Speakers

Sandra co-founded Equitas Insight with Ana, who is a marketer by background, a change driver and a capability builder by design. She started her career in Brazil working in B2B marketing in blue chip industrial and manufacturing organizations. She then moved into academia and a career in marketing consultancy and lecturing undergraduate and graduate Strategic Marketing courses at her Alma Mater ESPM (Escola Superior de Propaganda e Marketing). Her international career started in the UK after being awarded an MBA at Warwick University, working in the Marketing and Operations practice of PricewaterhouseCoopers. In 2002 she joined Brand Learning, then a startup specializing in building marketing capabilities. As a partner, she moved to NYC to open Brand Learning’s first overseas practice.

Belinda serves as the Director of Marketing and Business Development for Gazelle Global Research Services. Previous to her tenure at Gazelle, Belinda primarily worked in clinical environments with the Westchester Institute for Human Development and the Child Welfare Program for Westchester County in New York. Belinda additionally served under the Director of Communications as a writer for the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence in Washington, DC. Belinda earned a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and in English from Carnegie Mellon University as well as a Master’s degree in Business from the University of Illinois. She maintains interest in the field of maternal/fetal health as a trained birth doula and is passionate about D.E.I in market research and beyond.

Bianca started out in research at Chicago Focus back in 2007 followed by a run at Kantar TNS in Brand and Communications.

It was at System 1 (formerly know as BrainJuicer), however, where she stepped into executive leadership - growing books of business, developing and maintaining relationships and coaching teams in both Chicago, NYC, and LA.

She is currently at BET Networks, a ViacomCBS company, as the Vice President of Consumer Insights for Content Optimization.

When she's not testing TV pilots and promos, then she's running a foundation focused on fighting against medical brutality of Black Mothers, soaking up all there is to learn about artificial intelligence and machine learning, and exploring the Bronx with her son.

Charlene is Director, Client Solutions at Schlesinger Group and a Co-Founder of Colour of Research (CORe), which advocates for the inclusion of professionals from various ethnic backgrounds in the market research industry. She got her start in research with Synovate and has also held roles of increasing responsibility with IFF, Dynata and Bilendi. She graduated from the University of Essex and maintains a business, Char’s Cakery, making incredible custom cakes.

Damon plays a critical role in Burke’s Data Collection Division as he oversees the day-to-day operations involved in the execution of telephone research projects. He manages the execution of our Hispanic telephone data collection through our subcontractor partner network. In addition to his day-to-day responsibilities, Damon serves as Chair of Burke’s Inclusion & Diversity Strategic team called Kaleidoscope and serves on multiple teams within the organization.

The recipient of the 2020 MRX Diversity Champion Award, Damon is continually involved in staying current in MR Data Collection and general industry knowledge by his active membership in the Insights Association.

He is a Board advisor of the North Atlantic Chapter of IA and serves as Chair of that Chapter’s Diversity and Education Committee which he formed during his tenure as President in 2014-15, and serves on the national Insig hts Association’s Chapter Leadership Committee and the IDEA (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity & Access) Council. He has been a presenter at multiple educational conferences.

Damon has a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Cincinnati with a double major in Marketing and Management. He is a graduate of the University of Georgia’s Principles of Marketing Research Certification Program and of Cornell University’s Online Diversity and Education Certification Program. He has been with Burke since July of 1996.

Dawn is the founder and CEO of Mahogany Insights, a strategy and market research firm dedicated to helping companies connect with Black consumers. She has more than 20 years of experience, including brand management at P&G and Frito Lay. Dawn has personally spoken to over 2500 consumers and has worked with 70+ brands on creating effective and actionable insights. She serves as an external consultant on the Ipsos Inclusion Council. She is currently working on her MLA in Sustainability at Harvard University where her academic research focuses on sustainability in Black communities.

Dawn E. Christian is a Belonging Speaker +Thought Leader who is unapologetically committed to her leadership as an IDEAS (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Access, and Social Consciousness) Champion + Practitioner.

Dawn leads belonging, inclusion, and diversity initiatives by counseling and coaching senior-level executives on how to nurture and develop a culture of inclusion by way of building a sense of belonging. Dawn is a sought-after speaker, podcast contributor, and IDEAS advisor. She has been a recurring speaker, keynote, and panelist at The Global Fluency Summit, Cornell University Johnson Graduate School of Management Diversity Summit, The ZeroGap.co, Global Leadership Summit, featured podcast guest on the Power Banking Podcast, In Other Words, and Global Fluency Podcast.  Dawn is a recurring Belonging, Diversity, and Inclusion thought leadership columnist on FairPlayTalks.com.

