Our People



Carolyn Ahlstrom, Ph.D. Vice President, Technology Practice

Carolyn Ahlstrom joined Phoenix in 2007 as a Vice President in the Technology Practice. Carolyn has experience in global research and has spent the past 5 years focused exclusively on providing high value research solutions for clients in the technology industry. Prior to joining Phoenix, Carolyn worked at TNS in the technology group where she led a team responsible for the design and execution of a variety projects ranging from complex global trackers to small, ad hoc qualitative projects. Carolyn earned her Ph.D. in Social & Organizational Psychology from Temple University where she taught several undergraduate courses in statistics and worked as an independent statistical consultant for a variety of clients.
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Ellen Albert, MAS Director of Statistical Analysis

Ellen holds a master's degree in Applied Statistics from The Pennsylvania State University and a bachelor's degree in Economics from Bates College. She worked as a consultant in the Penn State Statistical Consulting Center, advising clients on study design and analysis. At Penn State, she also worked in the Department of Biobehavioral Health, performing analyses and working on journal articles on epidemiologic studies of minorities and substance use behavior. She is experienced in a variety of statistical software packages, including SAS, Stata, SPSS and Minitab. She has extensive experience analyzing survey data, using techniques such as logistic regression, significance testing, and factor analysis. Prior to returning to school for her master's degree, Ellen was a data manager, working on clinical trials studying pediatric heart disease at the New England Research Institute in Cambridge, MA.
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Beth Allan President, Communications & Brand Analytics Division

Beth has an extensive background in brand building, advertising and research. Prior to co-founding CBA, which was acquired by Phoenix in 2004, Beth was the Director of the Brand Insight Group at Veridiem, Inc., a marketing software company. Prior to this, Beth's career was focused in the financial services category of Fleet Financial Group, Market Planning, which launched new segmentation plans for the Retail, Small Business, Commercial and Private Banking Divisions. Beth also worked as Research Director of Citibank where she managed the Development Lab and all technology R&D, launched a national new home banking program, and supervised all marketing research projects for national retail banking. Beth graduated from Manhattanville College with a Bachelor of Arts degree.
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John Antonello Managing Director, Travel & Leisure Division

John is Managing Director of The Travel & Leisure Group of Phoenix Marketing International. He leads one of the most experienced travel research firms ever assembled consisting of senior level executives, knowledgeable both in research and travel, that provide a high-level of analytical insight and client consultation. John has extensive experience in complete custom marketing research capabilities and comprehensive travel syndicated studies. He has been working with leading travel companies for 20 years and has conducted studies to support a variety of business decisions including new product development, brand positioning and re-launch, strategic planning and customer satisfaction.
Prior to joining Phoenix Marketing International, John was President of Plog Research. Preceding Plog, He was the Research and Development Director for the travel division of Reed-Elsevier (Travel Weekly, Hotel & Travel Index, and OAG) where he was responsible for developing and implementing market studies that evaluated the information needs of frequent air travelers, travel agents, meeting planners, and corporate travel managers. John graduated Magna cum Laude with a BS in Business from Montclair State University.
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Jonathan Ashton, MBA Vice President of Quantitative Research, Multicultural Practice

Jonathan functions both as Vice President of the Quantitative group, and as project director for high-level analytic projects. Jonathan joined Phoenix Multicultural in 1999 and has worked with a variety of clients including Wells Fargo, State Farm, and Visa. Jonathan has also held research positions at Wirthlin Worldwide and Customer Development Corporation. He is a native of Utah, and earned a BS in Education at Brigham Young University and an MBA from the University of Utah. Jonathan also lived in Santiago, Chile for over a year where he learned Spanish and gained valuable insight into Latin-American culture. He and his wife, a native of Guatemala, are raising their children in a bilingual household in northern California.
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Bill Baird Director of Technology

Bill graduated from Marist College with a degree in Information Technology and minors in both Computer Science and Information Systems. He is a Cisco Certified Network Associate and has experience with networking, web, and many other computer related technologies. Bill is the primary contact for technical issues and is responsible for integrating technology into the Phoenix workplace. Prior to joining Phoenix, Bill provided desktop support for Reed Exhibitions and later worked on the Distributed Operations team at IBM Global Services.
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Andy Brown Vice President-Payment Strategies, ESP Payments Research Group

Andy joined ESP in December of 2004 and has over 10 years of experience in financial services market research. His experience includes project design and collection of information through all methods of market research as well as data analysis and reporting. He has a wide range of experience in different areas of financial services for both consumers and businesses. He also has experience in strategic and tactical business planning for financial services providers.
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Cesar Carbajal Senior Qualitative Project Research Director, Multicultural Practice

With nearly ten years experience, Cesar is a seasoned researcher who has conducted countless qualitative and quantitative studies with Hispanics, the general market, children and teens. Cesar's research expertise includes focus groups, mini groups, ethnographies, one-on-one interviews, dyads and triads.
The types of studies Cesar has conducted include market opportunity assessments, customer satisfaction, attitude and awareness, ad testing, positioning, public polls, segmentation and new product development.
For years Cesar has coached and trained other moderators on effective moderating techniques and helped them bring their moderating skills to the next level of excellence.
Cesar's ability to simplify complex issues of investigation and transform research findings into actionable results make him an invaluable researcher. He has extensive experience in providing consulting services to clients and ad agencies on factors that influence Hispanic purchase behaviors.
Cesar has worked with an impressive list of clients ranging from the food industry to technology, fashion, finance and others. Some of his clients include Microsoft, Nokia, Intel, Cargill, Lindsey Olives, Smucker's, Gap, Levi's, California Commerce Bank and Fremont Bank.
Cesar holds a Bachelor's degree from California State University, Fullerton in Psychology and a Bachelor's degree in Political Science. He speaks Spanish with native fluency.
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R. Neal Chambliss, MBA Executive Vice President

Neal has over 15 years experience in business and project management and is responsible for the Consulting Practice at Phoenix Marketing. Neal has extensive experience in market research, business strategy development, product development, market segmentation, financial performance analysis and market modeling. Prior to joining Phoenix, Neal was a Senior Vice President at Furash and Company and Senior Vice President of PSI Global where he was in charge of research and consulting efforts. Neal has an MBA from Florida State University.
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Thomas Cook Senior Vice President

Tom is a graduate of The Ohio State University with a degree in Marketing. He was member of the Honors Program and elected to Beta Gamma Sigma. He also attended the University of South Florida and was enrolled in their Executive MBA Program. Prior to joining Phoenix, Tom worked with NCR Corporation, North American Financial Services and PSI Global. With PSI Global, he was responsible for the sale of syndicated market research and consulting to clients such as Bank of America, Wachovia, Wells Fargo, Bank One and Visa. Tom brings 28 years of major account sales experience to Phoenix with a focus on financial services.

