Prashant Lambodari, a second-year graduate student at University of Detroit Mercy, gained valuable professional experience this summer through an internship with the City of Detroit Mayor’s Office.
Lambodari served as a 2026 City of Detroit Mayoral Fellow and intern, working with the Mayor’s Office Department of Neighborhood and Small Business. The experience allowed him to apply the data analytics skills he developed in the classroom to projects supporting the city and its stakeholders.
As a student pursuing a Master of Science in applied data analytics, Lambodari said the fellowship provided an opportunity to connect his academic experience with real-world challenges.
“One of my primary projects was the Detroit Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Visualization, where I collected, cleaned and analyzed data related to Detroit’s entrepreneurial landscape, and then translated those findings into clear, interactive Power BI visualizations that made the ecosystem easier to understand for city stakeholders and decision-makers,” Lambodari said.
Through the fellowship, Lambodari strengthened both his technical skills and his understanding of how data can be used to inform decisions in a government setting.
“This fellowship taught me far more than any experience could,” he said. “On the technical side, I deepened my skills in data cleaning, analysis and visualization. I learned how to transform raw, messy datasets into robust and reliable machine learning models.”
Lambodari also learned the importance of presenting complex information in a way that is useful to the people who rely on it.
“Just as importantly, I learned how data storytelling actually works in a real government setting: A visualization is only valuable if the people viewing it can act on it,” he said. “I learned to think about the audience first.”
While the technical experience was an important part of the fellowship, Lambodari said his favorite aspect of the internship was the opportunity to learn from professionals throughout city government.
“I loved having the opportunity to work on a meaningful project, but what made the fellowship especially memorable was being surrounded by people who were willing to share their knowledge and experiences with me,” he said.
Lambodari worked with his managers, project partner, fellow fellows and professionals across more than six City of Detroit departments. He said those interactions allowed him to learn about areas of city government beyond his own work.
“I really enjoyed being able to walk into a meeting or have a conversation with someone working in a completely different area of city government and come away having learned something new,” he said.
Another highlight was watching his work develop from raw data and initial ideas into maps, visualizations and analyses that addressed real questions surrounding Detroit businesses, neighborhoods, entrepreneurs and economic development.
“It was rewarding to know that the work I was doing as a fellow was connected to real questions surrounding Detroit’s businesses, neighborhoods, entrepreneurs and economic development,” Lambodari said.
Working directly with the City of Detroit also gave Lambodari a deeper appreciation for public service and the role data can play in supporting communities.
“Being able to spend the summer working with the City of Detroit and inside the Mayor’s Office was an experience I will always remember,” he said. “I entered the fellowship hoping to gain professional experience, but I left with new technical skills, mentors, friendships, connections and a much deeper appreciation for public service.”
For Lambodari, the summer fellowship provided more than an opportunity to build his resume. It gave him firsthand experience using data to help address real-world challenges while building relationships with professionals across the Detroit city government.