In a fast-paced world with ever more information surrounding us, the ability to share information succinctly and use data to tell compelling stories has become a vital skill. This certificate program will be helpful to professionals in a range of settings who create reports, presentations, and other communications using data. Class meetings provide participants with opportunities to learn and apply data visualization best practices for creating charts in Excel and other visuals for dissemination products, such as presentations, dashboards, reports, and one-pagers. Through a variety of activities, participants will build skills to design their own data visualization style guide, supporting impactful visuals for both quantitative and qualitative data. They will also learn to build dissemination plans to reach specific audiences, learn strategies to engage interest holders with data findings, and gain practice telling stories with data. Participants are encouraged to work on their own datasets or projects within the program, engaging in class assignments and activities to create products that will be useful for their own agency setting or interests. This certificate program welcomes beginners who are new to data visualization and seeks to build foundational skills. Optional Consultation Session: Participants will have the opportunity to schedule one optional consultation session to receive personalized feedback and guidance on their data visualization and communication projects. Program details and prerequisites are listed below. Applications for this program will close on February 27, 2026, by 5 pm, US Central Time.