Allen R. DeCotiis, Ph.D. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

Allen DeCotiis has over 20 years experience in business analysis, marketing and market research. He has worked on product and market developments in over 30 countries across many industries including financial services, telecommunications, packaged goods and travel and entertainment. Prior to Phoenix, Dr. DeCotiis was President, Financial Services, Travel and International Operations for NFO Worldwide, the third largest market research firm in the world, where he managed market research businesses in over 20 countries. Prior to NFO, Dr. DeCotiis was Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer for PSI Global. He attained his Ph.D. in Administration and Statistics from Emory University where he also was an Assistant Professor.
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Gregory Diaz, MA Vice President, Travel Industry Sales

Greg has over 20 years of market research experience and has worked in both the client and supplier sides of the business. During this time he has been involved in both qualitative and quantitative projects for clients in the lodging, auto-rental, destination, air, and travel services segments of the industry. Prior to joining the company, Greg’s position at NFO Plog Research included working with travel industry clients on syndicated and custom research engagements. He was also Vice President and General Manager of Harte-Hanks Market Research for eight years, where he oversaw the development of the travel industry practice. Greg holds a B.A. degree from Villanova University and M.A. degree from Temple University.
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Jeanette Dino Research Manager, Travel and Leisure Division

Jeanette has over seven years of experience in project management in the area of Travel and Leisure. Her primary role in the organization is to manage custom and syndicated research projects and support the Travel and Leisure team. Prior to joining Phoenix, Jeanette worked for TNS, formerly NFO Plog Research as a project director for the Travel and Transport division managing numerous destinations, syndicated and tracking studies. She attended Ocean County College majoring in accounting.
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Anne-Marie Doherty Executive Vice President, Communications & Brand Analytics Division

Anne-Marie has over 20 years experience in advertising, research, media planning, and brand management. Prior to co-founding CBA, which was acquired by Phoenix, Anne-Marie had a consulting firm and completed projects in agency search, media planning and evaluation, strategic marketing consultation, and quantitative and qualitative research. Before launching her business, Anne-Marie held a variety of positions at Liberty Mutual Group managing national advertising, corporate identity programs, communications research, and media planning and buying. She also worked as a Retail Marketing Manager at Bank of New England in Boston. Anne-Marie graduated from Smith College with a B.A. in Economics.
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Mary Donadoni Senior Consultant and Managing Director, ESP Payments Research Group

Mary has nearly twenty years experience in research and consulting in financial services, including specific expertise in the areas of payment systems and media, delivery systems, and financial products and services across retail and corporate business lines. Skilled in both quantitative and qualitative research methods and analysis, Mary routinely applies primary and secondary research data to the design and definition of strategic initiatives and actionable recommendations for consulting clients. Prior to joining ESP, Mary was a Vice President and Managing Director of the Consulting Group of PSI Global. Before this, Mary managed her own consulting company, executing projects ranging in focus from product development and concept testing, to competitive assessments and strategic business planning for major banks and technology vendors. Mary has held various positions at Maryland National Bank and Trans Data Corporation. Ms. Donadoni holds a BA from Salisbury State University.
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Jeremy Engelin Manager of Finance

Jeremy Engelin is the Manager of Finance at Phoenix in our Rhinebeck office. Jeremy comes to us with over 6 years of experience in the finance field, having most recently worked for Alliance Bernstein as a Team Manager of Mutual Fund Administration. Jeremy is a graduate of SUNY Oswego, where he received a Bachelor of Science Degree Cum Laude in Accounting. He is responsible for assisting with Financial Reporting, Accounts Payable and Cash Management activities at Phoenix.
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Linda A. English Senior Vice President

Linda English has over 15 years experience in market research and analysis in both the consumer and business market. Linda has extensive experience in brand and image analysis, customer satisfaction and loyalty, product development, market share and market segmentation. Prior to joining Phoenix, Linda was a Senior Vice President of PSI Global where she was in charge of custom analysis in the areas of Brand Image and advertising effectiveness. Linda has a BS in Business Administration with a concentration in Finance from Salisbury State University.
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Sharmila Fowler, MBA Asian Research Team Leader & Director of Strategy, Multicultural Practice

Sharmila is Vice President, Business Development at Phoenix Multicultural. In addition to her responsibilities for driving new business growth, she is responsible for leading the Asian Research Team as well as for providing strategic leadership and support on Phoenix Multicultural's multicultural consulting projects.

Sharmila offers over twenty years of expertise in marketing, sales, business development and management consulting. In addition, she has extensive experience in international and multicultural marketing. Her background spans several industries such as food, packaging, medical, pharmaceutical, automotive, high-tech and financial services.

