CV

Contact Information

Name Jay Ballesteros
Professional Title MPP Candidate, University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy
Email jballesteros@uchicago.edu
Location Chicago, IL

Professional Summary

Data analyst and policy researcher working at the intersection of causal inference, technology governance, and development policy.

Experience

  • 2026 - 2026

    Chicago, IL

    Data Scientist Intern
    Exalt Data
    • Validated the platform’s soft-tag classification system across 3.2M voter records against independent ground-truth data, correcting false positives to improve accuracy of a core analytical product layer
    • Ran hypothesis testing and variance analysis to measure classification performance and surface miscalibrations
    • Documented methodology, findings, and recommendations for the leadership team
  • 2025 - 2025

    Mexico City, Mexico

    Senior Operations Analyst
    DiDi Global Inc.
    • Directed marketplace operations across three Mexican cities, overseeing a combined annual GMV of MXN 3.7B and a weekly incentives portfolio averaging MXN 4M
    • Created and executed randomized and quasi-experimental tests (A/B testing) to evaluate supply-demand balancing tactics on trips, fulfillment rates, user satisfaction, and other KPIs
    • Built performance dashboards and automated reporting pipelines using Python, SQL, and Looker Studio; produced weekly analytical briefs for senior leadership with experiment results and action plans
    • Partnered with regional and central teams (pricing, marketing, strategy, CX) to scale successful pilots and adapt evidence-based practices across markets
  • 2025 - 2025

    Mexico City, Mexico

    Strategy Analyst
    Soy+ (soymas.la)
    • Aligned technology, commercial, and communications teams by translating requirements into actionable data-collection and analysis tools
    • Built automated Looker Studio dashboards connected via APIs to real-time databases to track conversion rates and weekly performance
    • Unified Mailchimp, Meta API, Supabase, and Vercel data into structured datasets for campaign evaluation, user segmentation, and behavior analysis
    • Collaborated in the development of the backend of internal tools to ensure interoperability between systems and traceability of data used in strategic reports
  • 2021 - 2025

    Mexico City, Mexico

    Senior Analyst
    C230 Consulting and Fundación IDEA
    • Delivered eight projects across security and justice reform, monitoring and evaluation, interinstitutional coordination, process optimization, and market analysis for clients including the U.S. Department of State, SANOFI, and USAID–Chemonics
    • Developed institutional-strengthening toolkits for State Attorney General Offices, leading process mapping and stakeholder engagement to improve investigative outcomes
    • Created data-collection instruments for more than 80 private-sector stakeholders in Honduras and El Salvador to inform the AMEXCID Jóvenes Construyendo el Futuro project
    • Designed continuous improvement tools for investigative police training programs, integrating quantitative and qualitative methods to strengthen law enforcement capacity and ensure data-driven decision-making
    • Authored comprehensive analyses of the Impulso Nuevo León 2022 Loan Guarantee Program, measuring pre- and post-treatment data to evaluate changes in beneficiaries’ sales and employment levels
    • Conducted an in-depth study on the quality of life of individuals with Atopic Dermatitis (AD) for SANOFI, utilizing interviews, surveys, and advanced data analytics to produce evidence-based recommendations for national health institutions
    • Advised on best practices in agriculture, youth workforce development, and migration across El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, and Mexico, identifying enabling conditions and essential criteria for replicable initiatives
    • Built measurement frameworks to systematically monitor recidivism in civic and criminal justice systems, empowering municipalities to track progress and improve outcomes in alternative dispute resolution mechanisms
  • 2020 - 2021

    Colima, Mexico

    Founder and Data Analyst
    DataCol
    • Led a government-funded analytics initiative for real-time COVID-19 monitoring in Colima, building time-series visuals for infection and testing
    • Analyzed Google mobility datasets to inform public health strategies; delivered Python tools to the State Secretary of Health for cabinet briefings
    • Assessed Facebook political advertising during the 2021 state elections, providing insights on reach, audience, and engagement
  • 2018 - 2021

    Mexico City, Mexico

    Consultant
    International Republican Institute
    • Coordinated the Security with Justice Program in five states with government, civil society, academia, and the private sector to promote ADR mechanisms
    • Facilitated 30+ workshops on Restorative Justice and ADR, training 1,100+ participants at awareness and technical levels
    • Collected, analyzed, and reported open data on alternative justice across 15 states, identifying best practices and improvement areas
    • Managed Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) indicators in DevResults and Tableau, integrating real-time insights into program planning and stakeholder reporting
  • 2016 - 2018

    Colima, Mexico

    Competitiveness Manager
    Coparmex
    • Directed capacity-building programs on business administration, productivity, tax reforms, and labor rights for affiliated companies
    • Produced research on security, justice, and economic trends to guide strategic decision-making for members and stakeholders

Education

  • 2025 - 2027

    Chicago, IL

    Master of Public Policy (MPP)
    University of Chicago, Harris School of Public Policy
    Data Analytics, Finance, and International Policy and Development
    • Fellow, Existential Risk Laboratory (XLab)
    • Felow, Mercatus Center (George Mason University)
  • 2012 - 2016

    Colima, Mexico

    International Relations
    Universidad de Colima, Facultad de Ciencias Políticas y Sociales
    Data Analytics, Finance, and International Policy and Development

Publications