with business associations, chambers, and business contacts to promote response and data products for various cities and major industries.
Support intermediary organizations in regional markets with statistical knowledge, a suite of promotional materials, presentations, meetings, update reports, data product dissemination, and other resources to educate and promote response and data products among their membership and local businesses.
Work with contractors and subcontractors to develop response target research with various groups (e.g., census divisions, subject matter areas, focus groups, and intermediary groups).
Serve as the disclosure avoidance point of contact among contractors, subcontractors, the Respondent Outreach and Promotion Branch (ROPB), and the Policy Office at the Census Bureau.
• Serve as Account Manager for large companies that participate in the Annual Integrated Economic Survey, and the quinquennial Economic Census. Served as a full account manager in 2018 for a single mega-company, filing multiple census requests every year, including the Economic Census.
Provide customer service to internal and external customers on census data products.
Prepare various reporting tools and reports to monitor the progress/status of calls, customer requests, branch reports, and quarterly emails to intermediary organizations, as needed.
Edit and translate (English and Spanish) materials for presentations, data collection letters, talking points, and promotional brochures and materials, as needed.
Managed 1 to 2 people, including an intern.
Led teams and efforts to improve response to economic indicators and annual surveys.
Led a Machine Learning (ML) research project for economic census surveys, refusals/nonresponse, since its inception. Identified requirements, developed specifications and criteria, established a process among three or more divisions, and prioritized testing based on response rates and frequency of economic surveys. Presented outcomes and lessons learned to management, and advised them about ML output results, monitoring/maintenance, metrics, and implications for other subject matter areas.

Survey Statistician

U.S. Census Bureau - Economy-Wide Division

Suitland, MD

01.1989 - 11.2015

Coordinated and conducted the Economic Census of the insular territories of the United States (American Samoa (AS), Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), Guam, Puerto Rico (PR), and the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI) every 5 years. This census is referred to as the Census of Island Areas.
Ensured that economic census projects for the island areas meet the goals and mission established by the U.S. Census Bureau, while following quality management procedures.
Provided the local business communities, insular governments, and data users with accurate and relevant statistics in a timely and cost-efficient manner.
Assisted the Branch Chief in monitoring and providing input on cost estimates and cost savings analysis of census-related activities (enumeration, printing, training, travel, workloads, human resources, and other items) included in the budget for the economic census of island areas.
Managed approximately a staff of 2 to 8 employees between the Census Bureau headquarters and the Processing Center in Jeffersonville, Indiana.
Led efforts to improve the process for gathering requirements for various census activities, such as report form (questionnaire) content, and statistical table plans and layouts.
Developed and conducted cognitive tests to inform report form content and satisfy local governments' data needs.
Advised and mentored points of contact in the island areas on how to collaborate with the economic census through formal agreements (Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) or Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)). Helped the points of contact identify their statistical needs when planning census content for the report forms and the electronic data collection instruments, with stakeholders from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) and the government of the island areas.
Prepared procedures for enumeration, data collection, tabulation, and analysis. Provided training to employees and other divisions that supported the island areas project during different phases of the census.
Provided and managed the requirements, changes, and quality of printing contracts awarded to contractors for the 2002, 2007, and 2012 Economic Census of Island Areas.
Edited and tabulated data in StEPS (SAS-based Standard Economic Processing System) and processed data through various dissemination systems (DMUI - Dissemination Metadata User Interface, DRT - Data Review Tool, and American FactFinder (AFF)). Monitored, created, and updated programs in StEPS.
Prepared and coordinated with the Public Information Office (PIO) on press releases, and participated in various press conferences and interviews with newspapers, TV, and radio during the Island Areas' data collection and dissemination phases.
Participated in numerous trade shows and exhibits to promote and disseminate the economic census of island areas and stateside census data products. Conducted formal presentations at the exhibits, and earned an award for the best educational concept at the Puerto Rico Manufacturers Trade Fair in 2000.
Provided language services in Spanish (e.g., translation of texts, addressing Spanish-speaking respondents' needs/questions during and after the data collection phase, and handling calls/requests from foreign statistical agencies) to different subject areas within the economic census directorate.
Translated, designed, and tested in the field, the first Spanish version of the report form for the Survey of Business Owners (SBO), which was another successful project outside my responsibilities with the Island Areas Program.
Led the Improving Operational Efficiency (IOE) Program to evaluate and provide guidance on the creation of a central translation office, along with other team members. Created, updated, and monitored a database that contained information about the needs and usage of language services by all divisions in the Economic Directorate.
Provided language services (English and Spanish) to develop and translate, for the first time, the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) manual in 1996, since the inception of the 1992 NAFTA treaty. The Director of the Census Bureau, Martha Farnsworth Riche, presented a certificate and monetary award to the individuals who participated in this endeavor.

Summary

Overview

Work History

Survey Statistician

Survey Statistician

Education

Master of Arts - International Relations

Bachelor of Arts - International Studies

Skills

Certification

Languages

Accomplishments

Timeline

References

Work Availability

Work Preference

Work Type

Work Location

Important To Me

Software

Interests

Websites

Similar Profiles

Olivia SuttonOlivia Sutton

Jennifer BakerJennifer Baker

Ladell StallworthLadell Stallworth