Encore Data is working in tandem with Optimization Direct to provide mathematically optimized redistricting to any state that requests it. Work is being provided by:

Ann Stephens
Encore Data, Inc.
Reston, Virginia

Ann Stephens began her career as Research Director of the Software Publishers Association, where she applied analytic techniques to determine future trends in the industry. From there, she founded PC Data in 1991, which tracked sales on a weekly basis of all PC hardware and software in the United States. In 1999, PC Data also began tracking Internet use in the U.S., Canada, Italy, Australia and China. The company was sold in 2001. Stephens is now CEO of Encore Data, a data consulting firm.

Over the past 30 years, she has provided data services to more than 200 technology companies, including Microsoft, Apple, Google, Symantec, IBM, Adobe Systems and Disney.

Stephens received an MBA from the University of Virginia in 1982. Her thesis, entitled “The Oakland A’s” provided a multiple regression program to optimize revenue, promotions and salaries for the Oakland A’s baseball team, and was the precursor to “Moneyball.”

Robert Ashford
President, Optimization Direct Inc.
Harrington Park, NJ

Robert Ashford is one of the world’s foremost authorities on optimization. He received a Master’s degree in Mathematics from Cambridge University and a Ph.D. from Warwick Business School and has authored more than 20 academic papers in Optimization. Robert co-founded Dash Optimization in 1984, where he pioneered the development of new modeling and solution technologies, driving the size, complexity and scope of optimizing programs. Dash Optimization was sold to FICO in 2008 and Ashford subsequently, co-founded Optimization Direct in 2014, which is an IBM partner. He is the original author of Xpress-MP, one of the world’s leading optimization systems.

Alkis Vazacopoulos
Optimization Direct, Inc.
Harrington Park, NJ

Alkis Vazacopoulos is a pioneer in using Parallel Programming for solving Large-Scale Optimization problems for vertical markets, particularly in Banking and Retail Industries. From January 2008 to January 2011 he was Vice President at FICO Research. Prior to that he was President of Dash Optimization, Inc. where he worked closely with end users, consulting companies, OEMs/ISVs in developing optimization solutions.
Vazacopoulos co-founded Optimization Direct in 2014. He also consults with Fortune 500 companies in the areas of finance, marketing optimization, data mining, supply chain, retail optimization, procurement and decision analytics.

For more information, contact astephens@encore-data.com, or by phone at 703-471-2189.