D-RISK The future - Control complexity & make better decisions

About

I am an anthropologist with over 10 years of work experience spanning legal, financial, natural resource, consumer and non-governmental sectors.

I combine qualitative data with research methods such as interviews and surveys to explore the self-reported listener experience and understand perceptions, generate comprehensive findings, and eliminate blind spots in the following areas:

  • non-financial risk, including reputational risk
  • sustainability
  • community engagement
  • social impact
  • legal / compliance
  • corporate ethics
  • corporate social responsibility
Magda Dąbkowska

The goal is to control emerging dynamics that haven’t happened yet, but which will have a big impact on business. D-Risk the Future takes into account an organisation’s entire ecosystem to better understand the external environment and its risks.

Contact me

Methodology

The focus is on areas that go unnoticed, actions, events, or behaviour which we call “normal” or “ordinary” and therefore we do not pay enough attention to.

  • Gathering relevant information from in-depth conversations with key industry decision makers and other stakeholders along the value chain.

  • Collecting and analysing user behavior and needs through field studies, user interviews, ethnography, surveys, benchmark studies, online testing.

  • Exploring that which is unobservable in behaviour and quantitative data through which the phenomena gradually represents itself resulting in knowledge.

  • Making sure that insights get translated into actionable product improvements or directions for new business opportunities.

  • Showcasing research findings through written reports and executive presentations.

Practical applications

  • Make ethical profit that considers the environment and communities.

  • Promote responsible innovation that has sustainable future as its ultimate goal.

  • Discover trends in consumer behaviour.

  • Discover cultural know-how and apply it across the realm of communication and advertising.

Experience

  • Corporate Sustainability and Risk Management

    Responsible for implementing and assessing frameworks related to sustainability and reputational risks at a bank. Oversaw the remediation of non-financial risks, ensuring adherence to risk appetite.

    Provided strategic guidance to a window manufacturing company looking to expand into European markets while ensuring compliance with sustainability regulations. Conducted a comprehensive market analysis to identify growth opportunities across Europe, focusing on consumer sustainability and energy efficiency expectations.

  • ESG regulation

    Winner of the 2022 AI & Data Science Innovation Program organised by Dentons, a global law firm, for designing a digital solution to help companies from the real estate sector navigate the rapidly evolving ESG regulation landscape.

    Conducted an EcoVadis sustainability assessment for an energy company, evaluating its sustainability performance across key environmental, labour and human rights, ethics, and sustainable procurement criteria.

  • Energy

    Worked with energy companies in Europe and Central Asia. Wrote a submission to the Doing Business in Central Asia guide, published by the World Bank, a report describing business regulations and their enforcement in the region.

    Organised and moderated a panel debate on the energy transition in East and Central Europe for the Energy Ethics research group at the University of St Andrews. This event brought together experts from various fields to discuss the socio-political and economic implications of transitioning to sustainable energy.

  • Strategic Insights

    Provided qualitative data to understand consumer trends across various industries, understand evolving consumer preferences and identify business opportunities to align operations with changing consumer practices.

    Successfully mentored an Albanian start-up that won the 2013 Yunus Social Business Accelerator Program. This initiative aimed to reduce unemployment among rural women by creating opportunities for them in the hospitality sector.

    Supported a global retailer in market positioning through comprehensive research activities, including participant recruitment via screener questionnaires, response analysis, interviews and validation surveys.

    Worked on consumer experiences in house construction and renovation projects, the cultural appropriateness of TV ads, barriers to sports participation among marginalised communities, and brand communication in the consumer market.

Research

Magdalena is a PhD candidate in social anthropology at Humboldt University of Berlin. Her research is focused on the energy transition, presenting findings at prominent conferences such as the Sustainability and Innovation Congress in Helsinki (2024) and the Energy Anthropology Network Workshop in Lisbon (2023).

Politics, geopolitics, and internal others: Just transition in North Poland

Magdalena co-authored an article published in the Energy Research and Social Sciences (2024) examining the affective responses along the coal supply chain from Colombia to Poland. Based on ethnographic fieldwork, this research reveals how energy transitions are non-linear and influenced by diverse stakeholder perspectives.

Contact me

Write to me in English, Polish, German or Spanish.
I look forward to working with you.