Our wonderful and diverse MSMRA Advisory Board members represent a cross-section of business, industry, strategic organizations, and industry associations. As leaders in their industry, they bring a broad spectrum of experiences and world-views that enrich our students’ learning experience.

Our dedicated board members have a passion for marketing research, a commitment to advancing the value of our work, a desire to improve the status of marketing researchers as senior strategists/advisors, and a willingness to help develop the next generation of business and marketing leaders.

We are committed to the highest excellence of the MSMRA program. As an advisory board member, you will be able to make an impact in different ways including: involvement in our thought leadership events; providing ad hoc marketing research projects; hosting our MSMRA student internships; or even sponsoring your employees to attend the MSMRA program. We truly appreciate the continuous support of and investment in our program. If becoming a member of the MSMRA Advisory Board interests you, please contact Jessica Richards.

Kerry Hecht
CEO & Founder at 10K Humans

Rachel Barr
Senior Manager, Customer Insights at Abercrombie & Fitch Co

Kristal Courter
VP at Accelerant Research

Jeff Pocklington
Active Discovery Champion at Active Discovery Nonprofit

Ray Fisher
Founding Partner & CEO at Aha! Online Qual Research

Remy Szykier
President at Ambitna

Kelly Jasper
EVP, Corporate Strategy & Innovation at AMC Global

Erin Russeck
Chief Research Officer at AMC Global

Lara Rice
Managing Director at Ascribe

Shanon Adams
President & COO at AYTM

Lev Mazin
CEO & Co-Founder at AYTM

Lauren Mills
Account Management, Associate Director at AYTM

Tiffany Mullin
VP, Growth Operations at AYTM

Stephanie Vance
VP, Research & Enablement at AYTM

Kim Bailiff
Chief Insight Detective, Bailiff Consulting

Kathy Alexander
Founder & Chief Strategist at Beagle Insights, Inc.

Cathy Cottle
VP Client Strategy at Big Village

Arturo Fausto
Manager, Market Research at BlueCross BlueShield

Aaron Turner
Director, Market Insights & Analytics at BlueCross BlueShield

Gavin Lew
Managing Partner at Bold Insight

Kate Ioas
Expert Consultant at Boston Consulting Group

Andy Davidson
Chief Data & Analytics Officer at Bright Mountain Media

Jack Childress
Partner at Brunswick Group

Robert Moran
Partner at Brunswick Group

Jim Berling
Managing Director at Burke Institute

Tricia Batoha
President at Business Research Group

Jonathan Weiser
VP, Healthcare Research & Strategy at BuzzBack

Jorge Martinez-Bonilla
SVP & Partner at C+R Research

Gina Sus
SVP & Partner at C+R Research

Audrey Tripp
Quantitative Research Senior Analyst at C+R Research

Courtnie Hallendy
VP, Accelerate at Chadwick Martin Bailey

Loren Evans
Account Manager, Client Development & Consumer Technology at Circana

Anna Duffy
Manager, Consumer & Shopper Insights at Circana

Shilpa Khanna
Associate Director Transformational Growth Insights at The Clorox Company

Richard Goldman
CEO at Competiscan

Paul Rossman
Director, Consumer Insights at Constellation Brands

Cory Schwartz
President & Founder at ConsumerQuest Inc.

Matt O’Mara
Managing Director at Cranbrook Search Consultants

Fred Freers
Director, Market Insights at Cummins

Ivan Iazdi
Director, Business Development & Strategy at Cummins

Bryan Fitzsimmons
Director, Insights, Digital Marketing Strategy, & Marketing Operations at Dawn Foods Global

Sarah Hickey
Senior Director, Marketing & Insights at Dawn Foods Global

Scott Caine
EVP at Directions Research, Inc.

Tim Laake
EVP at Directions Research, Inc.

Stacey Wetterer
SVP at Talent at Directions Research, Inc.

Todd Collins
Director, Consumer Insights at Discover Financial Services

David Duganne
Senior Manager, Consumer Insights at DISH Network

Scott Stein
SVP, Managed Services at DISQO

Dan Snider
Managing Director at Ducker Carlisle

Joanne Ulnick
Managing Principal at Ducker Carlisle

Steven Millman
Global Head, Research & Data Science at Dynata

Jason Mantel
EVP, Managing Director at Escalent

Melissa Sauter
CEO at Escalent

Julia Celata
COO at Eye Square Inc

Rebecca Cohen
Senior Manager, Channel & Customer Strategy at Fairlife

Amy Alfieri
Manager, Research & Insights at FedEx

Bob Quiqley
Manager, Global Consumer Insights at Ford Motor Company

Joseph Robele
Cross-Vehicle Product Research at Ford Motor Company

Rachel Royal
Global Head, People Analytics at Ford Motor Company

David Shepherd
Global Research Manager at Ford Motor Company

Samantha Zaleski
Fractional Executive, Freelance Research & Analytics Consultant

Mike Hegener
Assistant Director, Global Market Research at General Motors Company

Kathryn Radmacher
Manager, Market Research at General Motors Company

Eric Villain
MD CMI Brand, Advertising & Automotive at GfK-NIQ

Marie Van Blaricum
Senior Director, Global Insights at Google

Leonard Murphy
Chief Advisor for Insights & Development at Greenbook |Gen2 Advisors |Veriglif |Savio

