Like a lot of endeavors in life, this one began with a series of smaller, discrete tasks. In this case, three data projects.

Data science volunteers from R-Ladies Philly spent hours poring over data from the Philadelphia Animal Welfare Society (PAWS), an animal welfare organization with a mission to make Philly a no-kill city where every healthy and treatable pet is guaranteed a home.

What started as analyses of adoptions, volunteer engagement, and an ongoing project analyzing pet returns and clinic appointment no-shows data unearthed a bigger problem: How does one pull data from so many areas of the organization’s software quickly and efficiently — especially when the data isn’t compatible for compilation?

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