Charmaine Runes

Prior to moving to Chicago, Charmaine was a public policy researcher at the Urban Institute in Washington, DC, where she focused on the 2020 Census and the implications of potential miscounts; the implementation and impact of multi-generational anti-poverty interventions; and structural racism in policy, research, and evaluation. She has produced and presented data visualizations at multiple conferences, including the 2016 White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders data convening.
More recently, Charmaine served as South Side Weekly’s as its Director of Fact-checking; on the side, she reported and developed several data visualizations for the Weekly. She previously worked with the City of Chicago’s Chief Data Officer and Design Director to re-imagine the requester-side FOIA experience, and at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, with the Chicago Department of Public Health to develop social media strategy and graphics. Charmaine has also covered local government as part of City Bureau’s Documenters network.
Charmaine graduated from Macalester College with a B.A. in Economics and the University of Chicago with a M.S. in Computational Analysis and Public Policy.
Stories by Charmaine Runes
What happens when data on the COVID-19 pandemic goes missing?
Experts say the information was important for individuals to make decisions about whether and when to test, quarantine or wear a mask.
I ran the Chicago Marathon. One world major marathon down, five to go.
This weekend got me 60,000 steps closer to my life goal of running all six world majors.
Another thing that was flooded after Sunday’s massive rainstorm? The city’s 311 help line.
More than 1,400 calls poured in to report water in basements and streets. Also, those insane geysers — explained.
Chicago is (still) a union town
Workers are filing more organizing petitions than any time in the last decade.
One in four inbound flights to Chicago were delayed this summer. But we’ve had it worse.
In June, 40% of Midway arrivals experienced delays.
Uptown is one of the highest ranked areas for rich-poor friendships, a new study finds
How common are cross-class friendships across the Chicago area? Look up your ZIP code here.
The antidote for burned-out millennials? It’s the climbing gym.
For a generation trained on hyperproductivity, the climbing gym is becoming a go-to spot to make friends, have a serious workout and blow off steam.
Chicagoans breathe the most polluted air of the year on July 4
From dusk to midnight, July 4 fireworks blast particulate matter over Chicago, which already has some of the worst air pollution in the U.S.
Zonas críticas de contaminación atmosférica en Chicago: Nueva Red de sensores revela disparidades en la calidad del aire entre vecindarios.
Nuevos datos muestran zonas críticas de contaminación del aire en La Villita, Austin, Irving Park, Englewood y Auburn Gresham.
Noah, meet Olivia, the other most popular baby name of 2021 in Illinois
Liam, Oliver, Henry, Benjamin, Emma, Sophia, Charlotte and Amelia round out the top 10. But, wait, there’s more…