Dyna is the Managing Director of the consumer, tech, and telecom practice at Escalent. As a leader of leaders, it's her purpose to supercharge people to achieve more. She has a propensity for action and is on a quest to advise and inspire insights leaders across the world. Over the course of her career, Dyna has been on the executive team of multiple venture/private equity backed start-ups, including two that she co-founded herself. On this journey, she's experienced an IPO, scaled a company, and been through two acquisitions. She also co-founded the WIRexec Leadership Summit to promote collaboration among other female executives in her industry. Through it all, she has been a hands-on leader with a strength for building teams. More specifically, she can grow sales, improve client services, and create new solutions for enterprise brands. Above and beyond, Dyna believes in diversity and inclusions as well as providing mentorship to young women. Dyna and her partner, Darin Jackson live in Northern California. They love to mountain bike, snow ski, boogie board, and do yoga when they’re not busy sorting drama between their two teenage girls, teenage boy exchange student, and rambunctious Frenchie named Matcha.

Imran helps key APAC clients achieve their business goals through unique and specialized research solutions. He is a proven leader with a strong track record of leveraging and building strong partnerships with clients in international markets such as Korea, China, and Japan.

Imran joined Schlesinger Group in 2021 when Addison Research was acquired by the company. He was one of the founding members of Addison Research and led a robust and mature team of sales professionals to position the company as the most preferred supplier for international clients, with a keen focus on East Asia.

Imran brings a wealth of expertise and leadership to the Schlesinger family. While serving as an expert in qualitative and quantitative research solutions, Imran also brings strong policy and research expertise, having previously served as a Senior Policy Advisor to the Government of Ontario. In this role, he led extensive and transformational research initiatives which have helped shape the social services and post-secondary education sectors in Ontario, Canada.

Imran has worked with the Toronto 2015 Pan / Parapan American Games to develop their large-scale volunteer strategy and has advised the TO2015 and the Government of Ontario on various diversity and inclusion strategies. Presently, he serves as an Advisor on the University of Toronto’s Governing Council Secretariat.

Imran proactively speaks about leveraging diversity to create organizational excellence and champions minority hiring. Imran and his wife have recently launched their self-funded scholarship named the Pearson-Khan Award for Women's Empowerment. This scholarship aims to recognize young Muslim women in Canada who have overcome financial hardship to play a role in women's empowerment.

A Cincinnati native, Jaswant is a researcher with a passion for business and the human psyche. She enjoys helping organizations bring their visions to life and pave the way for strategic action. Jaswant considers market researchers stewards of the consumer voice. For this reason, she is passionate about enabling all voices to be heard through proper business practices.

Jessica is a designer and community leader dedicated to IBM’s Racial Equity in Design Initiative. As the program manager, Jessica’s role is to ensure programs and work streams are successful with delivering on their goals to make long-term, equitable change for designers of color.

Jessica joined IBM as a visual designer and front-end developer, and has taken on many roles since 2014. She organized IBM’s first FED@IBM community dedicated to front-end developers with members across the globe, and is also the lead for IBM’s 100+ Enterprise Design Thinking global chapter network.

Outside of IBM, Jessica dedicates her time to educating and encouraging women to be a part of design and tech initiatives. She speaks and leads workshops with organizations such as Future Front Texas, Women Who Code, and Girls Who Code with hopes that other women will pursue leadership opportunities in tech.

Josh has worked in the market research Industry for over 25 years. His experience spans the technology and advertising industries, including positions at Verizon, Showtime Networks, TBWA Chiat Day, & Microsoft. Josh is passionate about evolving market research methodologies, analytics, and storytelling to better align with the cultural context and corporate priorities.

Julie Hermann is a market research manager at Ulta Beauty focused on bringing the customers' voice and passion for beauty to life for the organization.

She has been creating market research connections for over 15 years, with experience on the supplier and client sides of research in a variety of industries including beauty, retail, QSR and financial, at McCain Foods USA, Millward Brown and HAVI Global Solutions.

Julie earned her B.S. in Statistics from Northern Illinois University and M.S. from DePaul University's Kellstadt Graduate School of Business.