Sharmila holds an MBA in Marketing and Strategic Planning from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a BA in Computer Science/Mathematics from the University of Rochester. She serves on the Board for the Asian American Advertising Federation and was recently appointed to Nielsen's Asian Pacific American Advisory Council. She was born in New Delhi, India.
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Deborah Gonderil Vice President, Quantitative Client Services, Multicultural Practice

Deborah is the Vice President of Quantitative Client Services at Phoenix Multicultural. In this role, Deborah leads the design and development of strategic analyses for all quantitative research and syndicated studies.
Prior to joining Phoenix Multicultural, Deborah was the Senior Vice President of Synovate Diversity for nearly fifteen years. At Synovate, Deborah was responsible for business development, client service, research design and strategic analysis for the firm's key client accounts including Procter & Gamble, Kraft Foods, People en Espanol, Energizer, MasterCard and General Mills as well as the nation's leading Hispanic advertising agencies. Among her many accomplishments, Deborah was integral in developing a unique national Ethnic panel of respondents for market research, a methodology for interviewing non-wired Hispanics on the Internet and the management and development of two Hispanic Omnibus products.
Deborah has also held positions at Western International Media, Los Angeles Times and McCann Erickson. Deborah earned her Master's degree at the University of Chicago and her undergraduate degree at the University of Illinois. She is also a frequent guest lecturer at prestigious universities such as UCLA, USC and the University of Miami.
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Gerard Gryski, Ph.D. Senior Consultant

Gerry has over 30 years experience in research. At Phoenix, Gerry is in charge of qualitative research focusing on consumers and employees. He has extensive experience in evaluating service quality from the employee and customer perspective. Gerry has published extensively and is the author of two books. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Massachusetts and currently teaches at Auburn University.
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Audrey Hendler, MBA Vice President, Strategic Marketing

Audrey Hendler has a 20-year marketing career in the service sector, much of which she spent in the financial services and the airline industries as they were being deregulated. Audrey spent over 13 years at Citibank in Retail and Credit card assignments both domestically and internationally. She managed a number of leading co-brand credit cards and was responsible for several new card launches. She has extensive experience in product marketing, consumer research, direct marketing, customer segmentation, relationship development and alliance marketing. Audrey also brings five years of marketing consulting experience including that from her own firm serving both financial and non-financial services clients, on and offline. Ms. Hendler received her MBA in Marketing from the University of Michigan.
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Lee Holm, MBA Senior Vice President

Lee Holm is a marketing professional with over 20 years of experience in customer relationship management, strategic planning, and market research. Lee has extensive experience in market segmentation, consumer modeling and new product development/positioning. She has worked in a broad array of categories, including packaged goods and financial services. Prior to joining Phoenix, Lee was Vice President of Customer Relationship Management at AXA Financial, and Vice President of Consumer Insights and Competitive Intelligence at Citigroup (credit card division).
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Kristin Johnson Administrative Assistant

Kristin is the administrative assistant for Phoenix Marketing located in Rhinebeck, NY. She performs administrative duties within corporate headquarters and will assist with Internal Communications. Kristin has a B.A. in Communications from the University of Rhode Island. In her studies, she focused on public relations and advertising, and has foundation experience in the fields of sales and marketing.
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Sean Johnston Project Director, Automotive Division

Sean has four years of experience in marketing communications. Before joining the Phoenix Marketing International team, Sean coordinated and executed major Social Messaging campaigns for a leading Detroit-area advertising agency, whose main client was one of the "Big Three" domestic auto manufacturers. Sean is also well-versed in the realm of Social Networks and Social Media. Sean has a B.S. from Central Michigan University, where he served as the resident social media consultant to several university senior officers and staff.
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Ken Kerr, MA Vice President, ESP Payments Research Group

Ken has over fifteen years experience in market research and business and technology strategy development, with the last eight years focused on the payments field. Ken is currently responsible for credit card and consumer related research programs at ESP. Ken has extensive experience in custom and syndicated research project design and management, research analysis, and technology assessment. Prior to joining ESP, Ken was a Research Director and Senior Analyst with Gartner, a business and technology research and advisory services firm, where he was responsible for credit card and electronic payments research. Ken has a B.A. degree from Edinboro University and an M.A. degree from San Diego State University.
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Kathleen Lee Senior Vice President Business Development and Sales, Phoenix Healthcare

Kathy is Senior VP Business Development and Sales with extensive experience in sales, marketing and management. She has a demonstrated track record in all aspects of the business in a variety of industries with a large focus on pharmaceutical and specialty markets. In addition to her business development support to the account management team within the healthcare division, she is responsible for helping the team in setting its strategic plans, including growing client relations, addressing specific needs for the specialty markets, developing partnering programs and product development. Her most recent accomplishments were with TNS where she was Vice President, Business Development; GfK Market Measures, Vice President, Specialty Markets; FranklinCovey, Director, National Business Development; and, IMS Health, Director, New Business Development. Through her business development efforts at IMS, her division was the fastest growing in IMS history.
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Jen Lessard Vice President, Communications & Brand Analytics Division

Jen has nearly 20 years experience in market research, consulting and brand strategy working on both the client and supplier sides of the business. At Phoenix, Jen manages all aspects of qualitative and quantitative custom studies. Jen's background has included senior positions at companies such as Abt Associates, AT&T, Boston Research Group, and Ziff-Davis Publishing where she was responsible for all phases of qualitative and quantitative research projects across a variety of industries including financial services, CPG, retail, food service and high-tech. Jen holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Plymouth State University and is a RIVA-trained focus group moderator.
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Patricia Lopez Senior Project Director and Moderator, Multicultural Practice

Prior to her current position, Patricia was Manager of Operations for Spanish Business Services, a full-service Hispanic qualitative research facility. Aside from her managerial responsibilities, she served as an in-house moderator on special projects and managed all Hispanic Advertising Research Projects (ARS) in conjunction with research systems corporation in Evansville, IN.
In addition to her work at Spanish Business Services, Patricia worked for Anheuser-Busch as a Southern California Contemporary Marketing Team Representative (CMT). There she helped design and implement marketing strategies for different Anheuser-Busch brands (such as Budweiser, Bud Light, Michelob, Red Wolf and Azteca Beer) targeting the contemporary Hispanic market in Orange and Los Angeles counties. The purpose of her role was to promote and increase sales of all Busch brands, with specific focus on Budweiser and Bud Light at nightclubs, bars and restaurants within her territory. To achieve this goal, Patricia created special promotional on site events, used creative pricing/packaging, and switched competitive brand drinkers to Budweiser and Bud Light.
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Raul Lopez, MA President, Multicultural Practice