Kate Britt
Director, Client Success at Human8

Camille Nicita
CEO at Human8

Justin Graves
Founder & CEO at Infegy

Andrew Lisoskie
Qualitative Research at Ipsos

Rogerio Monteiro
SVP, Senior Client Officer at Ipsos

Michelle Watson
Vice President, Talent Sourcing and Director at Ipsos

Garnette Weber
Co-Founder and CEO at itracks

Kathy Fitzpatrick
VP, Client Development at itracks

Heather Fitzgerald
SVP, Distribution Intelligence & CRM Strategy at Jackson

Michelle Ruiz
Managing Director, Consumer Insights at J.D. Power

Lindsay Clarke Baxter
VP, Reward Insights Americas & Global Programs at Kantar

Anita Watkins
Chief Global Qualitative Solutions Lead at Kantar

Michael McCune
Senior Director at Kellanova

Katrina Noelle
President at KNow Research

Katia Kolesnitchenko
Consumer Insights Analyst at Kohler

Carrie Seymour
Director, Consumer Insights at Kohler

Daniel Wang
Senior Consumer Insights Analyst at Kohler

Doug Healy
Head of Consumer Insights at KraftHeinz

Jorge Calvachi
Director, Insights at La-Z-Boy Inc.

Merrill Dubrow
CEO at M/A/R/C Research

Brian Dundon
SVP at MarketVision Research

Tyler McMullen
President & CEO at MarketVision Research

Jacci Weber
Team Lead, Pet Parent Insights at Mars Petcare

Josh Emington
VP, Insights & Market Research at The Martec Group

Dave Posthumus
Business Development Executive at The Martec Group

Jennifer Kitchen
Strategy Execution Manager at Meijer

Jeff Nault
Director, Merchandise Services at Meijer

Bernard Brenner
Senior Director, Research at Microsoft

Barry Jennings
Director, Cloud & Commercial Business Planning Insights at Microsoft

Dale DeBoer
MilliporeSigma

Maggie Bright
SVP, General Manager at Murphy Research

Heather Sajeski
SVP of People at National Research Group

Mindy Singer
Senior Director, Consumer Insights & Research at NFL

Dan Bot
Senior Director, Strategic Insights at Optum

Harry Davidson
Manager, Regional Business & Market Intelligence at Owens-Illinois

Josh Goldfinch
Senior Director, Head of Customer Insights at PayPal

Meagan Jamieson
Manager, Consumer Insights at Polaris

Don Golden
CEO at Precision Sample LLC

Joseph Wylie
Director, Global Supply at Precision Sample LLC

Lisa Allgaier-Speck
SVP, Behavioral Insights & Sales at Qrious Insight

Nihal Advani
Founder & CEO at QualSights

Andrea Joss
SVP, Research at Quester

Raj Manocha
Chief Client Officer at Sago

Isaac Rogers
President at Sago

Steve Schlesinger
Executive Chairman at Sago

Miklos Kremser
Director of Marketing at Sawtooth Software

Kevin Srigley
President & CEO at Schmidt Market Research

Ari Popper
Founder & CEO at SciFutures

Cyril Benitah
SVP, North America Portfolio Planning at Stellantis

Ana Avalos
Associate Manager, Concept Insights at Stryker

Dale Sanko
Senior Director, Experience Insights at Target

Maggie Donovan
Manager, Lexus Consumer Insights at Toyota

Whitney Kennedy
Manager, Toyota Consumer Insights at Toyota

Sarah Phillips
SVP at TRC Insights

Scott Rozek
Owner & Senior Partner at Unisearch Partners Inc.

Steve Marasco
Head of Enterprise Modeling at USAA

Alexis Mast
Senior Business Strategy Analyst at USAA

Scott Miller
Board Member at Vision Critical

Jamin Brazil
CRO at Voxpopme

Tom York
Research Director at Willis Towers Watson

Ryan Barry
President at Zappi

Mark Resnick
VP, Sales at Zappi

Ryan Zemel
Customer Expertise Manager at Zappi

Maya Kantak
Lead, Market Research & Product Insights at ZipRecruiter

John Gongos was founder and CEO of Gongos Research, Inc. until his untimely death in 2012 at age 51.

Gongos, of Rochester Hills, formed the marketing research firm in 1991 and built it into a $23 million company serving companies such as Hallmark Cards Inc., Best Buy Co., General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group LLC.

In 2007, the company was first named to Inc. magazine’s list of the 5000 “Fastest Growing Companies in America.” It is among the Honomichl Top 50 U.S. marketing research organizations. Gongos received his B.S. in marketing at Miami University–Ohio and his MBA in marketing and quantitative analysis at the University of Cincinnati.

Although he was from the state of Ohio, John held a deep place in his heart for Michigan. John said, “Our experience has been that if young people can find a great job in a field that they like, they will stay here. People really want to stay here if they find the right company.” He created that kind of company, with a unique culture that made it very attractive to MSU grads.

John and his firm were instrumental in helping found the Broad Master of Science in Marketing Research and Analytics program. Gongos, Inc. continues to be a key partner in serving on the advisory board, providing internships and full-time jobs to MSMRA students, and being an advocate of the program. The initiative for this endowment was started by Matt O’Mara, an MSU MBA grad, with support from the marketing research community.

John was a man of great vision for his firm and the industry, and, perhaps more importantly, he was a man of true integrity. His vision was consistent with the principles of the MSMRA program:

“Our industry has changed more in the last five years than in the 15 years prior to that… It will probably change even more in the next five years.”