Danya Pastuszek (she/her) grew up outside of Boston, Massachusetts. Her family offered reflections that deeply 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. She left her position as Chief Operating Officer at UWSL in February 2022 to join Tamarack.