A seasoned marketing research professional for over 24 years, Mr. Lopez has designed and implemented research programs and reports for hundreds of customized research projects. Moreover, he has moderated over 300 focus groups. Prior to joining Phoenix Multicultural, Mr. Lopez was the Sr. Vice President of Strategy Research Corporation, a Market Facts Inc. company, where he was responsible for all qualitative research, quantitative research, and marketing. For over 16 years, Mr. Lopez was one of the primary authors of their U.S. Hispanic Market Study (the Blue book). In the 1980s, Mr. Lopez was responsible for creating the very first Spanish television Network audience research report for Univision and Telemundo.
Mr. Lopez graduated from Florida International University with a Bachelor in Business Administration with a Major in Marketing, and where he also completed his Masters in Business Administration curriculum, and taught in the Department of Advertising. He is currently an adjunct faculty member at the University of Miami, teaching in Spanish for that school's Certificate in Advertising Program. Mr. Lopez also has a Masters degree in History from American Military University in Virginia.
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Joey Losson, MA Senior Consultant

Joey Losson has over 10 years experience in data mining, statistical analysis and modeling and is in charge of these areas at Phoenix Marketing. Joey has worked with most of the largest financial services organizations in the United States, assisting them in the development and execution of targeted marketing strategies. Joey has a Masters Degree from the University of South Florida.
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Renee Love Senior Account Manager, Automotive Practice

Renee has an extensive background providing customized research solutions to strategic business requests in a number of industries. These customized solutions include: prospect modeling, campaign performance testing, ROI measures, forecasting, and market potential/share analysis. Renee comes to Phoenix from BNP Media where she started grew the Industrial Machinery, Safety and Security Research Divisions as Executive Research Director. Her 13 years of market research experience include research, consulting, and product management roles at R.L. Polk & Company in both automotive and non-automotive direct marketing divisions, agency experience at BBDO Detroit as a campaign research analyst, and customer service and vehicle quality analytical consulting for the former Chrysler Corporation. Renee is a graduate of Oakland University, where she earned a Bachelors of Arts in Economics primarily focusing on statistical applications.
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Scott Ludwigsen, Ph.D. Executive Vice President, Travel & Leisure Division

Scott Ludwigsen has over 20 years experience in business analysis, marketing and market research. He has worked on product and market developments across many industries including travel, sports, telecommunications and healthcare. Prior to Phoenix, Scott was Executive Vice President of NFO Plog Research - the travel, leisure and lifestyle Division of NFO WorldGroup, the third largest market research firm in the world. Prior to NFO, Mr. Ludwigsen was the East Coast Division Manager for Maritz Research. Before joining the supplier side, Mr. Ludwigsen spent a dozen years at AT&T/Bell Laboratories in their marketing and marketing research departments. He graduated from the State University of New York at Albany with a Dual Major and attained his Masters and Ph.D. (ABD) in Applied Research and Evaluation in Psychology at Hofstra University.
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David A. Luery Executive Vice President/ Managing Director, International Division of Phoenix Healthcare Practice

In August 2007 he joined Phoenix Healthcare Practice to head up its International Division. David started his market research career in the advanced methods group of Total Research Corporation where he developed particular expertise in the area of discrete choice and conjoint. Moving through successively senior positions in advanced methods at Total and Intersearch (now TNS), focusing on the pharma industry, before becoming an account executive at Intersearch. Starting in 1997 he focused on serving the market research needs of global clients in the pharma industry, and from 2002 until joining Phoenix in 2007 David was a senior member (and part of the management board) of the UK-International Division of TNS Healthcare. David is an economist by training, with degrees from Knox College (BA) and University of Illinois (AM), and is ABD (all but dissertation) in public policy analysis from the University of Pennsylvania.
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H. Leon Majors III President, ESP Payments Research Group

Leon is the founder of ESP and has more than twenty years in experience in market research, covering many areas of financial services and technology markets. Leon’s primary research efforts include analysis and forecasting to measure and project the impact of emerging technologies on the use of traditional banking and payment systems and services. This effort includes technological development as well as the marketing and market acceptance aspects of emerging technologies such as E-commerce, image technology, electronic cash displacement systems, electronic check displacement/supplement systems, online banking, and electronic bill payment systems. Prior to starting ESP, Leon held senior consulting positions with PSI Global, Mentis Corporation, and TransData Corporation. Leon received his BS degree from the University of Maryland.
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Lane H. Mann, MA & MBA Executive Vice President, Communications & Brand Analytics Division

Lane has over 24 years experience as a client, supplier, and manager of corporate research functions. Prior to joining Phoenix, Lane was Vice President of Research Services at Fidelity Investments, responsible for providing guidance on how to differentiate Fidelity with online technology. Prior to that, Lane was Vice President of Client and Global Markets Research at JPMorgan, coordinating studies in Europe, South America, and the UK. Lane also served as Vice President of Analytic Consulting Services at the Wirthlin Group, managing the analysis of complex qualitative and quantitative studies. Lane holds an MBA from Rutgers University, a Masters degree from Georgetown University, and a B.A. from the University of Massachusetts.
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Steven Marks, MBA Vice President, Travel & Leisure Division

Steven Marks brings over 20 years of practical experience in the market research industry to Phoenix, having concentrated in the area of Interactive Research since 1995. His most recent position was Vice President, Business Development at Lightspeed Research, where he established the company’s presence among Fortune 1000 clients across various industry verticals. He has held senior management positions focused on establishing best practices for Interactive research at several major research companies (including Market Facts/Synovate, and Roper ASW) as well as management positions at both AT&T and Deloitte & Touche, leading Consumer and Business-to-Business research efforts at those corporations. He specializes in providing strategic consultative solutions in the areas of new product development, brand equity, customer satisfaction, segmentation, and advertising/image research. Steve holds an MBA in Marketing from Fordham University, NY, and a BA in Economics from Union College, Schenectady, NY.
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Elizabeth Mattar Vice President, Automotive Division

