Jose Macias Email and Phone Number

Conceptualize, developed and budgeted comprehensive research projects in collaboration with senior and associate fellows, focusing on strategic global initiativesEngineered and implemented “LegisLens,” an advanced Python-based web crawler designed to systematically collect and analyze 20 years of Congressional hearing data. This involved complex data handling, PDF parsing, and deploying text analysis algorithms using Python’s Scikit-learn library.Analyzed political spatial ideology by wrangling, and geospatially joining data from the U.S. Census, MIT’s Election Data + Science Lab, & Qualtrics survey respondents using Tidyverse, Tidycensus API wrapper, sf packages.Conducted logistic regressions at zip code, congressional district, and U.S. Census region levels to draw insights and support data-driven conclusions in an installment of CSIS’s On Future War.

Orchestrated "Black Shadow," an innovative crisis simulation exercise aimed at evaluating the resilience of the U.S. Federal Civilian Executive Branch (FCEB) against sophisticated cyber threatsEmployed Qualtrics survey services for robust data capture, managing various data types including categorical, spatial, audio and temporal metrics from simulation participantsSynthesized insights from the "Black Shadow" simulation and contributed to the critical analysis in the report "CISA's Evolving .gov Mission: Defending the United States' Federal Executive Agency Networks," which underscored the pressing vulnerabilities in securing fundamental services for U.S. citizens

Crafted a new programming curriculum tailored for working professionals, focused on the practical application of programming in public policy, to launch the Policy Analytics Credential for the Harris Credential Department. Recorded 15 lectures covering Base R, Tidyverse applications, and APIs for spatial analysis. Additionally, designed two data exploration workshops for students to analyze crime across nine major U.S. cities using Leaflet.Designed instructional materials including PowerPoint presentations, R Scripts, and R Markdown files, to educate over 110 students in a custom Harris Credential program tailored for a corporate client in the Middle EastLectured on various R programming topics, covering the foundations of Base R, data wrangling and manipulation with Tidyverse, report creation using Markdown and Quarto, programmatic concepts with for and while loops, data visualization with ggplot2, and practical applications of linear regression including bivariate, multivariate, and an introduction to panel regression/fixed effects.

Hosted coding sections for first year students to solve problem sets in the 2024 Math and Coding Camp and quarterly Coding Lab sessions at the Harris SchoolDeveloped instructional content including PowerPoint presentations, R Scripts, and R Markdown files, to teach over 350 students practical methods of data analysis and R programming in public policy for programs administered by the Harris Credential Team.Lectured on APIs using R Studio, providing examples of raw APIs, public APIs, and API wrapper packages to access data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, USAID, Spotify, and the World Bank.

Directed ISRC VSFS coding interns in cultivating conceptual models of cyberspace using open-source, dyadic datasets, and academic journals to provide updated information.Trained the 2022-2023 & 2023-2024 Virtual Student Federal Service (VSFS) Intern Data Teams on open-source data collection methods utilizing Factiva, Excel, and an internal codebook to ensure a rigorous collection effort.Validated over 300 cyber incidents by reviewing and finalizing sources and associated variables according to a codebook.

Selected as 1 of 16 Public Policy Fellows from a national applicant pool of 300+ for the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI) to develop leadership skills and advance public policy that improves our cyber resiliency

As a public policy fellow, my spring placement is with the Strategic Technologies Program (STP) at CSIS. Here I act in a research assistant capacity under the guidance of STP's associate fellow, and at the direction of STP's Senior Vice President and Director. Some of my duties and achievements are below:Researched global trends of near peer competitors on cybersecurity technology by analyzing cyber operations, threat vectors and cybersecurity market share in the Indo-Pacific to publish a report for a private donor.Analyzed trade flows of U.S. cloud computing exports to Latin America with R package Bea.R from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) for a report on cloud security and strategic competition with near peer competitors.Review and analyze Department of Justice indictments of individuals charged with espionage or theft of trade secrets to update the CSIS Survey of Chinese Espionage on a quarterly basis.

