Mariana Samayoa MartinezStrategy · Systems · Impact

Mariana Samayoa
Martinez

Strategy · Systems · Impact

I turn complex priorities into structures that hold across teams, time, and change.

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About

The in-between is where I work

Growing up in Guatemala during and after the peace process, I saw the long and often invisible work of reconstruction that follows conflict. It shaped how I understand peace: not as single outcomes, but as changes in underlying structures, relationships, and models. Peace, as I came to understand it, was less an endpoint than an ongoing process, one that depended on shifting the conditions that drove conflict in the first place.

That understanding shapes how I work across philanthropic, multilateral, and nonprofit settings. I work in the space between strategy and execution: helping leadership see what's not connecting, framing the choices that matter, and building the systems that let teams move with both speed and integrity. I use monitoring, evaluation, and learning as sensemaking tools, designing for root causes and staying iterative as conditions shift.

Over nearly a decade, I've gone from coordinating projects to building the systems behind them and advising the people running them. I pay attention to how the operational, relational, and strategic layers fit together, and I move quickly when something needs to change. In practice, that means surfacing what leadership isn't seeing, building tools that turn data into decisions, getting cross-functional teams aligned, and translating complexity into something a board, a funder, or a partner can act on.

Complex systems seem to flow on their own. But individual actions reverberate, and intentional ones can change the color of everything.

The animation at the top of this page is a flow field: thousands of particles tracing invisible currents. Move your cursor to pull the flow toward you. Click to release a new color into the system.

Languages Spanish (Native) · English (Fluent)
Focus Drawn to organizations using philanthropy, evidence, and systems thinking to drive change at scale.
Journey

From execution to the systems behind it

July 2024 — Present
Officer
United Nations Foundation · Global Policy & Multilateral Initiatives
Role scope expanded over time from grants management into organizational initiatives, institutional learning, and strategic projects. This progression included managing multi-year grant portfolios over $3M, supporting the full grant lifecycle, leading process improvement efforts, convening high-level retreats on multilateral reform, and coordinating cross-functional work tied to senior leadership priorities.
Current focus · Strategic Projects & Institutional Delivery

Serving on a cross-functional delivery team for a flagship initiative on the future of multilateralism. Working directly with the Executive Office and Chief of Staff to move cross-cutting projects forward.

Expanded focus · Organizational Initiatives & Systems

Led process improvement projects, designed internal dashboards and tools, and introduced data visualization to support decision-making and reduce staff workload.

Designed and led the Multilateral Insights Project to surface the organization's theory of influence, capture cross-team learning, and translate findings into usable institutional knowledge.

Also supported the establishment of a sister organization through project management, governance setup, and the development of core policies, SOPs, and operating models.

Initial focus · Grants Management

Managed multi-year grant portfolios over $3M across multiple funding streams, supporting the full grant lifecycle and advising subgrantees on reporting, financial tracking, and compliance.

May 2023 — June 2024
Head of Programs & Operations
Lead-Up International
Led bi-national operations across the United States and Guatemala. Built grantmaking policies, financial systems, and governance frameworks from scratch. Worked closely with the Board on funding strategy, organizational direction, risk management, and sustainability, bringing a systemic lens to strategic conversations.
August 2021 — May 2023
Head of Development
Lead-Up International
Developed and implemented a monitoring, evaluation, and learning system, secured the organization's first UN-sponsored grant, and increased fundraising revenue by over 50 percent. Led grant design, budgeting, financial monitoring, and final evaluations to strengthen reporting, accountability, and program impact.
September 2020 — July 2021
Education Consultant
Centro de Enseñanza Educare · Guatemala
Designed teacher appraisal and development strategies and student assessment processes to improve learning outcomes. Evaluated the implementation of the middle-school Peacebuilding Curriculum and led the development of a high-school Peacebuilding Curriculum.
January 2018 — December 2019
Technical Assistant, Education Sector
UNESCO Guatemala
Led the UNESCO-Malala Centers for the Education of Indigenous Girls and Young Women project, managing contracting, consultant oversight, reporting, compliance, and MEL within a multilateral system. Also developed grant proposals and facilitated peacebuilding programming and capacity-building trainings for partners and colleagues.
2016 — 2017
Peacebuilding Consultant & Researcher
UNESCO Guatemala · Polycentric Learning Group
Co-designed Guatemala's national pedagogical curriculum on Peace and Human Rights Education and conducted organizational culture research that grounded the systems thinking lens I continue to bring to institutional work.
Portfolio

What I've been building

I focus on where strategy breaks down in execution. Where priorities are unclear, systems don't connect, or teams are working without a shared structure. I start by understanding what needs to hold across those layers, then shape the systems, processes, and tools that make that possible. I've built across languages, cultures, countries, fields, and teams, and that range is what lets me connect systems, align people, and translate strategy into something that works in practice. A few examples below, the first three are live tools you can open and use.
Expertise

What I work across

Systems & Strategy

  • Systems Design & Process Improvement
  • Strategic Advisory & Decision Support
  • Cross-Functional Project Delivery
  • Convening Design & Facilitation
  • Tool Development & Data Visualization

Programs & Stewardship

  • Project & Program Management
  • Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning
  • Grant Management & Compliance
  • Budgeting & Financial Stewardship
  • Donor Relations & Stewardship

Tools & Platforms

  • Salesforce (Advanced) · Reports, Dashboards & Workflows
  • Excel (Advanced) · Financial Modeling & Analysis
  • HTML/CSS/JS · Next.js/React (Self-Taught)
  • AI-Assisted Prototyping & Automation
  • Financial Edge · Workday · NetSuite
Get in Touch

Let's connect

If you're into systemic change, have Gloria Anzaldúa and María Lugones on your shelf, or think Hayley Williams is your favorite band, I'd love to talk!

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