March 11, 2021

6:00 - 7:30 pm CT

This panel will start with a celebration of our Alumni Making a Difference Award (congratulations to Brooke Gibbs!). Next, panelists will be asked a series of pre-arranged questions. Finally, the Zoom meeting will be opened up to all participants for Q&A. Attendees can put their question in the chat or ask verbally.

Panelists

Brooke Davis Gibbs - co-founder, ARTYFACT

Congratulations to Brooke as the winner of the 2021 Alumni Making a Difference Award!

As a business anthropologist with 15 years of experience working with Fortune 50 companies, Brooke combines her background in social science with an innate curiosity and intuition about people in her work as the co-founder of ARTYFACT (a market research consultancy). Brooke has extensive experience building brand purpose, driving organizational change, and uncovering insight that fuels business growth on both the product and retail side, establishing herself as a sought-after innovation and insights leader. Above all else, Brooke believes brands, organizations, and retailers have a responsibility to positively impact people AND society. Her goal is to help organizations find their voice and identity within their communities, so they can better address the real issues and challenges impacting people. Brooke earned her B.S. in Journalism from Ohio University and her M.S in Anthropology from the University of North Texas.

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Kristen Hanich - senior analyst, Parks Associates

Kristen Hanich is a senior analyst at Parks Associates, a Dallas-based market research firm. She heads up the company's broadband and health coverage, helping key decision makers in businesses worldwide understand market trends and dynamics, changing consumer demands, and the competitive landscape. Kristen specializes in bridging the gap between data-driven and narrative approaches to understanding the consumer markets via a mix of qualitative and quantitative research approaches. In practical terms this includes a mix of survey design, data analysis, executive interviews, focus groups, and reading through secondary data sources.

Kristen has dual master's degrees in applied anthropology and public health from the Universities of North Texas in Denton and Fort Worth. She earned her BSc in health at the University of Texas at San Antonio and has a graduate certificate in Geographic Information Systems.

Outside of work, Kristen is a fan of hiking, kayaking, and road tripping across Texas. She experiments with different types of home brews, craft sodas, and other beverages.

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Kitty Sopow - Social Scientist, Alaska Environmental Science and Services Integration Center

Kitty Sopow is a Social Scientist in the Alaska Environmental Science and Services Integration Center for the National Weather Service in Anchorage, Alaska. Kitty is a cultural anthropologist and uses theories and methods to integrate social, behavioral and/or economic science with the NWS mission and priorities at the regional level. She offers professional advice and assistance to peers and other staff members on the use of social media tools and supplements the community outreach efforts of various regional programs. She is responsible for improving coordination, increasing the quality of social science capabilities at NOAA and improving the effectiveness of NOAA's products, services and risk communication with core partners and the public. She has worked extensively in Alaska prior to and since earning her MS in Applied Anthropology in 2019.

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Cory Wornell - Youth & Reproductive Health Advisor, US Agency for International Development

Cory Wornell (she/her) is the Youth & Reproductive Health Advisor for the US Agency for International Development (USAID, the largest donor for development work); she was the test pilot for UNT's dual masters' program in Applied Anthropology and Public Health earning a MS and MPH in 2008. In her current role, Cory champions youth interests in all Sexual & Reproductive Health (SRH) interventions through providing guidance on technical approaches and teaching Positive Youth Development. Cory works closely with gender advisors and the social norms team while providing support to the 35 family planning priority countries; currently, she works most closely with Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Guinea, Bangladesh, and India.

Cory holds a BA in Human Services (social work) and psychology, has held mental health positions (she is the former Director for Training and Evaluation in a mental health integration project), and has played multiple SRH roles (community educator, researcher, trainer, STI tester, patient advocate, technical advisor). She was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Jamaica for three years teaching HIV education with a voluntary youth group while learning the importance of cultural context and relevance for health messages to be truly heard. These lessons are what brought Cory to the UNT Anthropology Dept.

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Nicole Matheny Huddleston - Senior Qualitative Research Consultant, Elite Research

Nicole Matheny Huddleston earned an MA in Applied Anthropology from UNT in 2007, with an emphasis in medical anthropology. Her practicum involved understanding Latino/a approaches to traditional and biomedical healing for a local county health department in order to help them better meet the health needs of this population. Nicole is a senior qualitative research consultant for Elite Research, where she assists nonprofit, health, academic, and corporate clients with designing and implementing research and evaluation projects. She also works as a research consultant for Texas Woman's University, assisting graduate students and faculty members in the design and analysis of qualitative and mixed methods studies, grant writing, and manuscript writing.

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Gigi Taylor - Qualitative UX Researcher, Indeed

Gigi Taylor is a business anthropologist working as qualitative UX Researcher at Indeed in Austin Texas. Gigi embraces the idea that consumer and user experience insights informed by cultural anthropology can serve as the muse and inspiration for all aspects of product and brand strategy. Prior to joining Indeed, Gigi owned her own research firm and was a partner at Practica, a consumer consultancy. Previously, Gigi was an Assistant Professor of Advertising at Texas State University. Her published academic research has appeared in both advertising and anthropological journals. Gigi holds PhD and MA in Advertising from the University of Texas and an MA in Applied Anthropology from University of North Texas.