Keynote Speakers

​​​​​​​​​​​​​Opening Keynote - Carmen Bryant​​​​​

Wednesday, November 2nd ​

Innovating in a Post-Pandemic World​

Carmen is an international speaker and strategic business leader with more than 20 years of marketing, research, and thought leadership expertise. Her unique expertise helps her translate insights and cultural shifts into compelling stories that motivate action. As a leader and influencer, she explores what’s influencing workers today and what’s shaping the future of work. Carmen has spoken on topics that include the multigenerational workforce, recruiting trends, and equity insights, and shares best practices that are relevant to global audiences. As a speaker, Carmen has presented in boardrooms and conference venues worldwide, including as a featured speaker for SHRM, SHRM India, the Human Capital Institute, and as a keynote at Indeed’s Interactive. ​​

Bio: Carmen was born in Mississippi, graduated from Harvard University, and then built her life in New York City. She is currently VP of Marketing for Wizehire, an online hiring platform for small businesses. She was previously Head of US Marketing at Indeed and has held other strategic leadership and insights positions at top-tier companies including NBCUniversal, Time Inc. and L’Oreal USA. She currently resides in Brooklyn, NY with her husband and son.​

Opening Keynote Technology Perspectives Panel​ Moderated by Janavi Kumar​

​Wednesday, November 2nd

How Digitization, Decentralization, & Disruption Will Transform Research

Consumer needs and behaviors are continuously changing, as are the channels to reach them. The pandemic has only accelerated many trends that were already brewing under the surface. There is an increasing focus on sustainability and corporate social responsibility, and consumers are more interested in personalization and connecting to brands and products that reflect their values. The convergence of these factors points towards the need to evolve how we learn - research methodologies need to be more agile, more predictive, more iterative, more empathetic, and better connected with the everyday lives of our consumers. This panel brings together a variety of thought-provoking perspectives from leaders who are paving the way to capturing opportunity in a future where digitization, decentralization and disruption is the norm. ​​

​Submit a Question to the Panel Now

Alexandra Kuzmina

Tech Innovation Nova @ MMR

Bio: Alexandra Kuzmina is an award-winning, experienced and MRS qualified mixed methods researcher, a futurist and early adopter of new technology. She holds an MA degree and has been trained in Behavioural Economics at MSc level. In her current role as an innovation consultant with the tech innovation team NOVA @MMR, Alexandra road-tests new technology, software, hardware, techniques, and methodologies to ensure that they deliver value by making insights better, quicker, or cheaper.

Christian ​​Crews

Principal, Wavepoint

Bio: Christian Crews has over 20 years of experience applying foresight to innovation, research and development, and strategy for large corporations and professional membership organizations. He is the Principal of Wavepoint, a foresight services agency based in Washington DC, where he lead projects for Clorox, CVS, PepsiCo, Diageo, Crown Equipment, Hershey, Tata Sons, and Goodyear. Christian also led collaborative foresight projects for Innovation Research Interchange, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and the Institute of Food Technologists. Prior to his consulting career held foresight, strategy, and growth positions at Toshiba Industrial Corporation, Waitt Institute, Pitney Bowes, and Kalypso. He writes the Futures Praxis column for the journal Research-Technology Management and is a founding member and previous board member of the Association of Professional Futurists.Christian holds an MS in Studies of the Future from the University of Houston-Clear Lake and a BA in English from the College of William and Mary.

Foivos Dousos

Associate Director, Discover.ai

Bio: Foivos is an associate director at Discover.ai leading a group of strategists, cultural analysts and semioticians working on food and flavour research. He has worked on 50+ projects focusing on flavour innovation for CPG, snacking and beverages and restaurant chains – across multiple markets from UK and US to Latin America, the Middle East and Asia Pacific. He has an academic background in psychology and completed his PhD focusing on narcissism in new media cultures at Royal Holloway, University of London in 2018. Outside his work in market research he’s published academic work and poetry books in Greek and English and in 2021 he co-wrote the script for the film ORFEAS2021 that was produced by the Greek National Opera.

