Hi👋, I’m Elham.

Pronounced ill-huhm (she/ella/هي)

I’m a mixed-methods researcher and data storyteller 📊 based in Southern California. I translate community voices and local insights into data experiences from interactive maps to visual stories that reveal deeper truths about our world, shift norms, and drive action.

My work sits at the intersection of climate justice, health equity, and human-centered design. Over the past 12+ years, I’ve worked with local and state governments, health departments, and public health agencies to build digital tools that reflect how people actually live. That means mapping tree canopy in the City of Akron, OH or expanding equitable pathways into high-quality green jobs in the City of Saint Paul, MN. My hope is to help cities, counties, and towns make confident decisions that protect both people and planet. 🌍

Here’s a sample of my work.

Select Stories

I lead end-to-end data storytelling — from sourcing and reporting to data collection, analysis, visualization, and building interactive stories — then partner with communications and PR teams to bring them to wider audiences.

“You Didn’t Understand What They Meant”: The Hidden Barrier of Cognitive Accessibility

This is the first story in a series about how digital government accessibility — or the lack thereof — shows up in everyday life, viewed through the lens of the Department of Justice’s Title II accessibility ruling.

“It Takes a Village”: Counted, Connected, and Cared For

Inside Arizona’s effort to link health and homelessness data through the Beeck Center’s award-winning Data Labs program.

Family Health, by Design

How fragmented public systems shape the well-being of young families in California and what it would take to design them to actually work together.

2,212 studies used disappearing federal climate justice tools. We analyzed them all.

The inaugural story of Made Possible, a Public Environmental Data Partners series spotlighting those who use now-defunct federal environmental justice tools to serve their communities.

Climate resilience requires equitable access to quality green jobs. Saint Paul is making strides.

Using user research from the City of Saint Paul and national datasets, I analyzed racial and income inequities in access to quality green jobs across three sectors. The findings were featured on the Beeck Center’s website, annual impact report and Full Stack Saint Paul.

The Heart of TOPCities

A multimedia story that blends qualitative research, survey analysis, and community audio to show how residents and local governments co-designed digital tools to tackle blight, extreme heat, and access to household energy credits in U.S. cities.