As founder and CEO of Logica Research, Lilah is driven to help organizations use research to better engage with customers and improve people's financial lives.  Lilah and her team at Logica Research work with financial institutions and fintech companies to answer strategic questions and drive business growth.  The research Logica has conducted for clients has been used to build new products and services, improve communications, and support thought leadership positions.  Insights from Logica Research studies have been published in the largest media outlets in the world including the New York Times, The Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, CNN and USA Today, in addition to other business and tech media.  Logica Research is also the creator of the Future of Money Study and the Future of Money Insights Kit. The Future of Money Study highlights the consumer mindset around how we make, spend, save, and invest. Lilah is an active speaker and writer on the Future of Money, customer engagement, and insights communication.  Logica Research is proud to have conducted research to inform the WIRe (Women in Research) Best Place to Work Award as well as research to understand the impact of COVID on researchers. Lilah is honored to be a member of the Insights Association IDEA Council and has led collaborative cross-industry teams to understand and identify more inclusive ways to ask demographic questions.

Matt has spent his entire career in and around market research and insights. He started on the client side at Thomson Reuters and since has held various senior roles at companies like MarketTools, GfK, Magid and UserZoom. His undergrad is in Statistics from the University of Minnesota and holds graduate degrees from Tufts University and Minnesota. He is a long-time drummer and the founder and host of the Rock n’ Roll Research Podcast.

As Vice President of Consumer Research, Nancy leads the team responsible for driving insightful and meaningful research for 84.51°, Kroger, and its consumer-packaged-goods partners. Under her leadership, the Consumer Research team partners with stakeholders and clients to understand business needs and deliver insights that bring the customer closer to the business, influence decisions and create value. Nancy joined 84.51° in 2018 as a Director of Consumer Research, where she was focused on operational leadership, supplier partnerships, and improvements in scale and efficiency. Prior to 84.51° she had a 30-year career leading research at various corporations and providing client leadership at several research suppliers.

Nigel has been a leader in software, technical transformation, and design since he founded one of Austin’s first digital product consultancies in 1996. Since then, he has worked with local startups, government institutions, and enterprise organizations to lead various technology and design efforts across dozens of industries at every scale. Prior to IBM, he was the Austin studio leader for Adaptive Path, one of the original user experience design consultancies.

Nigel joined IBM in 2014 and since then has held a number of leadership and executive roles, driving the adoption of design and design thinking, while using those tools to achieve prioritized business outcomes. Currently, Nigel is the design executive for the global Ecosystem Platform & Experiences team, where he drives the creation of holistic partner experiences in IBM’s multi-billion dollar go-to-market.

In addition, Nige l leads IBM’s Racial Equity in Design initiative. While investing IBM’s considerable resources at the scale of the enterprise, this work contemplates the redesign of culture using the power of deep empathy combined with user experience design. Through Nigel’s leadership, the company is implementing long-term transformation around closing the racial equity gap in the profession of design while improving the career experiences for Black designers inside IBM and beyond.

Rene is founder of the DAME Consultancy and the DAME Collective, which connects highly experienced women with client needs for brand/creative strategy, mentoring and research. She has held senior roles in strategy and insights for agencies such as BrainJuicer, sparks & honey, MARU/Matchbox and GSD&M, where she earned a Gold and Silver Effie. She studied Technical Journalism at Oregon State and is a tireless fighter of ageism and sexism in the workplace.

Ryan oversees zappis global business operation leading the companies growth and impact internally and externallyand serves as a member of the firm’s executive leadership team. Prior to Zappi, Ryan worked for GMI, an online survey solution provider which was eventually acquired by Kantar and also started a dog car company which was sold in 2015 and a non profit aimed at raising money for less fortunate children. In addition to his work at Zappi, Ryan serves on Michigan State’s advisory board for their MR program. Ryan lives outside of Boston with his wife, two sons, daughter and his hound dog and loves the great outdoors and Boston sports.

Sandra is an Insights, Marketing and Diversity & Inclusion professional with proven success in growing brands and customers, and in building diverse, high performing teams. She has a Masters degree in Marketing from Lancaster University UK, and over 20 years of client-side Insights and Marketing experience gained in Leadership roles at global organizations including GSK, Walt Disney, Virgin Media, Vodafone and American Express. In recent years Sandra has been applying her Insights and Marketing expertise to help champion Diversity, Equity and Inclusion within the marketing industry. She has recently co-founded a diversity, equity & inclusion consultancy Equitas Insight, which focuses on helping businesses, brands and people to fully benefit from the powerful perspectives that come from a diverse workforce. Sandra co-founded Equitas Insight with Ana, who is a marketer by background, a change driver and a capability builder by design. She started her career in Brazil working in B2B marketing in blue chip industrial and manufacturing organizations. She then moved into academia and a career in marketing consultancy and lecturing undergraduate and graduate Strategic Marketing courses at her Alma Mater ESPM (Escola Superior de Propaganda e Marketing). Her international career started in the UK after being awarded an MBA at Warwick University, working in the Marketing and Operations practice of PricewaterhouseCoopers. In 2002 she joined Brand Learning, then a startup specializing in building marketing capabilities. As a partner, she moved to NYC to open Brand Learning’s first overseas practice.

