Lara FordisQualitative Field Manager

Lara has 19 years’ experience managing and directing a wide variety of market research studies for businesses and public agencies. Most recently, she worked as Qualitative Research Director at ThinkNow Research. Lara received her M.A. in Communications from Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. Prior to joining ThinkNow, Lara was Director of Operations at Q-Insights in Sherman Oaks, California. She began her market research career with Marketing Matrix in Los Angeles as the Assistant Focus Group Facility Manager. Over the next eight years, she rose from Research Analyst to Director of Research and Operations at Pelegrin Research Group in Glendale, also serving as an in-depth interviewer. Subsequently, she was Director of Research at Insightlink Communications in Glendale, a firm specializing in employee satisfaction research. Lara is trained in a specialized market research interviewing technique called Laddering that gets to the core values that drive people’s decisions. She has also guest lectured at UCLA on market research topics. Lara received her B.A., magna cum laude, in American Studies from Tufts University and her M.A. in Communications from Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.