Saru is a data analysis expert whose move to Perth, Western Australia was life-changing in more ways than one! Originally working as a research assistant while completing her Masters in Biotechnology in India, Saru had always considered her future would be in a research setting within the biotech field. Moving to Western Australia in 2019, Saru commenced searching for roles in university and research institute laboratories, keen to transfer her skills to the Australian research context. An initial contact with the (then) City of Stirling Kaleidoscope Program, which links skilled migrants with local mentors, saw her shift focus and broaden her career ambitions.

Taking on volunteer roles, on the advice of her mentee, Saru discovered that her research skills and database expertise were a perfect match for the much-needed data analysis work undertaken by local councils and community service organisations. While Saru secured a role as a research officer at Murdoch University, she realised that her volunteer experience within the community services sector brought fulfillment and opportunity and was incredibly rewarding. Saru shifted from the education and research sector to community services and hasn’t looked back! She now works with the City of Kwinana as a business support officer and has recently joined the growing team at Janali & Co. bringing to clients expertise in and passion for data analysis.

So far, Saru has worked on two projects at Janali & Co: an evaluation of the Ethnic Communities Council’s Genesis Program, an FDV prevention initiative focussed on migrant and refugee women, and the City of Mandurah project, which investigated the experiences of homeless people in that region. In both cases, Saru’s expertise in data analysis has allowed Janai & Co. to deeply understand the data gathered through the engagement processes and provide clients with detailed program evaluation and engagement insights.

Saru continues to be inspired by people who work in community services, dedicating their time to making Australia the best place to be. Along with passion and expertise in data analysis, Saru brings to the Janal & Co. team high-level Microsoft Excel and PowerBI skills, the ability to analyse survey data and communicate insights, the development of project data dashboards, and the use of data to generate recommendations for teams.