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Chief Data, Analytics & AI Officer at McDonald's
Michelle is McDonald’s Chief Data and analytics Officer, leading the Data, Analytics, and AI practice for the Enterprise. Michelle and her team enable McDonald's to capture and harness the full value of its data and AI to run and grow the business more effectively.
Michelle brings 30 years of experience to Strategy, Insights, and Analytics, having most recently led the Global Insights and Analytics team at McDonald’s. Since joining McDonald’s, Michelle has stood up both a Foresight team and a Gen AI COE, connected human insights with data and analytics to drive more significant business impact, and played a critical role in the new global innovation process; Michelle is also a passionate people leader and people developer. Before McDonald’s, Michelle worked at Mars Wrigley and other notable brands, like Clorox.
Before living in Chicago, Michelle had the opportunity to live and work in Europe for four years. Michelle loves music, traveling the world, and checking out new restaurants in her free time. She hopes to get to 100+ countries in her lifetime.
Join this dynamic panel discussion featuring business leaders who have successfully funded, scaled, and/or exited their companies. Gain real world insights on securing capital, driving sustainable growth, managing change and planning strategic exits. Our panelists will share real-world experiences, lessons learned, and best practices to help you navigate each critical stage of your business journey. Whether you’re launching a startup or preparing for acquisition, this session will equip you with the tools and strategies to not just survive in business, but to thrive!
Board of Directors, Human8
As former Global CEO, Camille is a business advisor, partner and active board member of Human8 (previously InSites Consulting). Human8 encompasses the regional acquisition of Gongos, Inc., of which Camille became sole owner and CEO in 2012.
Under her leadership, Camille guided teams that consult Global 1000 brands in making business decisions through the lens of reciprocal value exchange with consumers. She believes in leveraging regenerative leadership principles as a strategy for growth and emphasizes the importance of building strong cultural buy-in to harmonize and unify business stakeholders.
Camille leans into an outcome driven approach emphasizing the strength of human insights, impactful communication, knowledge activation and change management, as she consults brands to drive positive change in the market.Camille is a Small Giants community mentor, active member of the board of the Insights Association, a contributing member of the Forbes Business Council, an official judge of the North American Customer Centricity Awards and sits on the Board of Detroit-based Forgotten Harvest. She has served as Chairperson of the Advisory Board of Michigan State University’s Masters in Marketing Research Program and has contributed to the University of Michigan’s Institute for Survey Research.
Camille, her husband, three children and Westie, Gus, reside in suburban Detroit, MI.
Founder/CEO, Highlight
Dana Kim is founder and CEO of Highlight, an agile in-home product testing platform. Dana spent 5 years at a boutique insights agency as a qualitative and mixed-method researcher for years, where she saw firsthand the difficulty of product testing. Determined to build a solution, Dana then got her MBA at The Wharton School, where she built Highlight: a high-growth research tech startup disrupting the in-home usage test and physical product research space. Highlight's platform streamlines everything from recruit to data set, including all the logistics of getting your product to your target customers. It boasts 90% survey completion rates, can get product in hands in days, and seamlessly collects targeted feedback at scale.
President, Suzy
A long-time MRX veteran, Katie Gross knows the importance of bringing your consumer into every business decision. Her deep understanding of the full market research value chain stems from 18 years of international experience across every facet of the industry — working with insights agencies Mintel and Stylus to individual brands at Avilton Foods, and even within the world of programmatic survey sampling at Cint and Toluna.
Now in her role as Chief Customer Officer, she manages the Sales, CS, and Market Research Center of Excellence teams to provide best-in-class customer service for Suzy’s impressive roster of enterprise clients. Outside of work, Katie tirelessly advocates for women in the workplace, with an added focus on fostering financial independence.
She counts herself a member of Women In Research’s WIR exec program, all-female leadership network Chief, and the Financial Gym. She can be found kayaking and stand-up paddle boarding on the lakes of Northern New Jersey.
Founder, Women In Research Growth Strategist/Advisor, ScaleHouse
Kristin Luck serves as an advisor and growth strategist to a number of cutting-edge marketing and analytics technology and services firms through her consultancy, ScaleHouse. She is the founder of two marketing analytics companies that she led to successful exits. Kristin co-founded OTX, an online research business that was named the fastest growing research firm in the world in 2002 and 2003 and was subsequently acquired by Pilot Group and again by Ipsos in 2007. She then founded Forefront Consulting Group, a research technology firm that was acquired by Decipher. Decipher was acquired by FocusVision in 2014 after seven consecutive years of double- and triple-digit growth. FocusVision merged with Confirmit in 2021 to become Forsta, where she sat on the the Board of Directors until its recent acquisition by Press Ganey.
Kristin is a licensed investment banker with Oberon Securities and a founder focused on helping fellow founders and executive teams scale and monetize their businesses. Her deal expertise on both sides of transactions comes from participating in both acquisitions and exits from $30 million to $225 million. She is also passionate about supporting founders in international markets execute their entry into the U.S.Kristin regularly contributes to both the commercial (Fast Company, Forbes) and academic press (Research World, Journal of Brand Strategy) where she explores emerging marketing and research methods. She is consistently ranked as one of the top 100 sales and branding experts to follow on social media.
In addition to Founding, Women in Research, Kristin has also served on the board of ESOMAR, the global insights and analytics association, for eight years; including a two year term as Vice-President and a two year term as President.