Jenn Mancusi Vogel

Chief Revenue Officer, Voxpopme

Bio: Jenn has been a marketing and revenue exec serving the research industry for more than 12 years, gaining a great understanding of the ever-changing needs corporate researchers have to deliver insights in new ways, faster and with fewer resources. This is why she decided to join Voxpopme – and the agile qualitative movement – in 2018. As chief revenue officer, she and her team are focused on educating the market about the power of agile tech-enabled insights, helping guide brands through change management, and how to leverage video for a deeper understanding of consumers.​

​

Michelle Murphy Niedziela

VP of Research and Innovation,​​ HCD Research

Bio: Michelle Murphy Niedziela (PhD; @hcdneuroscience) is a behavioral neuroscience expert in neuropsychology, psychology and consumer science. As VP of Research and Innovation at HCD Research, Michelle focuses on integrating applied consumer neuroscience tools and new technologies with traditional methods used to measure consumer response. Michelle obtained a PhD and Masters in behavioral neuroscience and behavioral neurogenetics from Purdue University’s IBRC (Ingestive Behavior Research Institute) program and a BS in psychology and neuroscience from Florida State University.

Janavi Kumar - Moderator

Digital Sr. Sensory Scientist, General Mills

Bio: Janavi Kumar is a Digital Sr. Sensory Scientist at General Mills, Inc. where she advances experimentation with new technologies and creates future state capabilities to accelerate learning and decision making. Prior to this, she served as a Sensory Scientist at General Mills with 6+ years of experience in strategic product and consumer research related to innovation, renovation, and quality initiatives. She has led sensory research for a variety of different product platforms and initiatives in her role with the Product Guidance and Insights group. Janavi grew up in Bangalore, India, attended Iowa State University receiving her Bachelor of Science in Genetics and a Master of Science in Food Science with an emphasis in Sensory Analysis and Consumer Behavior from Kansas State University.

Opening Keynote - Joni Goodman 

​Wednesday, November 2nd

Dare to Lead^TM in the New Decade  

When we dare to lead, we don’t pretend to have the right answers; we stay curious and ask the right questions. We don’t avoid difficult conversations; we lean into vulnerability when it’s necessary to do good work. Daring leadership in a culture defined by scarcity, fear, and uncertainty requires skill-building around traits that are deeply human. Daring leadership is a collection of four skill sets that are 100 percent teachable, measurable, and observable. Let's examine the fours skills needed for courage-building: rumbling with vulnerability, living into your values, braving trust, and learning to rise from failures. Join us and come away with a powerful new language, operationalized values, and practical tools that will help you lead in your personal, professional, and volunteer worlds of work.

Bio: Joni D. Goodman, CPTD is the Principal at Joni D. Goodman, LLC. She collaborates with her clients: employees, sales professionals, leaders and executives and together with them boosts learning initiatives, sales, and leadership, to achieve development goals! Joni was selected and trained by Dr. Brene’ Brown as one of the first Dare to LeadTM facilitators in the world. Joni is known for creating safe spaces where leaders can put down their armor and lean into growth. Ms. Goodman has over 20 years of experience in the learning and development space where her experience encompasses effective management development, sales training, mentoring, and executive coaching. She is also a published author in: “The Book of Road Tested Training Activities”, “Association for Talent Developments (ATD)Training Toolkit application”, and “101 Ways to Make Training Active”. Ms. Goodman has been a featured speaker for the HR Houston Gulf Coast Symposium, ATD Houston, ATD San Antonio, Gulf Coast Diversity Council and TEW (Texas Executive Women) to name a few. Joni is the past president of the ATD Houston chapter, an ALC PAC chair, and a past National Advisor for Chapters.

Closing Keynote - Michael Useem

Friday, November 4 ​ ​

What Will Be Essential for Your Leadership and Influence in the Years Ahead?

What capabilities will you need for leading and influencing your associates and organizations during the coming decade? Drawing on the leadership and influence experience of ten chief executives -- including those of Estée Lauder, Johnson & Johnson, Progressive Insurance, an NFL team, and the Continental Army -- Mike Useem identifies what’s still true but also what’s new for leading and influencing colleagues, teams, offices, agencies, and enterprises.​​

​Pre-Order The Edge: How 10 CEOs Learned to Lead​​ via Registration

​