Beth has over 20 years experience in automotive market research. Most recently she was Executive Vice President and Director, Americas, at Synovate Motoresearch, where her responsibilities included management of a $20 million budget, and staffs in Detroit, Los Angeles, Mexico City and Sao Paulo, Brazil. She was also a co-owner of Motoresearch prior to its acquisition by Synovate in 2000, and was instrumental in sales, project management and business capacities while the company expanded. Prior to Motoresearch, Beth worked in project management at Maritz Marketing Research. She has a B.A. in Advertising from Michigan State University.
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Brandon M. Novak Vice President

Brandon has 10 years of experience in market research and competitive intelligence in both the financial services and health care industries. He has an extensive background in brand development and tracking, consumer segmentation, satisfaction and loyalty; and market profiling. Prior to joining Phoenix, Brandon served as the Manager of the Business Intelligence Group directing primary research for Oxford Health Plans and as a Senior Analyst for Health Net. Brandon graduated from the University of Connecticut with a degree from the School of Business Administration.
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Susan Nowak, MBA Senior Research Manager

Susan has over 20 years of experience in market research analysis and project management on both the client and supplier sides. Susan's career has focused on banking, insurance, health care, and corporate services, and she has both business to business and consumer expertise. Most recently, she was a project manager at Marketing Leverage, Inc., where she worked closely with Fortune 500 clients on custom client satisfaction and retention analyses. Before that, Susan was a research analyst for Fleet Bank, where she conducted and analyzed an ongoing consumer market share and awareness tracking program. Susan holds a B.S. in Marketing from Western New England College, and an MBA from the University of Hartford.
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Allison Oliveri Accounts Payable Coordinator

Allison is the Accounts Payable Coordinator at corporate headquarters in Rhinebeck, NY. She is in charge of entering overhead, coordinating approvals, and project management at Phoenix Marketing. Allison brings with her over ten years of accounting experience from the wide spectrum of public CPA firms and banking to nonprofit. Her experience is broad, encompassing such areas as credit, general accounting, and administration. Allison studied Business Management and Accounting at the State University of New York at Plattsburgh.
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Jeronima Pilar, MIM Director of Business Development, Multicultural Practice

Ms. Pilar has achieved a long list of career accomplishments and has more than twelve years of multicultural sales, Latin American sales, and marketing. Ms. Pilar has also personally conducted in-culture focus groups and one-on-ones in Spanish and in English with seniors, adults, teens, tweens and children in a wide range of industries including consumer products, insurance, tobacco prevention, babies/kids apparel, and cosmetics. She has experience in projective techniques, imagery, product and concept positioning, as well as copy testing.
Prior positions include working at American Express as a Marketing Manager. Here she did marketing research and completed a new service launch for the foreign exchange service department to the U.S. Hispanic market. Other positions include American Banknote Company, where she sold the printing of banknotes and passports to Latin American governments.
Ms. Pilar is fully English/Spanish bicultural, bilingual, and is a QRCA (Qualitative Research Consultants Association), MRA and AMA member. She holds a Master of International Management (M.I.M.) from the American Graduate School of International Management, (Thunderbird), where she majored in International Marketing with a minor in Latin American Studies. She holds a B.A. from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, where she graduated with a double major in Marketing and Spanish.
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David Pluchino Senior Research Manager, Travel & Leisure Division

David Pluchino has nearly a decade of professional research experience supporting clients across a spectrum of industries. Specific areas of concentration for David at Phoenix include: study design, questionnaire development, project management, and report writing with advanced analysis such as multivariate and segmentation. David holds a B.S. degree from Montclair State University with a Business Administration major and a concentration in Marketing.
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Mimi Potter, MBA Vice President

Mimi Potter has more than ten years of market research and consulting experience spanning both quantitative and qualitative research techniques. Mimi has expertise in consumer market sizing and trending, segmentation analysis, product development, customer satisfaction and loyalty. Most recently, she led PSCU’s Financial Service consultative service, where she developed and managed PSCUs internal market intelligence capabilities. Prior to PSCU, Mimi managed a team of research analysts at the Sterling Research Group. Beginning her career at PSI Global, Mimi directed two of their syndicated products - one focused on consumer retail banking and the other specializing in delivery systems. Mimi holds a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of Florida, where she majored in Marketing. Mimi also holds an MBA from the University of South Florida, where she concentrated in Marketing and Finance.
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Catheryn Pu Senior Vice President of Finance, Multicultural Practice

Catheryn Pu is the SVP of Finance for Phoenix Multicultural. She has more than 13 years in the accounting industry. Since coming to Phoenix Multicultural in 2003, Catheryn has overseen all the financial aspects of the company, produces monthly financial reports and analysis, prepares annual budgets and operational projections, functions as the Human Resources administrator, and was involved in the acquisition of Phoenix Multicultural by Phoenix Marketing International.
Prior to joining Phoenix Multicultural, Catheryn was a senior auditor for four years in Los Angeles at Kenneth Leventhal and Company, a national public accounting firm specializing in real estate which is now part of Ernst & Young LLP, during which time she earned her CPA certificate. She then went on to work for Metromedia International Group, a John Kluge company, for almost five years, as a Joint Venture Finance Director and helped start up and oversee various paging, cable television, telephony and cellular ventures in Latvia and the Baltics, Kazakhstan, and the Republic of Georgia. Other work experiences include working for a New York based e-commerce career website company and at LatinAxis Inc, a holding company with various South American internet ventures and US Hispanic focused marketing companies and was involved in its acquisition and subsequent management of Phoenix Multicultural before officially joining the company itself in 2003. Catheryn holds a B.S. from California State University at Northridge where she majored in Business Administration with a specialty in Accounting. She is of Chinese descent.
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Suzanne Prichard Vice President