Founder, Exhale Expand Ltd
Shazia Ginai, Founder of business growth consultancy Exhale Expand Ltd, is a dynamic insight and marketing expert. She is a driving force seamlessly turning insights about businesses and the humans that form them, into action. With a stellar track record, Shazia has successfully led insight capabilities in various organizations across brands and agencies, catalysing change across diverse markets and functions at Chief Growth Officer and CEO levels. She began her journey in the luxury fragrance and skincare industry at P&G, solidifying her expertise. Later, she established and led the global insight function at ghd, cementing her passion for actionable insights and empathetic leadership. Following this Shazia was CEO of the thought leading neuromarketing agency Neuro-Insight.Beyond her career, Shazia passionately champions equality and inclusion. She holds a role on the advisory board for Women in Research, until recently was Chair of colour of research and on the Market Research Society D&I council. Shazia's commitment extends beyond her professional life. She dedicates her time and energy to raising awareness and researching menstrual health, actively volunteering for Endometriosis, is trained in breathwork for trauma integration and yoga, actively championing decolonisation of this sacred south Asian practice.
Speaker and Asset Manager Advisor Coach
Debra Ohstrom, CFA is a Financial Educator who uses her financial expertise to empower people to take control of their financial future.
Founder, Women In Research Growth Strategist/Advisor, ScaleHouse
Kristin Luck serves as an advisor and growth strategist to a number of cutting-edge marketing and analytics technology and services firms through her consultancy, ScaleHouse. She is the founder of two marketing analytics companies that she led to successful exits. Kristin co-founded OTX, an online research business that was named the fastest growing research firm in the world in 2002 and 2003 and was subsequently acquired by Pilot Group and again by Ipsos in 2007. She then founded Forefront Consulting Group, a research technology firm that was acquired by Decipher. Decipher was acquired by FocusVision in 2014 after seven consecutive years of double- and triple-digit growth. FocusVision merged with Confirmit in 2021 to become Forsta, where she sat on the the Board of Directors until its recent acquisition by Press Ganey.
Kristin is a licensed investment banker with Oberon Securities and a founder focused on helping fellow founders and executive teams scale and monetize their businesses. Her deal expertise on both sides of transactions comes from participating in both acquisitions and exits from $30 million to $225 million. She is also passionate about supporting founders in international markets execute their entry into the U.S.Kristin regularly contributes to both the commercial (Fast Company, Forbes) and academic press (Research World, Journal of Brand Strategy) where she explores emerging marketing and research methods. She is consistently ranked as one of the top 100 sales and branding experts to follow on social media.
In addition to Founding, Women in Research, Kristin has also served on the board of ESOMAR, the global insights and analytics association, for eight years; including a two year term as Vice-President and a two year term as President.
Founder, Exhale Expand Ltd
Shazia Ginai, Founder of business growth consultancy Exhale Expand Ltd, is a dynamic insight and marketing expert. She is a driving force seamlessly turning insights about businesses and the humans that form them, into action. With a stellar track record, Shazia has successfully led insight capabilities in various organizations across brands and agencies, catalysing change across diverse markets and functions at Chief Growth Officer and CEO levels. She began her journey in the luxury fragrance and skincare industry at P&G, solidifying her expertise. Later, she established and led the global insight function at ghd, cementing her passion for actionable insights and empathetic leadership. Following this Shazia was CEO of the thought leading neuromarketing agency Neuro-Insight.Beyond her career, Shazia passionately champions equality and inclusion. She holds a role on the advisory board for Women in Research, until recently was Chair of colour of research and on the Market Research Society D&I council. Shazia's commitment extends beyond her professional life. She dedicates her time and energy to raising awareness and researching menstrual health, actively volunteering for Endometriosis, is trained in breathwork for trauma integration and yoga, actively championing decolonisation of this sacred south Asian practice.
Founder, Women In Research Growth Strategist/Advisor, ScaleHouse
Kristin Luck serves as an advisor and growth strategist to a number of cutting-edge marketing and analytics technology and services firms through her consultancy, ScaleHouse. She is the founder of two marketing analytics companies that she led to successful exits. Kristin co-founded OTX, an online research business that was named the fastest growing research firm in the world in 2002 and 2003 and was subsequently acquired by Pilot Group and again by Ipsos in 2007. She then founded Forefront Consulting Group, a research technology firm that was acquired by Decipher. Decipher was acquired by FocusVision in 2014 after seven consecutive years of double- and triple-digit growth. FocusVision merged with Confirmit in 2021 to become Forsta, where she sat on the the Board of Directors until its recent acquisition by Press Ganey.
Kristin is a licensed investment banker with Oberon Securities and a founder focused on helping fellow founders and executive teams scale and monetize their businesses. Her deal expertise on both sides of transactions comes from participating in both acquisitions and exits from $30 million to $225 million. She is also passionate about supporting founders in international markets execute their entry into the U.S.Kristin regularly contributes to both the commercial (Fast Company, Forbes) and academic press (Research World, Journal of Brand Strategy) where she explores emerging marketing and research methods. She is consistently ranked as one of the top 100 sales and branding experts to follow on social media.
In addition to Founding, Women in Research, Kristin has also served on the board of ESOMAR, the global insights and analytics association, for eight years; including a two year term as Vice-President and a two year term as President.
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