Co-CEO of the Tamarack Institute and Director of Vibrant Communities

 

 

Danya (she/her) grew up outside of Boston, Massachusetts. Her family offered reflections that shape her work: love who you are, keep learning, be kind and empathetic and notice the small joys that surround us. Her early career was spent in New York City, first at the International Rescue Committee, where she worked with resettling refugees, and then at The HOPE Program, working with criminal justice–involved individuals looking to find work or advance in their careers.

 

In 2012, she moved to Utah and began a decade-long career at United Way of Salt Lake (UWSL), which is solely focused on facilitating partnerships designed to support economic mobility. She had opportunities to support school, neighborhood and regional partnerships and to build data strategies that center people’s experiences and reflect the transformations that systems must make. Beginning in 2015, when she moved with her family to Renfrew County, Ontario, she did this work remotely. 

In Ontario, she’s sat on the boards of Wise Owl Daycare and Renfrew County Family and Children’s Services and on the Corporate Services Committee of United Way East Ontario. She is currently the Co-Chair of her school board’s parent involvement committee.

 

Danya left her position as Chief Operating Officer at UWSL in February 2022 to join Tamarack. She succeeds Tamarack’s co-founder, Paul Born, as Co-CEO and Director, Vibrant Communities. In this role, she supports communities in their work to end poverty, activate just climate transitions, and foster communities where everyone experiences belonging. 

 

She studied English, Psychology and Business. She is a Utah Business Magazine CxO of the Year (2021), an Aspen Institute Workforce Sector Skills Academy Fellow (2011), and a participant in the first cohort of Women in Power (2022). 

 

Danya loves to read, bike, run, and talk with other people about their passions. 

 

She loves watching young people discover both the beauty and the unrealized potential of the world around them.


Areas of expertise: