“I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do,” recalls Alyssa DiLisio '16, who came to Simmons as a chemistry major. “I realized chemistry wasn’t for me and switched to math. I thought I wanted to be a teacher, but that wasn’t the right fit either.”
The summer after her junior year, DiLisio did an internship at Travelers Insurance, working on their quoting platform for small business insurance needs. “I was there to understand what users were doing on the platform and analyze the data we received. I learned how to use statistics and probability to help a business improve, and that made an impact on me. It wasn’t something I had ever considered — I was interested in those concepts in class, but hadn’t known how it could be applied in the real world.”
Post graduation, DiLisio was hired at Travelers to continue that work. Two years later, she applied for a new role in Marketing Data and Analytics, where she has been since 2018. “I help the media managers analyze their marketing campaigns for effectiveness in the market, be it an email or a paid advertisement on Google search. ” While the IT team is in charge of the database, DiLisio accesses the data on a daily basis, using Sequel software and other skills learned in a Database Management Systems course at Simmons. “If they don’t get the results they expect from a campaign, we analyze that, too. I create pivot tables and do some analysis in R [programming language], then show them the graphs and tables in a more business-friendly format. The marketing team provides context for some data; marrying the two together gives us a more accurate picture.”
DiLisio studied R with Professor Emeritus Robert Goldman and Python with Professor Nanette Veilleux, but those aren’t the only skills Simmons provided. “Simmons is great at making sure everyone has a voice. It’s empowering to sit in a classroom with other women and be encouraged to speak up, even in a male dominated field.” DiLisio would encourage current students to take classes in a variety of subjects. “In my junior and senior year, I took a public health class. It was great to learn about other things that I wouldn’t necessarily focus on in my career. It’s good to learn about other topics to feel more well-rounded and broaden your horizons. Simmons does a good job with that.”