Data Consultant · Analytics Engineer

I don't just
analyze data.
I build things.

Nearly 20 years of turning broken data processes into reliable infrastructure. SQL pipelines, Tableau dashboards, automated reporting systems — built from scratch, built to last.

20
Years Experience
3
Industries Served
Processes Fixed

Built on a
math brain
and curiosity.

I'm a math major turned data professional with nearly 20 years of experience across higher education, healthcare, and financial services. My career has been defined by one consistent pattern: walking into a broken or inefficient process and building something to fix it.

At Northeastern University's Advancement division, I spent 10 years building SQL pipelines, production data models, Tableau dashboards, and automation tools that the whole team relied on. Before that, healthcare cost accounting at Partners Healthcare. Before that, financial analysis, trade settlement, and teaching middle school math.

I don't just deliver reports. I design data infrastructure that makes reporting automatic, accurate, and trustworthy — the kind of foundation that keeps working long after the project ends.

SQL · Snowflake Tableau R · Clustering ETL Pipelines Data Modeling Process Automation dbt (learning)
"
Fixing and improving things by building something is honestly just how I'm wired.
— Trina Watson
BS Mathematics · Northeastern University
MS Analytics (In Progress) · Northeastern University
Cluster Analysis Certificate · Coursera
Data Management Chair · CASE District 1

What I build
for you.

Every engagement starts with understanding your actual problem — not just the technical request. I scope carefully, build precisely, and deliver work that keeps working.

01
📊
Tableau Dashboard Development
Custom dashboards built around your data — bar charts, trend lines, geographic maps, KPI scorecards. Designed for executives and analysts alike, connected to your live data source.
Deliverable: Production Tableau workbook + documentation
02
🔗
SQL Data Modeling & Pipelines
Production-ready data models and pipelines built in Snowflake, SQL Server, or your warehouse of choice. One unified source of truth your whole team can trust.
Deliverable: Documented SQL views + pipeline architecture
03
⚙️
Report & Workflow Automation
Turn your most time-consuming manual reporting processes into automated pipelines. What takes days becomes minutes. Proven across fundraising, finance, and operations teams.
Deliverable: Automated reporting system + user guide
04
🔍
Data Cleanup & Validation
Audit your existing datasets for duplicates, gaps, inconsistencies, and logic errors. Deliver clean, validated data you can actually base decisions on.
Deliverable: Clean dataset + validation report
05
🧠
Statistical Modeling & Segmentation
Applied clustering and segmentation models in R to prioritize populations, identify patterns, and surface insights that aren't visible in standard reports.
Deliverable: Model outputs + prioritized segment list
06
🤝
Monthly Data Retainer
Your on-call data resource — available for queries, dashboard updates, new reports, and data questions every month. Predictable support without a full-time hire.
Deliverable: Set monthly hours · ongoing support
Selected Work

Three problems.
Three solutions.
Real results.

Every project below solved a real business problem for a real team. No mock projects, no hypotheticals.

Case Study 01
Northeastern University
Report Automation · Access + SQL
Turning a 3-day reporting marathon into a 5-minute automated process
The Senior VP of Development's quarterly reports required fundraisers to manually compile data across multiple Excel spreadsheets — a process that consumed several days of staff time every quarter. I analyzed the full workflow, designed an Access database that automatically imported raw data from source systems, applied all business logic, and exported completed reports in a structured format. What had taken days now ran in under 5 minutes, with no manual intervention required.
97%
Reduction in time to generate quarterly reports
Case Study 02
Northeastern University
Data Modeling · Snowflake
Building a single source of truth that eliminated a 400-request backlog
Following a CRM migration, the analytics team faced a backlog of 400+ data requests — each requiring manual joins across multiple views. Rather than chipping away at them one by one, I designed and built a production Snowflake data model: identifying every object the team would ever need, joining the relevant views, creating standardized custom fields, and promoting the result as a shared production schema. Every analyst on the team could now report from one trusted, consistent source. The backlog reached zero.
400
Backlogged requests resolved through single infrastructure build
Case Study 03
Northeastern University
Statistical Modeling · R
Segmenting 3,000 prospects so the research director knew exactly where to start
The Director of Prospect Research had 3,000 previously vetted donor prospects that needed re-evaluation — but no bandwidth to re-vet them all. I built a clustering model in R using giving history, engagement patterns, and constituent attributes to segment all 3,000 prospects into four prioritized tiers (A through D). The A-tier prospects represented the highest-value targets based on model signals. The director could now focus vetting time where it mattered most, rather than working through the full list arbitrarily.
3K
Prospects segmented and prioritized using R clustering model
Case Study 04
Northeastern University
Predictive Modeling · R · Production Deployment
Building a "Next Best Prospect" model whose scores went into production
The Prospect Development team needed a smarter way to identify which constituents were most likely to become viable major gift prospects — but with thousands of records and limited vetting bandwidth, manual review wasn't scalable. Working alongside a fellow senior analyst, I developed a suite of analytical scores using R that evaluated constituents across multiple dimensions of giving likelihood. What made this project exceptional was the outcome: the scores didn't just inform a one-time report — they went into production, becoming a permanent part of the prospect development infrastructure that the team relied on going forward. This is my favorite project of my career.
Scores deployed to production — used continuously by the prospect development team
Case Study 05
Northeastern University
Tableau · Global Data · Multi-Region Dashboards
A global constituent intelligence suite across 9 international regions
What began as a single dashboard request for Southeast Asia constituents evolved into one of the most expansive visualization projects of my career. The Global Engagement team needed a holistic view of their international constituents — who they were, where they were, and how they were connected to the university. I designed and built a full dashboard series for each of 9 regions: Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Latin America, the Pacific Oceanic area, and more. Each series gave the team consistent, region-specific visibility into their constituent base — enabling smarter outreach, event planning, and engagement strategy across three continents.
9
Regional dashboard series built covering constituents across 3 continents
Additional Selected Work
Alumni Event Lists
14 geospatial dashboards across 3 countries
Built 14 Tableau dashboards — one per Northeastern campus across the U.S., Canada, and U.K. — each surfacing alumni who lived or worked within 30 miles of a specific zip code. Used for targeted campus event outreach.
Student Philanthropy Dashboard
Donor segmentation by gift range and class year
Designed a Tableau dashboard for the Student Engagement & Philanthropy team showing donor counts broken down by gift range, with a dedicated view for Undergraduate Senior giving — enabling targeted engagement strategy by student segment.
Staff & Faculty Report
End-to-end data acquisition, modeling, and reporting
Identified a gap in employee giving data within the CRM, collaborated with Human Resources to acquire it, imported it into the data warehouse, built a data model for Employee Giving from scratch, and delivered a report enabling leadership to track and promote staff and faculty philanthropy.
"

