Nicola Finnerty is a seasoned qualitative research consultant and strategist, having spent over 20 years working in service of understanding motivations, identifying emotional drivers and social context influences on human behavior. Having started her career in Ireland and the UK, Nicola particularly enjoys conducting global research projects where the cultural context is given a spotlight. Nicola moved to San Francisco in 2000, at the height of the dot com boom, and she experienced many exciting company transitions and new product launches during that exuberant time. Since then, Nicola has been involved in a wide range of client engagements (Microsoft, Facebook, Google, Apple, Wells Fargo, U.S. Bank, Sony Pictures, Netflix, Hulu, to name a few) and many project types: Technology, Social Media, Finance, Media & Entertainment, Consumer Packaged Goods, Personal Care, Healthcare, Home Improvement, Education and more. Project types have been wide ranging too—Nicola takes a creative, innovative approach to every research question and core project objectives: New Product Development, Creative Exploration and Evaluation, Positioning, Segmentations, B2B, Persona Development, Ethnography and online approaches.Nicola has continued to learn and strive for new and interesting opportunities for clients to understand their audience better to help them make the best decisions for their business. She has led multiple training sessions on Qualitative research best practices and is passionate about the craft of Qualitative methods. Nicola holds QRCA (UK) and RIVA (US) moderating qualifications along with being a Unilever Accredited Moderator. She also holds a Bachelors and Masters degree in Sociology from University College Dublin, Ireland.
Pam is an experienced research professional with more than 30 years of expertise in study design, implementation, and analysis. Her background in public health communications and research coupled with her passion for patient advocacy dovetail nicely with Rare Patient Voice’s mission and vision. Pam hopes to expand Rare Patient Voice’s panels to include every patient who wants to share their opinions and impact their disease category. Pam earned a BA in Psychology from Sweet Briar College, and a MA in Psychology from the New School for Social Research. Pam is Past-President of the Board of Directors and Scientific Advisory Council Lead for the Horses and Humans Research Foundation. As Vice President of Business Development at Rare Patient Voice, Pam focuses on developing client relationships and expanding patient panels.
Parveen has over 30 years of experience in Insight, Data, Effectiveness and Audience Measurement, with over 20 years of this at Director level. Over the course of her career, she has developed both wide and deep, strategic insight, media, marcoms and tech sector expertise, having led media owner Insight & Audience Measurement teams at major listed companies, most recently as Director of Customer Insight & Audience Measurement at NewsCorp in the UK, and as Global Research & Insight Director at Clear Channel International, where she set up the Corporate Insight team and was responsible for 28 markets globally. Parveen spent 3 years consulting with eBay Europe, has founded two successful Marketing & Brand Strategy Consultancies, and has also held senior Insight and Media Planning roles at full-service advertising agencies Ammirati Puris Lintas and Lowe Lintas.
A passionate advocate for the advancement of women in business, in 2022 she was honoured to be a member of the judging panel for Campaign’s ‘Female Frontier Awards.’ Having benefited from mentoring herself, Parveen is keen to help other female current and future leaders to realise the benefits of mentoring.
Tricia Houston is travel-worn experiential marketer, classically trained market researcher, and challenger of the status-quo. She founded MMR LIVE Experience Design to help brands and agencies create better emotional connections with their audiences.Under Tricia's leadership, the team at MMR LIVE helps organizations imagine new solutions, improve current ones, and implement programs to close experience gaps (B2B & B2C). This next-gen approach is transforming innovation and organizational change to create ExperienceBuilt brands.Tricia is currently the Board Co-Chair for University of Georgia’s (UGA) Marketing Research Program, serves on the executive committee of the Family Promise North Fulton/Dekalb board, is the 2021 Immediate Past President of the SE Chapter of the Insights Association, and an avid support of WIRe (Women in Research). She and her husband, Jordan, are parents to two children and live in the suburbs of Atlanta, GA.
Paul Neto is a pragmatic technologist and market researcher. Paul is currently co-founder, Chief Marketing Officer at Measure Protocol, a blockchain-powered marketplace for person-based data. Prior to founding Measure Protocol, Paul was VP Digital & Media at Kantar Canada. Paul has also led a number of digital innovation, product and research roles at comScore, and at Crowd Science which he co-founded and was acquired by YuMe where he pioneered research in virtual reality, neuroscience and connected television. As a regular speaker at research and media conferences, including IIeX, ARF, IAB and Variety, Paul was a recipient of the IAB Service Excellence Award in 2015.
Rachel Bonsignore is a Senior Consultant on the GfK Consumer Life team; she is an experienced consumer insights and cultural trends professional with over 17 years of experience in market research. At GfK, she provides leading brands with actionable and future-focused insights on the consumer landscape, covering industries such as retail, CPG, media & entertainment, food, and apparel. Previously, she spent nearly nine years leading custom research projects for communications & public relations clients; she began her career working in public relations.