Suzanne has strong experience unlocking emotional and rational triggers that help create great brand advertising. She started her career in advertising and marketing research, working on the Ford Division account at J. Walter Thompson in Detroit, eventually working on all car and truck brands, including the re-launches of the Ford Taurus and F-150; Motorsports advertising; and the launch of the all new Ford Expedition. Additional agency experience at BBDO and Hampel Stefanides gave her experience on great brands like FedEx, BASF and Castrol Motor Oil. At American Express, she helped develop 360 degree integrated measurement tools for both traditional and non-traditional communications for Consumer Card and Small Business Services. She comes to Phoenix Marketing from Time Inc. where she headed up editorial and consumer marketing research for several magazine and website brands, including In Style, Fortune, Money, and People en Espanol. Suzanne has a Master of Arts in Sociology from Syracuse University and a Bachelor of Arts from Michigan State University.
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Martha Rea, MA President

Martha Rea has over 20 years experience in market research and analysis. She has worked for many of the Fortune 500 companies in the U.S., Latin America and Europe to develop markets, products and services, and is expert in market measurement and analysis. Martha has an advanced degree in research methods and she also champions Phoenix’s efforts in directed marketing, segmentation and database mining activities. Prior to joining Phoenix, Martha was Executive Vice President with PSI Global, the largest financial services market research company in the United States.
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Macuqui Robau-Garcia, MBA Senior Vice President of Qualitative Research, Multicultural Practice

Macuqui began her career as a project director at Phoenix Multicultural. Since 2001, she has been Vice-President of Qualitative Projects in charge of training and supervising a team of four qualitative research professionals. She is also in charge of quality control for all aspects of Phoenix Multicultural's qualitative research products. Prior to joining Phoenix Multicultural, Ms. Robau-Garcia served as a Vice President for Lopez Negrete in Houston and La Agencia de Orci & Asociados in Los Angeles. While at Lopez Negrete, Ms. Robau-Garcia was a key part of the team that added the agency.s largest client, NationsBank, to its client roster. In addition, she was in charge of day to day management and the supervision of research studies for major accounts including Wells Fargo, American Express MoneyGram, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pepsi-Cola West and Nestlé while at La Agencia.
A Summa Cum Laude graduate from the University of St. Thomas in Houston, Ms. Robau-Garcia has a Bachelor of Arts degree with an emphasis on Latin American Literature and History, and a Masters in Business Administration from National University in Los Angeles, California. She has received formal training in focus groups moderation from the Burke Institute of Research.
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Mike Rosenberg MA President, Healthcare Practice

Mike Rosenberg has been in the healthcare market research industry for more than 25 years and is President of Phoenix Healthcare, an entity consisting of sales executives and researchers conducting qualitative, quantitative and continuous research both domestically and internationally. His research background and entrepreneurial approach to business have allowed him to occupy leading positions with various market research agencies throughout the years. Prior to joining Phoenix, he led the Healthcare Group at Intersearch Corporation and Specialty Healthcare Group at TNS. Mike has a B.A. degree in Sociology from Muhlenberg College and an M.A. in Medical Sociology from Temple University.
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Ivan Rosenstrach Director of Business Development

Ivan Rosenstrach has spent the major portion of his career in service industry marketing. Ivan was Vice President of Marketing for Hertz Rent-a-Car and Thomas Cook, where he was Marketing Director for their Travelers Check Division in North America. After starting and developing his own consulting company for approximately 10 years he joined PSI, a Syndicated research company specializing in financial services. Here he developed the New York market and remained with PSI for 14 years. He next joined the TowerGroup, a division of Reuters, where he was responsible for developing cross-sell opportunities within Reuters for TowerGroup products.
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Bill Saunders President, Automotive Division

Bill Saunders has served the automotive industry for 27 years. He is respected throughout the industry as a leading innovator, contributing new tools and techniques including the first networked and handheld car clinics. Bill has helped automakers extend their reach with international and internet research, and has pioneered creative automotive research stimuli including advance design bucks and simulators. Bill founded Motoresearch Inc. in 1986 and grew it to become one of the industry’s dominant automotive consultants, before it was acquired by Synovate in 2000. Prior experience includes Maritz Marketing Research and Survey Data Research. Bill holds a B.S. in business journalism from Bowling Green State University in Ohio.
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John Schiela MBA President, Response Marketing

John has over 20 years experience in database marketing, business analysis, market research, marketing and using data and technology to drive innovative business solutions. He joined Phoenix in 2007 from a distinguished career at TNS where he served as Executive Vice President in their IT, Telecommunications and Media practice. He was responsible for developing a portfolio of syndicated services, designing and directing large custom research initiatives, and delivering tactical marketing solutions. John earned an M.B.A. in Quantitative Analysis and Marketing from Seton Hall University and a Bachelor of Engineering degree with distinction from Manhattan College.
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Stephanie Schlandt, MBA Senior Vice President

Stephanie Schlandt has more than 15 years experience in market research and analysis. She has extensive experience in credit card strategies, new product development, segmentation, customer satisfaction and loyalty, and brand equity. Her areas of expertise include multivariate statistical analysis, market share and competitor tracking. Prior to joining Phoenix, Stephanie was Senior Vice President of PSI Global, in charge of custom analysis in the areas of segmentation, market/competitive assessments and customer satisfaction. Stephanie has an MBA with a concentration in Market Research from the University of South Florida.
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Sanford M. Schwartz, Ph.D. Board Member

Sanford Schwartz has worked in the marketing research industry for over 30 years functioning in a variety of managerial and executive capacities. Sanford's primary areas of expertise are in working with companies that are on the verge of accelerated growth, starting new ventures, strategic development and mergers and acquisitions. Prior to joining Phoenix, Sanford held senior level positions at Westat, Elrick and Lavidge, Quick Test Opinion Centers, Market Facts and Harris Interactive. Sanford has a Ph.D. in Sociology from Catholic University and a MSW from Fordham University.
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Kathy Sova Research Manager, ESP Payments Research Group

