Data, Ice Cream, & Asking for Help: Alumna Fellow Elena Grewal ’02 Returns to the Hill

On a spring morning, Elena Grewal ’02 stood at the assembly podium facing a sea of students, her parents seated proudly in the audience. Having returned to Hopkins as the 2025 Alumna Fellow, Grewal was no longer the seventh grader struggling to understand math assignments, but a data scientist, entrepreneur, professor, and mother whose message to students was shaped by one simple, resonant theme: Don’t be afraid to ask for help.

“It felt both familiar and unknown,” Grewal said while reflecting on her return to campus. “The students looked younger than I remember ever being. The teachers looked more like me than the students. The T.S. Eliot quote came to mind: ‘I will not cease from exploration / And the end of all our exploring / Will be to arrive where we started / And know the place for the first time.’”

It was a full-circle moment not just for Grewal, but for her supportive parents and the teachers who had cheered her on through moments of struggle and triumph. At the podium, Grewal shared her story of resilience and collaboration—one that began at Hopkins and led her to the forefront of data science and community leadership.

When Grewal first arrived at Hopkins as a seventh grader from a New Haven public school, she quickly realized that she was behind in several subjects, especially math and English. Rather than give up, she began to seek help. Asking her father for assistance led to his digging out old math books from his school days in India so she could practice extra math problems. Likewise, seeking help from her teachers prompted them to provide extra support in English. On Prize Day at the end of her seventh-grade year, Grewal was awarded the Lydia von Wettberg Prize—a recognition in the Junior School for students who have shown the greatest academic improvement.

 

“It was an important lesson for me that sometimes you’re going to be out of your element, and you may need other people’s help. Take it. The point is to learn and grow, not to do it yourself,” she told students.

Over time, Grewal not only caught up but excelled. She won the Baldwin Essay Prize in eleventh grade and graduated at the top of her class. But it was the habit of asking for help, she emphasized, that became her most valuable skill.

After Hopkins, Grewal earned her undergraduate degree and pursued a Ph.D. in Education at Stanford, driven by an interest in how children from different socioeconomic backgrounds experience education. Her own transition from a public school in New Haven to the more academically rigorous program at Hopkins had given her firsthand insight into the challenges students can face when navigating
new systems.

To conduct her doctoral research, Grewal needed to learn coding and statistics. She enrolled in introductory classes, often surrounded by undergraduates much younger than herself. Once again, she sought help when she needed it. The newly acquired skills eventually led her to a position at Airbnb in 2012 as their first data scientist.

“All the tools at Airbnb were different, and I needed to learn them very quickly,” she said. “I asked my colleagues for help constantly.” The collection of data proved integral to the growing company, which used data and statistics collected by Grewal and her team to evaluate the effectiveness of their services for new property renters, among many other projects. 

Her persistence paid off. Grewal eventually became Head of a full Data Science Department where she managed more than 200 people. She credited her success not only to technical knowledge but also to the communication and collaboration skills she had honed at Hopkins through activities like The Razor, a cappella, and debate.

“Extracurriculars are really the life-skills part of your Hopkins education,” she said. “These activities taught me how to work with people. They taught me how to get up in front of a crowd. I didn’t have any problem getting up in front of the executives.”

By 2019, Grewal had returned to New Haven and launched her own consulting firm, Data 2 the People, a data science consulting firm focused on using data for real-world impact—fighting climate change, supporting public education, advancing human rights, and empowering communities to make informed choices for the public good. 

One day during a walk in her East Rock neighborhood, she passed an empty storefront next to a park. She envisioned it as a place where people could gather over ice cream. She had no experience in food service, but she knew what to do: ask for help. 

She reached out to the owner of her favorite soft-serve shop, Twirl and Dip in San Francisco. The owner, Meg Hilgartner, not only agreed to advise her, but developed the recipe for Elena’s signature dairy-free chocolate soft-serve and chocolate dip. Grewal also asked dozens of small business owners for advice, treating each insight as a data point to consider, weigh, and apply.

The journey was not easy. Grewal faced zoning hurdles, construction delays, and even a lawsuit that prevented the shop from serving beer and wine. It took two years from idea to grand opening, but eventually, Elena’s on Orange opened its doors and became an instant neighborhood favorite.

Even in the realm of ice cream, data remains central. Before opening, Grewal posted a QR code survey on the shop’s front door, collecting over 1,000 responses about flavor preferences. Blind taste tests determined that mini M&Ms beat regular ones, and ube and matcha flavors were surprise local hits. To this day, weekly “test kitchen” flavors offer opportunities for customer feedback, and internal metrics help the team streamline operations.

“We gather data on how many customers we serve per hour and how efficiently we move through the line,” she explained. Before long, Grewal was able to use the data
to make improvements. “We discovered that eliminating milkshakes and adding another register dramatically improved wait times,” Grewal provided as examples.

Grewal now teaches a course she designed—Real World Environmental Data Science—at the Yale School of the Environment. She continues to run Elena’s on Orange, chairs the East Rock Community Management Team, serves as a commissioner on the Fair Rent Commission, while also raising a toddler and a new baby.

Despite her many roles, Grewal hasn’t forgotten her roots. On her return to Hopkins, she held a brunch Q&A with students and visited a Multivariable Calculus class, where she fielded questions ranging from data science career paths to ice cream recipe development. Students were especially interested in whether Elena’s was hiring for the summer. (It was). She encouraged the students to apply, and to do what she has always done: ask for help when they need it.

“Helping others was important to me even at Hopkins,” she said. “I started a homework helpline for classmates, and that spirit of support has followed me ever since—whether it’s reviewing a friend’s resume or lending a hand during tough times.”

For Grewal, returning to Hopkins was not just a nostalgic trip. It was a chance to give back, to thank those who helped her, and to inspire a new generation of students to embrace learning as a collaborative process.

“A big hug from [art teacher] Peter Ziou was definitely a highlight,” she said. “And seeing Barbara Riley again was incredibly moving. She is such an incredible teacher. It meant so much that she came back to see me.”

But perhaps the most meaningful moment came after her speech, when a student approached her and said she, too, was struggling with her English essays.

“She thanked me for sharing my story,” Grewal recalled. “We all need help sometimes. And that is the point of school—to help us learn.”

The Hopkins Fellows program was established in 2005 to enrich the Hopkins learning experience by exposing students to alumni who inspire, challenge, engage, and educate through sharing their unique life experiences.