Rara Naval is an accomplished professional, with 20+ years of experience in insights, analytics, and strategy across food, beauty, home care, and wellness. Rara is adept at leading brand turnaround, steering category transformation, and evolving insights programs to address changing demands from consumers and dictated by market trends. As Human Insights Director for Coca-Cola ASEAN & South Pacific, she's driven business growth and innovation, notably launching Thums Up Charged in Southeast Asia and transforming/expanding Coke ASP’s Consumer Connect Program to ensure Coke’s marketers always put the consumer at the heart of everything they do. Previously at Unilever, Rara shaped the insights generation required for crafting communications and innovation for billion-dollar brands like Sunsilk and Comfort. She also played a key role in global strategic initiatives aimed at enhancing brand equity, reimagining promotions, driving market development, and conducting effective product sampling in line with her work for the Unilever Global Markets Insights team. Throughout her career, which includes stints at research giants KANTAR and Nielsen, and at McDonald's, Rara has showcased her skill in applying agile methodologies and cultural insights to achieve business growth objectives. Rara's academic credentials, which include a degree in Psychology, and an Executive MBA, complement her extensive professional experience.
Renaud is Chief of Staff at Dynata, where he works closely with the CEO, planning and directing all administrative, financial, and operational activities for Dynata's CEO and its Board of Directors. In this assignment, he gets to have a 360 degrees view of how the company operates to anticipate and meet the needs from blue chip customers, highly talented employees and committed members from all around the world. Born and raised in Marseilles, Southern France, he has spent most of his career in Online Research at SSI, now Dynata, after spending some time in sales and management consulting. Prior to his current assignment, he was Managing Director for Dynata's entities in France, Spain and Italy, based out of Paris.
Roddy Knowles is VP of Research at Feedback Loop, ensuring its customers realize maximum value from Feedback Loop’s agile research platform for rapid consumer feedback. In addition to academic training in the social sciences, he has an extensive professional background in both qual and quant research methodologies. Roddy is a frequent speaker, award-winning author, and champion of research innovation and best practices.
30+ years with Fortune 500 companies conducting global research including product, consumer and market research.
Career global insights strategist focused on healthcare, well-versed in strategic brand development and regulatory environments. Recognized as an industry expert and futuristic thinker, able to facilitate collaborations leading to the growth and acquisition of service companies. Founded FutureHealth Strategies to leverage the intersection of data, insights and technology. Established the US subsidiary for founder-owned, UK-based THE PLANNING SHOP international in March 2007, assuming the role of President North America and building an entirely virtual infrastructure. Subsequently doubled revenues for the global company, positioning it for acquisition by Omnicom, a $15 billion corporation, in 2014. Earlier in her career, created and developed the insights practice at service company Verispan LLC (formerly Kelly/Waldron & Company, and now part of IQVIA). Prior to that, worked at Intersearch Corporation (now part of WPP/ Kantar Health), founding the global insights division. Co-developed and sold one of the first computer-assisted telephone interviewing systems in the industry. Holds a B.S. in Business and a M.B.A. in Marketing from Temple University in Philadelphia.
Sima Vasa is a multi-faceted business leader in the market research and analytics space. Her broad range of expertise centers on P&L management, operations, business development, marketing, entrepreneurship to investment banking. Currently, she focuses on advising clients on overall business strategy, evaluation of strategic options, and execution of investment banking mandates via Oberon Securities, a middle market investment banking firm.
In addition to her professional endeavors, Sima is an active Women in Research executive member, serves on the Port Washington Public Library board of trustees as an elected official, and previously sat as the Chairman of SampleCon. Frequently taking the stage at national technology and market research conferences, Sima is the host of her own podcast, Data Gurus, which has received national recognition as one of the leading podcasts in the market research and data ecosystem vertical. Sima continues to serve on the board of directors of Paradigm Sample, a company that she co-founded.
She earned her MBA in Finance from NYU’s Stern School of Business, her undergraduate degree from Drexel University, and she’s a former member of the Young President’s Organization (YPO).
Susan Sweet is a passionate qualitative researcher focused on illuminating insights and making the research process fun for both clients and participants. For the past 20+ years she has incorporated both traditional and innovative research methods, continually working to keep research as real-world as possible. She often uses ethnography and online/mobile immersion techniques, but also appreciates classic focus group discussions and depth interviews, whether conducted in a facility, in someone’s home, inside a retail environment, on playgrounds or at a local pub. Susan works across industries and in both consumer and B2B categories. As a self-professed expert multichannel shopper, she loves working in the retail category, having conducted multiple consumer segmentation illuminations, competitive shopping safaris, retail space investigations, and online shopping usability studies. She also conducts consumer immersion and exploratory research in beauty/personal care, education, automotive, entertainment/media, food and beverages, baby/children’s products, outdoor products, travel/tourism, and sensitive topics.Susan holds a BA in Journalism & Mass Communication from Drake University, trained at the RIVA Institute and stays involved with the research community through the Qualitative Research Consultants Association (QRCA), the Association for Qualitative Research (AQR) and Women In Research (WIRe). Susan served two terms on the Board of Directors of the QRCA, is co-chair of QRCA’s Industry Relations committee. She's been a guest lecturer at Northwestern University and University of Chicago's Booth School. Outside of work, you'll likely find Susan hiking with friends near her home in Colorado, reading a good book, or planning her next travel adventure with her husband and two teenage boys.
Vanilynne Gulla’s research experience spans both consultancy and corporate capacities, across a variety of industries, though her passion has always been in media and entertainment. Currently, she works across the A+E Networks portfolio to uncover viewership hooks for new and returning series, determine optimal paths to network engagement, uncover white space opportunities for programming, and ensure consumers have a voice during strategic milestone conversations. She has held roles at Mattel, BBC Worldwide, Hall & Partners, Hypothesis, and LRW. Outside of her career, she is mom to three young kids and enjoys travel and cooking.