Kathy has over 20 years experience in business management and planning with a focus on business strategy development and planning. Kathy is currently responsible for managing ESP's field research projects in Large Corporate Billing & Payments syndicated and custom research. Kathy is also involved in the management of several specialized research programs including the annual technology tracking studies covering ATM and Check 21. Prior to joining ESP, Kathy held several positions in business management consulting including ten years with Dun & Bradstreet in various analytical, marketing and research functions. Kathy has a B.S. degree from Villanova University.
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Scott A. Spry, MBA Executive Vice President, Communications & Brand Analytics Division

Scott brings over 25 years experience in business strategy development, sales management, data-driven marketing, market planning, marketing communications, organizational design and the business application of new technologies. Prior to co-founding CBA, which was acquired by Phoenix, his experience includes COO of Yankelovich Partners, a major research firm; Co-founder and President of AIM Marketing, a database marketing company; Director of Sales & Marketing for a company owning broadcast outlets, newspapers and providing database and direct marketing services to Fortune 500 companies; and several other sales, marketing and general management positions within a major business services company. Scott has an MBA from the University of Detroit, and a B.S. in Business with a concentration in Information Systems from the University of Michigan.
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Lisa Stein, MBA Vice President

Lisa Stein has 20 years of experience in the financial services industry focusing in market research and consulting. Some of her project areas incorporate market sizing, segmentation analysis, profitability analysis, and market trending. Lisa began her research career at PSI Global, where she directed an Affluent and a Card program. Following PSI Global, Lisa was employed by TowerGroup, where she developed and managed their "Wealth Market Research Program." Most recently, she held a position at PSCU Financial Services where she acted in an advisory role to credit unions in their marketing efforts to grow their card portfolios. Prior to her research and consulting career, Lisa held positions at Citibank and Salomon Brothers. Lisa holds a B.S. in Management from the State University of New York at Binghamton. She also holds an MBA from Hofstra University, where she concentrated in Marketing.
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Heather Still Human Resources Manager

Heather comes to Phoenix with over 10 years of Human Resources experience, having previously worked in industries such as energy, publishing, and consumer products. Heather has an extensive Human Resources background, which includes the functional areas of employment, compensation and benefits administration, employee relations and labor relations. Heather is a graduate of St. Bonaventure University, where she received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration. She is responsible for the Human Resources function at Phoenix including Payroll, Benefits, Employment and Employee Communications.
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David Thompson, MBA Vice President & Managing Director, Affluent Practice

David brings over 20 years of market research and consulting expertise in financial services to Phoenix Marketing. Specializing in wealth management, David has a unique understanding of the trends affecting the affluent and high net worth markets today. Prior to joining the company, David was Vice President at NFO WorldGroup and a senior consultant at Spectrem Group. One of his main responsibilities was the Affluent Market Research Program, a leading syndicated research program for the affluent consumer market. David holds an MBA from the University of Hartford and is a frequent speaker on wealth management subjects.
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Sarah Thompson Vice President, Communications & Brand Analytics Division

Sarah has 25 years of broad market research experience in financial services, including the Asset Management, Discount Brokerage, and Banking industries. Sarah's experience includes positions at Dreyfus where she provided the firm with primary and secondary research services in both the retail and intermediary channels; TD Waterhouse where she was responsible for the research budget for all primary and secondary research with the exception of customer satisfaction; and most recently, at Draft, Inc. one of the Interpublic Group of advertising agencies, where she worked with multiple Bank of America Business units collaborating with their research teams to design research programs that would best meet their business information needs. Sarah holds a B.A. degree from Bard College.
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Susan Toner President, Technology Group

Susan Toner has over 20 years experience in the technology sector in business analysis, marketing and market research. She has an extensive background in brand management and advertising research, working with clients to build brand equity and to extend their brand into new markets. Prior to joining Phoenix, Susan was Vice President in IBM's Worldwide Market Intelligence group where she managed all of IBM's customer satisfaction, brand tracking and advertising research in over 30 countries. Susan graduated from the State University of New York with a BA.
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Tom Townsend, MBA Senior Account Manager, Automotive Division

Tom has 25 years of automotive research experience, delivering strategic brand and communications insights through the development of innovative quantitative and qualitative research techniques. For most of his career, Tom was Research Manager at BBDO Detroit. He was responsible for strategic brand and new vehicle positioning research for Chrysler, Dodge, and Jeep. He also worked extensively with agency creative directors to enhanced marketing and communications strategies. Most recently, Tom worked at an event measurement company where he evaluated the role of experiential marketing on automotive prospects. Tom holds an MBA in Marketing from Case Western Reserve University and BA in Economics from Oakland University.


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Elizabeth L. Trachte, MA Director of Financial Management

Elizabeth comes to Phoenix with over 15 years of financial management experience. Prior to working as a financial consultant for small businesses, Elizabeth worked in the Treasury and Forecasting departments of Orange and Rockland Utilities, and the Market Analysis and Forecasting department of AT&T. She graduated from the University of Wisconsin- Eau Claire with a dual major in Mathematics and Economics and obtained her Masters in Economics from the State University of New York at Albany. Elizabeth is responsible for all aspects of Financial Management at Phoenix.
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Edye Twer President, Media Research

Edye joined Phoenix in September, 2007 as President of the newly formed Media Research Practice. Edye has nearly twenty-five years of experience in a variety of different designs, including attitude and usage, program and promotional testing, concept testing and segmentation analysis. Prior to joining Phoenix, Edye worked at TNS (formerly Chilton Research Services) for 13 years in the Technology Sector. She was the Senior Vice President in charge of the Media and Entertainment segment and managed a sales and management team responsible for the sale, design and execution of both continuous tracking and ad-hoc quantitative projects. Edye received a degree from the University of Pennsylvania, where she majored in Behavioral Communications from the Annenberg School. Edye has been active in both the Audience Research Foundation (ARF), as well as CTAM (Cable Television Marketing Association).
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Michele Valdovinos, MA Senior Vice President of Research and Marketing, Multicultural Practice

