All Senior
Team
Our industry-leading, senior experts blend social science and global experience to uncover unique insights from your data.
Carl Davidson
Carl is one of New Zealand’s best-known social scientists. His long and distinguished career in research stretches over 30 years and includes stints as an academic, practitioner, and author. He has crafted an enviable reputation for his expertise in consumer psychology, research design and behavioural change. Carl is the author or editor of ten books about research practise in New Zealand and he is the past Chief Commissioner for the Families Commission. These days Carl is the Head of Insight at Research First and he is also an Adjunct Professor at the University of Canterbury.
Ann Thompson
Ann is a rare talent, combining strategic thinking and excellent research skills. She has a specialism in design thinking and leads the CX, Reputation and Brand capability within the agency.
Ann has built a distinguished career in market research throughout the UK, Europe and Asia Pacific over the past 25 years. During this time, she has been an integral advisor to global companies forging new markets, led the development of new brand propositions, assumed guardianship of the world’s most loved consumer brands, and supported creative agencies in the ideation of award-winning campaigns and brand activation.
As Research Director, Ann has oversight of all projects and for ensuring a consistently high calibre around the delivery of evidence-based and actionable insights to each of our clients.
Jo Storry
After 25 yrs navigating consumer and cultural insight across Europe, APAC and the Americas, Jo returned home in 2020 to Aotearoa New Zealand and the Truwind team. She leads our Qualitative offer and brings her depth of experience in cultures, markets and communications to our client stories and solutions.
Amy Renall
With over a decade of experience in Brand and Advertising research, Amy has developed a deep understanding of Quantitative research methodologies and techniques across a range of industries and client needs. She is consistently sharpening her strategic compass by delivering actionable insights to clients, while growing and managing multiple teams within the Truwind business.
Liz Morley
With a 20-year career spanning the insights sector, Liz has gained her extensive experience on the journey from the global agencies in London, through insight activation within central government, to the insights team and then the business development team at Truwind. Liz partners with our clients to chart their path forward, providing them with the tools necessary for success.
Kekoa Baker
Pacific Development Manager Kekoa is a proud Kānaka Maoli wahine dedicated to decolonising and indigenising research. As the Pacific Development Manager at Truwind, she ensures that all Pacific research processes and projects are grounded in Pacific perspectives, prioritising the voices of Tāngata Moana | Pacific communities, and providing clients with access to rich data from the region. With extensive experience in research, monitoring, and evaluation, coupled with postgraduate studies focused on indigenous social inclusion, Kekoa seamlessly integrates traditional knowledge with contemporary research methodologies. She is deeply committed to delivering insights that authentically capture the stories and needs of the communities she engages with, driving impactful change. Kekoa thrives in helping clients move beyond data, collaborating to transform insights into actionable strategies that can reshape policy and industry, leading to mutually beneficial outcomes.
Pip Aimer
With over 25 years of experience in research and project management, Pip is a highly skilled professional with a true passion for data analytics, health, and social sciences. She has demonstrated her expertise across diverse research and policy domains, providing invaluable support to clients in developing strategies that drive behavioural change and yield positive outcomes for priority groups.
Pip’s greatest strengths lie in her strategic thinking and problem-solving abilities, excelling in tackling complex issues and developing innovative solutions for outstanding results. Her in-depth understanding of end-to-end business development and data analytics has had a significant impact on the research industry. Furthermore, Pip possesses extensive knowledge of the specific requirements of both central and local government clients, as well as not-for-profit organisations.
Supported by a strong academic background, Pip’s proficiency in qualitative and quantitative research methods, combined with her proven project management skills, consistently position her at the forefront of challenging projects. Her multidisciplinary approach is essential when working on intricate assignments that demand comprehensive expertise across various fields.
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Manya Craig
Manya has a passion for understanding why people do what they do. She has applied this to a career of 25+ years in insights and research. Her experience spans multiple industries, and she has successfully managed countless research projects over this time, from both the client and agency perspectives.
Before joining the Research First team she co-founded a thriving behavioral research agency that applied behavioral science understanding to consumer research. She is now delighted to use these skills in a social research setting with Research First.
