Engineering with a Mission
“Mariya Giy at ParentSquare HQ, Goleta, CA”
“Innovation is not just about technology; it’s about understanding the real-world needs of users and applying technical skill to create meaningful solutions.”
— Mariya Giy —
In EdTech, each line of code has the power to shape how a student feels—seen, heard, and supported. Mariya Giy stands out as a professional who bridges disciplines to drive meaningful innovation. With a background in sociological data analytics and software engineering, along with the experience of being a parent actively involved in the school community.
Dynamic Adolescent Graphs
Mariya’s professional journey began with a deep curiosity about how adolescents communicate and form social bonds. Holding a Master’s degree in Empirical Sociology with a focus on data analysis and tech-enhanced quantitative research, she worked as an R&D engineer, applying computational methods and developing software tools to analyze youth subcultures and model the dynamics of informal peer networks.
In collaboration with the Ivan Franko National University of Lviv she investigated the effects of marginal subcultural behavior adoption on student behavior in secondary schools.
Based on the implementation of quantitative metric analysis on data from hundreds of students across various schools, Mariya’s study, through Exploratory Data Analysis (EDA), revealed that communication gaps between students, educators, and guardians significantly contributed to student social isolation and a decline in school engagement.
Her research discovered a concerning pattern: behavioral shifts combined with social isolation resulted in a “pathogenic complex” that featured aggression, substance use, academic disengagement, interpersonal conflict, and persistent low academic achievement.
These insights were not merely academic, they highlighted a systemic challenge in education that required practical, structural change.
Computational Solutions for Social Challenges
“When data-driven insights combine with empathy in engineering, we create powerful social solutions that address real human needs.”
— Mariya Giy —
Through her work at a UK fintech start-up up she utilized her interdisciplinary skills for cybersecurity analytics to identify fraud patterns and enhance system security by integrating data-driven insights and regulatory risk models.
Mariya extended her influence at a Denmark-based global multibillion-dollar firm through her work as a Product Quality Software Engineer. Her role required her to blend engineering precision with ETL processes and ML techniques to perform comprehensive data analysis, which improved product reliability and automated quality checks while identifying large-scale systemic problems, resulting in a 25% drop in critical incidents and a 30% boost in detection speed.
Mariya enhanced Lenus – Europe’s top health education unicorn – through her engineering abilities which she applied to cross-functional collaboration and business analysis while aligning technical work with strategic growth targets, resulting in a 40% delivery timeline improvement and improved cross-team integration.
Mariya now works as a Software Engineer at ParentSquare, a leading platform for K–12 school-family communication, serving over 20 million students across all 50 states. What makes ParentSquare truly remarkable is its ability to bring schools and families together, creating a seamless, engaging communication experience that empowers students, parents, and educators.
“Sohit Wadhwa (CEO) and Anupama Vaid (President, CPO), ParentSquare Founders with Mariya Giy “
Engineering Context-Aware Solutions
Mariya’s research-based understanding of adolescent communication patterns shapes the development of user-friendly dashboards for teachers and administrators. Mariya works on a core team responsible for the precision of student data synchronization, ensuring seamless system integration and consistent access to critical information.
Yuriy Myron, software Quality Manager at Amazon.com and a former colleague, mentioned that Mariya plays a pivotal role in driving engineering excellence and operational stability within her teams. Her approach continuously reinforces a customer-centric mindset, ensuring that every development phase aligns with real-world user needs and enhances the overall experience.
Yuriy Myron described her as:
“An engineer with precision thinking and cross-functional clarity. Mariya sees the full system: technical, human, and operational. She delivers outcomes that matter, aligning each build with long-term vision and user impact.”
— Yuriy Myron, Quality Manager at Amazon.com —
Mariya bridges technical constraints with empirical insight, driving modifications that enhance functionality and user experience, recognizing that flawless software execution can fail if it doesn’t align with user perceptions and engagement patterns.
User-Centered Development
Mariya combines her personal insight as a parent with her academic and professional background to enhance her work. As a parent of a school-aged child, she experiences firsthand how communication systems impact families, from receiving school notifications to participating in meetings.
Her perspective enables her to identify usability issues and emotional pain points that others might miss. She understands the urgency parents feel when awaiting critical updates from schools, and she channels these insights directly into the engineering process, improving accessibility, clarity, and reliability in the tools she creates.
This level of involvement gives her a holistic view of the challenges schools face and the opportunities that technology can unlock.
“Mariya Giy and her son with Mr. McMorran – Principal of Lashon Academy, Van Nuys, CA
ParentSquare Client School”
Socio-Technical Alignment in Software Systems
Mariya’s work at an EdTech company aligns with her personal goal of enhancing inclusivity and effectiveness in education. Her team values both technical excellence and social impact, enabling her to focus on solutions backed by empirical evidence and user-centered design.
Her research methodology expertise shapes her approach to testing procedures and establishes standards for release and success evaluation.
As part of her extensive professional contributions, Mariya consistently serves as a mentor. Within programs like “Be.com”, she empowers women to advance their careers in the IT industry. Mariya guides tech professionals, helping them navigate their careers with strategic insights and practical advice. Her mentorship focuses on both technical excellence and building the leadership skills that lead to impactful change.
Mariya actively contributes to the broader tech education ecosystem by serving on judging panels for educational AI innovation programs, including Technovation Girls, where she helps identify and elevate promising ideas that align with ethical standards and have a positive educational impact.
Next-Gen Engineering through Research
Mariya is currently collaborating on a scientific project with criminology and justice studies professor Dr. Anastasiia Timmer, whose research focuses on how different social contexts, such as school, neighborhood, family, and peers, shape decision-making and deviant behavior among different populations, including adolescents.
Dr. Timmer highlights Mariya’s unique ability to innovate within constraints, developing practical, scalable solutions that reflect deep social understanding. Their joint project explores how thoughtfully designed communication technologies can reduce adolescent social isolation, enhance their rational decision-making, and foster stronger peer and school connections. This interdisciplinary work reflects Mariya’s ongoing commitment to science-based grounding of technological innovation, including the use of AI, in rigorous social research.
Dr. Timmer describes Mariya as:
“A rare combination of innovation and precision. She brings a scientific mindset into engineering and the engineering discipline into science. Her ability to translate complex social problems into scalable, ethical technology solutions is inspiring.”
— Dr. Timmer, PhD, California State University —
By integrating empirical data analysis, sociological insight, and software development practices, their joint work is poised to influence the next generation of EdTech tools – tools designed with an eye toward justice, inclusion, and psychological well-being.
Data-Informed HCI
“Data research gave me the questions. Engineering gave me the tools. Innovation happens when both speak to each other.”
— Mariya Giy —
Clear, timely communication can change a student’s day and shape their future. At ParentSquare, this principle drives every feature, update, and decision. For Mariya, ParentSquare offers a unique environment where the mission she began early in her career – understanding how communication shapes adolescent development – comes to life.
Mariya is shaping a vision of technology that prioritizes people, proving that meaningful innovation starts with understanding human complexity.