Shelley has over 20 years of experience in research, usability, strategy and customer insights. Her career spans multiple industries on the corporate and vendor sides of the business, with experience working at The Coca-Cola Company, Microsoft and Nordstrom. Shelley has an avid interest in finding ways to drive change in research, identifying new ways to address business problems while using GfK’s ‘Research Ninja Skills’ to ensure quality and confidence in our insights.

Florida State Senator Shevrin “Shev” Jones is an educator, public servant, and consensus builder who has dedicated his life to serving others and building pathways to opportunity. Thanks to the encouragement of his close-knit family and supportive teachers, Jones recognized from a young age the power of education as the great equalizer, a foundation that drove Shevrin into teaching to help students reach their full potential. A proud graduate of Florida A&M University, Jones taught high school chemistry in Broward Public Schools before founding L.E.A.D. Nation, a South Florida nonprofit organization committed to youth leadership development and social entrepreneurship training. Jones’ firsthand look at the inequities in education and society at large propelled him to enter public service, and since 2013, he has served in the Florida legislature, championing meaningful bipartisan legislation including two consecutive bills to secure dignity for incarcerated women; statewide expansion of a clean syringe exchange program; safety and oversight for athletic coaches for youth athletic teams; increased investment in underserved communities; and greater transparency and accountability for law enforcement. The first LGBTQ State Senator elected in Florida history, Jones served on President Barack Obama’s College Promise Task Force and is an active member of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc., Young Elected Officials Network, and Millennial Action Project’s Florida Future Caucus. Today, Jones is completing his Ph.D. in Educational Leadership at Florida Atlantic University, and he was recently appointed to President Biden’s Board of Advisors on Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

With more than 20 years of corporate research experience, Dr. Robertson’s primary focus is on customer experience measurement. She has co-developed and applied a data-driven approach to experience measurement that is changing the way companies think about the interactions they create with their customers. An expert in quantitative methods, Tchicaya’s expertise includes advanced statistical modeling, analysis, and survey-based research. Prior to Accenture, Dr. Robertson was the Research Director for two lottery agencies overseeing all organizational and marketing research, including user testing, concept testing, employee surveys, customer segmentation, in-depth interviews, customer needs analysis, and new product development.

Terron brings a passion for driving a diverse culture of inclusion and a sense of belonging in her role as Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Manager. She is responsible for managing major initiatives related to 84.51°’s DE&I roadmap to ensure the company is fulfilling its goals and commitments. Additionally, Terron develops DE&I strategies to help sustain the shift to a culture of inclusion that is demonstrated through an inclusive environment and behaviors. She has been at 84.51° since 2008, spending over 10 years on the Customer Communications team as a Campaign and Partnership Manager. She was a founding member of 84.51°’s Insightful Inclusion Council in 2016, where she helped translate 84.51°’s 3-year DE&I roadmap into actionable and measurable deliverables.

Tiffany is responsible for bringing multicultural consumer-first strategies to market for top Clorox brands including Pine Sol, Clorox Bleach, Burt’s Bees, Hidden Valley, and more. Her work has a direct impact on how each brand reaches and is perceived by BIPOC consumers which impact not just sales and profits but also community engagement. She is a passionate seasoned insights leader with 20 years of experience in developing and executing consumer and market research strategies for top consumer and technology brands, including Wells Fargo, The J.M. Smucker Company, and Meta. In her spare time, she moonlights as a guest lecturer for different universities such as Southern Methodist University and the University of Madison.

Tom Pearson founded MarketResponse International in 1992. At a time when U.S. research focused on traditional models and the prototypical “American”, Pearson imported methods from Europe that responded to the account planning and cross-cultural branding needs of global marketers. His firm flourishes from its distinction as the most experienced firm in the field of motivational research. Pearson has designed, moderated, analyzed and advised clients on qualitative and quantitative research studies in North and South America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asian Pacific regions. Tom has served clients in consumer products, banking, healthcare, telecommunications and automotive industries. He earned his MBA from Drake University and an undergraduate degree in Economics from Iowa State University.

Tron Smith is currently an Enterprise Account Executive at Suzy and Director of Inclusion and Diversity for the South Central chapter of the Insights Association. She previously held sales and advisory roles at AirBnB, Yelp, T-Mobile and Career Builder. She is a volunteer coordinator at the American Liver Foundation and maintains a side business as a stager for AirBnB properties.