Assist Army Cyber Command to cultivate conceptual models of cyberspace using open-source, dyadic datasets, and academic journalsResearched and codified 164 cyberattacks by geopolitical rivals from 2017-2020 by reviewing cybersecurity reports to expand a Dyadic Cyber Incident and Dispute DatabaseAnalyzed research by creating data visualizations with Tableau and interpreting regressions results in STATA to describe the effects of U.S. cyber strategy, cross-domain & in-domain escalation in the Middle East

As a public policy fellow, my fall placement was with The Office of Senator Angus King and King's Defense Team. Here, I managed the cybersecurity portfolio acting in a Legislative Assistant capacity under the supervision and direction of the Senior Military Legislative Assistant. Some of my duties and achievements are below:Negotiated the successful committee markup of the Defense of United States Infrastructure Act by collaborating with stakeholders to revise bill language concerns, reporting requirements, and securing 5 co-sponsors. Collaborated with the Maine Chamber of Commerce on logistics and discussion topics for a cybersecurity webinar including arranging the participation of Kiersten Todt, Chief of Staff at CISA and Senator King. Authored over 60 memorandums to prepare Senator King for defense policy meetings, co-sponsorships requests, and media appearances.Conducted legislative research and analysis on 52 cybersecurity provisions and amendments on the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to produced concise summaries and vote recommendations on 33 provisions.Cleaned, disaggregated, and analyzed the Safe Drinking Water Information System database using R Studio to visualize weak points in cybersecurity in over 50,000 unregulated small water infrastructure in rural America.Composed a briefing binder for a Congressional Delegation (CODEL) mission with maps on regional U.S military positions, memorandums on the cybersecurity strategies of Pakistan and Qatar, and state leadership profiles.

Research and vet prospective donors using Calltime-AI, RocketReach and public records to ensure representative Cisneros has current information when asking for donationsResearched and evaluated social media engagement of competitive electoral races by codifying Facebook, Instagram posts, reactions and analyzing Federal Election Commission contribution recordsPresented findings from social media engagement and campaign contributions and delivered recommendations to redesign the campaign’s social media strategy and increase individual donations

Extrapolated data to create a Correlates of War complaint dyadic database on counter-terrorism treaties using Excel, project codebook for future statistical analysisResearched and codified 426 bilateral Latin American counter-terrorism treaties, agreements and memorandums from 1990-2015 using the Dow Jones's Factiva News DatabaseImproved data collection by 22 percent for Latin America by researching in Spanish and English

Conducted data analysis for the 2019 California Strategic Growth Council (SGC) Annual Report and wrote case studies on awarded grantsEvaluated state policies and authored case studies on the environmental impact of sustainable land grants for the 2019 California Strategic Growth Council Annual Report Assisted in drafting legislative bill analyses on California Assembly and Senate Bills that could change the structure of OPR or SGC by researching legislative history and comparative state lawsResearched and wrote section analyses on addressing equity as broadband infrastructure expands and rural connectivity in California for an internal white paper reportConducted statistical analysis through the use of Excel to understand the proportion of the population that is applying for AHSC grants that are designed to create affordable housing and transit-oriented development

Monitored Mexican political developments by researching Spanish open-source materials, including news articles, social media, legislative bills, and public statementsDelivered weekly reports on the restructuring of political opposition parties and key non-MORENA governors in Mexico to U.S. Embassy Political Officers in Mexico CityBriefed U.S. Embassy Political Officers on the background, rise and political strategy of Marko Cortes, the newly elected party leader of Partido Acción Nacional (PAN)

Prosperity Now believes that everyone deserves a chance to prosper. Since 1979, we have helped make it possible for millions of people, especially people of color and those of limited incomes, to achieve financial security, stability and, ultimately, prosperity. We offer a unique combination of scalable practical solutions, in-depth research and proven policy solutions, all aimed at building wealth for those who need it most.Duties: Assist with researching individual/community/national program best-practices for asset development policies and tools such as micro-finance, individual development accounts and living wage provisions.Develop an inventory of equity-focused policies and programs that support asset development for disenfranchised communities of color. Monitor and assess media coverage related to asset developments to plan and implement media strategies