She built 14 Tableau dashboards that put our alumni data on the map — literally. These geographic visualizations gave us exactly the insight we needed to build smarter, more targeted engagement strategies.

Working with Trina was a pleasure from start to finish.

S
Sarah Pelletier
Senior Associate Director, Leadership Relations
Northeastern University · Advancement
"

What made Trina especially easy to work with was her ability to translate my vision into actionable data insights without requiring me to speak the language of data analysis. She just got it.

Trina filled a data gap my team had been unable to solve on our own. What started as a single dashboard to better understand our community members in South East Asia grew into a full suite of nine regional dashboards spanning East Asia, South East Asia, South Asia, Latin America, Europe, and beyond. We went from basic contact information to a holistic view of constituents’ industries, event attendance, awards, and affinity data — which allowed my team to engage people based on who they are and what they’ve accomplished, not just where they live.

O
Olivia Bourdon
Associate Director, Global Engagement
Northeastern University · Advancement

The full toolkit.

Every skill below has been used on real projects — not just listed. Confidence tiers are honest.

Data & Querying
SQL (Snowflake)
SQL Server
Data Modeling
ETL / ELT Pipelines
Data Validation & QA
dbt Learning
Visualization & BI
Tableau
Microsoft Excel (Advanced)
Dashboard Design
Executive Reporting
Power BI Familiar
Analytics & Modeling
R (Statistical Computing)
Cluster Analysis
Segmentation Modeling
Variance Analysis
Financial Data Analysis
Platforms & Tools
Microsoft Access
Salesforce (Reporting)
Epic (Healthcare ERP)
Process Automation
Platform Administration

A process built to
prevent surprises.

Every project follows the same six-phase framework — so nothing falls through the cracks and you always know where things stand.

01
Requirements
Structured intake to define scope, deliverables, and success criteria before any work begins
02
Discovery
Understand your data — sources, structures, quality, and any issues — before building
03
Build
Systematic development with documented logic at every step
04
QA
11-point validation checklist — zero duplicates, verified counts, tested edge cases
05
Review
Structured feedback rounds with scope tracking — revisions are managed, not open-ended
06
Handoff
Full documentation, maintenance guide, and a clean transition so the work keeps working
Testimonials

What clients say.

"
What began as an entirely manual process requiring four full days of work each quarter was transformed by Trina into a streamlined, automated pipeline that generates the same output in minutes.
Each quarter, I was responsible for pulling fundraising goals across more than 60 individuals, covering dollars raised, visits, calls, and more. The manual process was time-consuming and prone to error, and frankly, it was the part of my job I dreaded most. Trina completely changed that. She designed an intuitive, easy-to-read form that produced accurate, comprehensive reports with ease. Throughout the project, we met numerous times to refine and expand the tool, and at every meeting Trina and her colleague arrived prepared, asked thoughtful and detailed questions, took thorough notes, and consistently met every timeline we agreed upon.
The end product was excellent, and working with Trina was a genuine pleasure. She brought both technical skill and a collaborative spirit to the project, and the impact on my work has been tremendous. I would welcome the opportunity to work with her again without hesitation.
VV
Vera Vlajkovic
Special Asst. & Project Manager, Individual Giving · Northeastern University
"

I know Trina to be diligent, a good communicator, very bright, and able to push quickly into new areas of knowledge when the requirements of a project call for it. I recommend her highly for any process improvement or creative visualization you may require.

Trina Watson handled many projects as a Senior Data Analyst at Northeastern University. Highlights include automating the ongoing consolidation of numerous datasets — staff performance evaluation reports, donor engagement scores, a donor propensity score (RFM), prospect research prioritization, and the segmentation of alumni outreach for marketing.

L
Lesley T. Pratt, EdD
Assistant Vice President, Advancement Services
Northeastern University · Advancement Services
Trina Watson  ·  Watson Built Data Solutions

Let's build
something
together.

Tell me about your data challenge. I'll respond within 24 hours with honest thoughts on whether and how I can help.

👤
Name
Trina Watson
📧
Email
tnicolewatson1@gmail.com
💼
LinkedIn
linkedin.com/in/trina-watson-75953231
📍
Location
Randolph, MA · Available Remote Worldwide
⏱️
Response Time
Within 24 hours · Free 30-min consultation
Start a Project
I respond to every inquiry within 24 hours.
✉️
Message received!
Thank you for reaching out. I'll review your project details and respond within 24 hours with honest thoughts on how I can help.