Advise organizations, businesses and nonprofits throughout the U.S. on designing and executing voice of customer programs, customer experience assessments, consumer insights/research studies, employee surveys, stakeholder studies, and B2B research. Manage internal staff and outside vendors, as well as public relations, website, and social media. Primary client base consists of supermarket companies ranging in size from large regional chains of 160+ units to single stores, as well as large regional food distributors with sales as high as $30 billion. • Leveraged qualitative and quantitative research tools including online surveys, panels, phone studies, IVR, email surveys, and voice of customer platforms for independent chain retailers. Integrated information from multiple tools during assessments which provided additional information and depth to findings.• Created and fielded numerous industry-leading studies, including company’s first national study of online supermarket shoppers, creating valuable benchmarks for clients, providing insights for the industry and positioning firm as an industry thought leader. • Implemented voice of customer programs allowing store level managers to respond directly to shoppers, as well as determine and resolve root causes of dissatisfaction with the shopping experience. • Partnered with client marketing leader at a large Midwest supermarket chain to develop a research approach to assess awareness, usage and ratings of new departments and services. As a result of findings, client was able to fine tune offerings to optimize market positioning. • Led wide range of marketing/public relations efforts for the firm, centered around proprietary research findings and knowledge. As a result of these activities, the firm reached significantly higher levels of recognition as a research leader in the food industry. • Sought after speaker on industry trends at events ranging from trade association panels to keynotes.

Leveraging extensive experience gained from leadership positions in a Fortune 500 company and corporate foundation, as well as through consulting and nonprofit board/philanthropic roles, to provide consulting in the areas of consumer/customer/stakeholder insights, public relations & communications, SEO, content marketing, website strategy, program & event assessments, and trends & topics research. Clients include nonprofits, businesses, senior executives, and consultancies.Engagements have included: * Serving as fractional communications and insights leader for a nonprofit, including launching a new website in an accelerated timeframe, developing and implementing effective internal communications processes, creating compelling integrated storytelling including blogs, e-blasts, and social media, building SEO capability leading to higher rankings in search results, leading publicity campaigns resulting in media coverage, and creating a comprehensive insights capability providing clear and usable findings for program evaluations, board assessments, and employee surveys.* Working with an international NGO to develop a comprehensive assessment capability including insights from volunteers, staff, and programs. Created and launched the framework for all communications processes including publicity, social media, website, content marketing, and SEO/SEM. * Designing and conducting a range of surveys including stakeholder assessments, program evaluations, employee surveys, and board surveys across many types of entities including restaurant, camp, church, and nonprofit. One especially notable project was a city-wide survey for a nonprofit to assess perceptions of community towards this nonprofit and their offerings. Another significant engagement was developing the first "state of the industry" survey for FRAK, which assessed the growing fractional community. * Partnering with consultancies without internal research capabilities to conduct surveys for clients.

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Directed all internal research projects, as well as conducted research for independent supermarket retail clients. Managed $500,000 budget as well as staff and vendor relationships. Served as top public relations leader for the organization, acting as national company spokesperson, writing press releases, and handling all media inquiries and outreach. • Built first integrated research department in the history of the organization. Conducted hundreds of studies including consumer research, focus groups, business partner assessments, industry benchmarking, branding, image, and new offering evaluations. Evaluated and implemented first store level voice of customer program. All of these activities increased confidence in decisions. • Served in the industry as the Chair of the Food Marketing Institute (FMI) Consumer Market Research Committee. During tenure, collaborated with FMI Research Director to revamp industry level trends study to measure generational differences in shopping behavior which created a new way to examine consumers. • Developed initial public relations capability resulting in an effective and well-rounded approach, boosting company visibility.

Concurrently chaired corporate foundation. Developed and led all aspects of company’s charitable giving foundation including fundraising, financial growth, governance, grant making, engagement events, and cause marketing. Foundation focus areas were hunger, shelter, health/nutrition, literacy, and supporting veterans. • Over term as chair, total annual donations increased from several hundred thousand to one million dollars. • Designed and executed Feeding Imagination Program (130,000+ kids’ books donated) and created and launched Helping Hands in the Community Day (400+ volunteers engaged annually), resulting in a significant impact in the Twin Cities community and being awarded the prestigious Jefferson Award. • Implemented employee donation program resulting in more staff engagement in foundation efforts coupled with increased financial resources.