As well as being a skilled project manager her core research expertise is qualitative in nature, having honed her interviewing skills over many years. She takes great pleasure in talking with people, understanding that an initial claimed response may not provide the full picture. She looks for the heuristics that may be under pinning answers and recognises the need to explore more deeply when required.
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Brad Wallwork
As a veteran graphic designer and insatiably curious person, Brad is uniquely placed within the company to facilitate the research journey from data to insights through visual storytelling. Brad adds perspective and creativity to our insights, making them appealing and easy to absorb.
Josh Ryan
Meet Josh Ryan, our exceptional Insights Analyst, who specialises in quantitative research and project management. With extensive experience managing diverse projects for clients ranging from on-going trackers, local councils to infrastructure and education sectors, Josh brings a wealth of knowledge to Research First.
Josh combines analytical prowess with a keen eye for detail, ensuring the accurate gathering and interpretation of quantitative data. He excels in designing and implementing robust research methodologies that empower clients to make informed business decisions.
Passionate about project management, Josh seamlessly coordinates research initiatives from start to finish. He thrives in dynamic environments, skillfully managing multiple projects simultaneously to meet deadlines and achieve objectives. With impeccable organizational skills and meticulous attention to detail, Josh guarantees flawless project execution and delivers actionable insights to our valued clients.
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Evie Strawbridge
Evie has a passion for connecting with people and understanding the underlying motives driving human behaviour. As a qualitative researcher Evie is an experienced facilitator and interviewer. Her interpersonal and communication skills allow her to connect with a diverse range of people. This creates a comfortable space and allows her to explore more deeply when needed.
Her experience spans across multiple industries and the opportunity to dive into different industries is an exciting part of her role here at Research First. This exemplifying her adaptability as she works across multiple projects, with some incorporating both qualitative and quantitative research methods.
Gabbi Richardson-Miller
Gabbi started with research first as a call centre interviewer having joined us from the UK in 2019. In that time she worked across multiple roles in the team before becoming a team leader in 2021 and more recently the role of planning and projects leader. Gabbi brings a wealth of experience as she has worked in multiple operations and leadership roles in London. Gabbi’s operational experience is key to delivering our wide array of projects. Gabbi has a master’s in chemistry with study in North America.
In her spare time you will find her packing up the car and exploring New Zealand, with the tent, boat and the dog.
Bree Miles
Bree started at Research first in 2021 as a Call centre interviewer and quickly started helping with other jobs such as recruitment, Coding and many others. She joined the team permanently in early 2022 and then moved on to becoming a Shift coordinator in August of 2022. Bree deals with Call Centre staff training, running the day shifts, and helping call centre staff with any queries they might have. Bree also took responsibility over a recent big project we worked on with The World Bank. She assisted interviewers with tips, quality checked the data, was involved in client updates and then performed data cleaning at the end of the project.
Outside of work you will find her working as a Nail Technician, Rollerskating and out collecting crystals.
Pearl Massie
Pearl started with Research First as a Call Centre Interviewer in 2021 while finishing her studies at the University of Canterbury. After working across a variety of data-collection projects, her focus turned to recruiting our qualitative research opportunities. Since the beginning of 2023, Pearl has led the recruitment team as our Recruitment Coordinator, supporting projects with her passion in building relationships with communities and conducting qualitative research. These include, but are not limited to the 2023 nationwide Classification Office and Netsafe social media impacts on body image interviews with rangatahi and IKEA home visits. Pearl has a Bachelor of Communication (major in Journalism) and has brought her experience of journalistic and strategic communication to the team.
In her spare time, you will find Pearl pursuing her passion in flying and leading dragon boating crews across the country.
Karl Low
Anoushka
Chiswell
Anoushka is a relatively new addition to Research First Operations this year. While wrapping up her studies in Psychology and Political Science & International Relations, Anoushka transitioned from academics into her role in Operations. Starting in our call center, Anoushka moved into recruitment and interviewing, as well as taking an introductory role in insights analysis. Anoushka’s curious and social personality means she thrives on diverse conversations within Operations. Her university studies provide her with a sound background in which she can bring an informed and unique perspective to both operations and insights.
Beyond the office, Anoushka enjoys an active lifestyle. You will often find her exploring outdoors, or at the beach in the summer.