cole nussbaumer knaflic

Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic tells stories that drive change. In her analytical roles in banking, private equity, and as a manager on the Google People Analytics team, she grew to appreciate the potent pairing of well-designed visuals with engaging delivery. Cole’s desire to help others understand and develop these skills propelled this self-described introvert to step out from behind her computer and onto the stage. Today, she is a sought-after speaker, having honed her craft through more than a thousand workshops and as a keynote presenter at marquee conferences and Fortune 500 events.

Cole is founder and CEO of storytelling with data (SWD) and author of best-selling books storytelling with data: let’s practice! (2019) and storytelling with data: a data visualization guide for business professionals (2015), which has been translated into more than 20 languages, is used as a textbook by hundreds of universities, and serves as the course book for tens of thousands of SWD workshop participants.

Cole has a BS in Applied Mathematics and an MBA from the University of Washington. When she isn’t ridding the world of ineffective graphs or galvanizing others to present powerfully, Cole is undertaking the adventures of parenting three children with her husband at home in the Midwest and on travels abroad.

For more, check out storytelling with data.

For more than a decade, Cole and her team have delivered interactive learning sessions highly sought after by data-minded individuals, companies, and philanthropic organizations all over the world. They also help people create graphs that make sense and weave them into compelling stories through the popular SWD community, blog, podcast, and videos.