01How I got here

Four threads that turned into one way of working.

Business analysis, animal welfare, systems and research didn’t arrive in a straight line — but they ended up explaining each other.

01

Business analysis & consulting

Five years inside data organisations

I spent years working on processes, systems, data and decision-making inside organisations — including Google projects. It taught me how work actually gets done, and how often a problem is really a problem of process, ownership or information.

MSc Data Science · BA Marketing

5+ years working experience · incl. Google projects

  • Process Design & Optimisation
  • Operational Systems & Automation
  • Data Collection & Analysis
  • Translating Technical Concepts
  • Stakeholder & Senior Management Communication
  • Evidence-Based Problem Solving
02

Animal welfare

Ten years close to the problem

Rescue, sanctuary work, TNR programmes, fundraising and events. This is where I learned that good intentions aren’t enough — and that welfare outcomes depend on institutions, rules, money and human behaviour, not just compassion.

  • Event & Workshops Organisation
  • TNR & Stray-Cat Population Programmes
  • Animal Sanctuary Volunteering
  • Dog & Cat Rescue / Life-Saving Programmes
03

Institutional analysis

Then I started investigating systems

Working on the ground raised questions nobody could answer, so I went looking. Mapping who is responsible, what the law requires, where enforcement stops and who could change it became the core of my practice.

  • Institutional Mapping
  • Responsibility & Actor Analysis
  • Evidence Synthesis
  • Systems Thinking
  • Behavioural Analysis
  • Intervention Design
04

Research → strategy → action

And insisted it lead somewhere

Research that nobody uses is a waste of everyone’s time. So the last step is always the same: turn findings into something people can understand, decide on and act on.

  • Complex Problem Research
  • Qualitative Research
  • Behaviour Change Research
  • Evidence Synthesis
  • Turning Findings into Strategy
  • Translating Research into Action
02Why it holds together

The analytical and the personal are part of the same practice.

Formal training gives me ways to analyse evidence. Professional experience shows me how organisations, processes and decision-making work. Animal-welfare work keeps that analysis accountable to what happens in real life.

Master of Science in Data Science certificate awarded to Martyna Szymkowiak

Academic record

Master of Science in Data Science

IU International University of Applied Sciences · 2026

Martyna reading beside two rescued dogs
[FIG 02.2] MORE THAN TEN YEARS OF BEING ACTIVE FOR ANIMAL-WELFARE.
03Where it leads

Bring me something difficult. I have several ways of helping you move it forward.

Understand the system, identify what is getting in the way, and turn the findings into something people can use — as a consultant, an investigator, an adviser, a facilitator or a project partner.

A further record

You can find more of my professional background on LinkedIn, although it isn’t a platform I use very actively.

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End of file 02Evidence before assumptions