Michele brings more than twelve years of professional experience having worked in high-profile industries such as network television, entertainment, international marketing, and Hispanic market advertising. Michele began her career at Univision, where as Audience Research Director, she conducted Nielsen television ratings analysis and market research. She then went on to work at 20th Century Fox, where she was Manager of Research in the International Television department. At Fox, her responsibilities included extensive research for the launch of Fox’s Latin American cable channels.
In New York, Michele worked as Senior Manager, Client Services for IBOPE International/WPP, an international research company. At IBOPE, her focus was on customer service, sales, and marketing in connection with the leading television ratings panel in Latin America. Michele later joined The Bravo Group, Young & Rubicam.s Hispanic arm, and the largest Hispanic advertising agency in the U.S. As Vice President, Research & Strategic Planning, she was responsible for all research and strategic planning for leading national advertisers such as AT&T, United States Postal Service, and Unilever/Best Foods.
Michele obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Media Management from Pepperdine University and is a graduate of the University of Southern California.s Annenberg School of Communications with a Masters Degree in Communications Management.
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Jayne B. Vandeyar Director of Corporate Management

Jayne has been with Phoenix since its formation in 1999. Formerly with IBM, she has extensive international operations and sales experience. Jayne heads operations, facilities management, personnel and accounts receivable. She is also an integral part of sales and marketing as well as public relations. Born and educated in England, Jayne later attended Marist College where she studied Computer Science.
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Monica Villalobos MA Marketing Director, Multicultural Practice

Prior to joining Phoenix in 2007, Monica was the Director of Accounts at Latin Force where she supervised strategic development for clients such as Wells Fargo, National Football League (NFL), Kraft Foods and ING. In addition, Monica held positions at Casanova Pendrill and Arvizu Advertising, key Hispanic advertising agencies, working on accounts such as Coors Brewing Company and MasterCard. Further, she was the Marketing Manager at the international joint venture, Telmex/Sprint, and Brand Manager at Capital One Financial. Monica brings a wealth of experience and talent from these engagements including business development strategies, media and promotional planning, ROI business case assessments, integrated communication platforms as well as evaluation of high end analytics such as segmentation modeling. With both a bachelor's degree from UCLA and a master's degree from Seton Hall University, Monica shares a love of academics that includes studies abroad at Oxford University and several scholastic achievements and accolades.
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Jack Ward Vice President, Communications & Brand Analytics Division

Considered an expert on market and competitive assessments, Jack has over 25 years experience in solutions marketing, including insurance, financial and technology services, working with both direct and intermediary distribution systems. He has directed engagements in market assessment, customer satisfaction and retention, new product development and segmentation, distribution and compensation. He has helped a number of clients build integrated customer satisfaction-retention-brand advocacy programs. Jack holds the CPCU and CLU professional designations, a BA from The College of Wooster and an MA in Economics from Ohio State, and is a RIVA-trained focus group moderator.
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Greg Weed Director of Card Performance Research

Greg Weed has over 20 years of experience as a professional writer, researcher, data analyst, and marketing/advertising consultant. Prior to joining Phoenix, Greg was a Vice President at PSI Global/NFO WorldGroup responsible for card research and consulting efforts. Greg also has 12 years of experience as an advertising agency executive, serving as a Senior Vice President for Young & Rubicam where he was responsible for developing and introducing new consumer products. Greg is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Williams College.
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Rita Workman HR & Accounting Coordinator, Multicultural Practice

Rita Workman has been with Phoenix Multicultural, at the Los Angeles office, since 2003. In addition to providing support in the accounting and payables area, Rita works with human resources and overall office management. Prior to joining Phoenix, Rita worked for twelve years at Diagnostic Research in Los Angeles. Rita was born in Mexicali, Mexico and enjoys spending time with her daughter, her family, and her friends. top

Bernard B. Yamron, Ph.D. Senior Vice President

Bernard Yamron has over 15 years experience in market research and analysis in both the consumer financial services and health care industries. He has extensive experience in brand and image analysis, customer satisfaction and loyalty, product development, market share and market segmentation. Prior to joining Phoenix, Bernard served as the Director of Research and Competitive Intelligence at Oxford Health Plans and as a Senior Consultant at PSI Global. Bernard has a Ph.D. from Brown University.
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Iris Yim, MA Asian American Expert and Qualitative Project Director, Multicultural Practice

Prior to joining Phoenix Multicultural, Ms. Yim honed her public relations and research skills at Ruder Finn, the second largest independent public relations agency in the States and Keiro Senior HealthCare, the largest Japanese American senior health care provider in the country. At Ruder Finn, Ms. Yim helped launch Kingdom Hearts, a new video game from the publisher of the Final Fantasy series, Squaresoft. During Ms. Yim’s employment with Keiro, she created a communications plan for its three-year endowment campaign and spearheaded the organization.s public relations efforts.
An experienced moderator, Ms. Yim is an alumna of the RIVA Training Institute, an internationally recognized experiential moderator training institution. She has a Master of Arts degree in Public Relations from the USC Annenberg School for Communications and a Bachelor of Arts degree in English literature from the National Taiwan University.
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Paul Zeman Senior Vice President, General Manager, New York, Communications & Brand Analytics Division

Paul joined Phoenix from American Express where he was Director of Advertising Research. At Amex, Paul managed the team responsible for research to support advertising strategy, branding, creative development, media, and ad effectiveness measurement. In his eight years at Amex, the team's research guided numerous successful campaigns; created unique systems for understanding non-traditional media efforts; and developed integrated measurement tools. Prior to Amex, Paul managed research projects and tracking at Fleet Bank. At Stop & Shop Companies Paul conducted both strategic and tactical research and worked closely with IRI and Nielsen beta-testing scanner data delivery tools. In addition to working in research at several client organizations, Paul has experience on the supplier and ad agency sides of the business (20 years total). Categories include financial services, retail, apparel, and packaged goods. Paul graduated from Brown University and heads up our New York office.
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