Another month of adding dynamic new team members and recognizing the incredible people around our agency with well-deserved promotions. Read on for the updates and be sure to reach out to congratulate everyone on their new positions.
New Addition to the SimpScar Team
Kevin Tyler (he/him/his) joins our team as an Account Director, where he'll work with institutions across the country to use research, trends, and insights to develop smart & beautiful campaigns to meet their strategic goals. Kevin's well known in the higher ed world for his role as host of the Higher Voltage podcast (listen to his most recent interview with Otterbein President John Comerford as they discuss the need to reset the purpose & value of higher education.)
Most recently, Kevin served as the Director of Communications at the UCLA School of Nursing. But he's also worked in politics, corporate communications, as well as state & local government, and wants to use his broad experience to further the mission of education.
He holds a BA in Poetry from the University of Pittsburgh where he learned that exploration is education and that his natural curiosity would serve him well in his career (safe to say that checks out). Kevin's also a certified Olympic lifting coach, is studying to become a Sommelier, and is based in Santa Monica, CA.
Recent Promotions at SimpScar
Deb Gere (she/her/hers) has been promoted to Director of Research. In her expanded role, she'll be providing direct oversight of our survey research team, providing mentorship, support and ensuring we continue providing the high-quality research our clients need to make data-driven decisions and tell their stories. Deb has more than 20 years of higher education marketing research experience, the last 12 with SimpScar. She's a driving force in establishing the reputation we've built for the quality of our research and was particularly instrumental in uncovering the insights that made our research on the impact of COVID on higher education so powerful.
Deb earned her B.A. in Literature and Writing from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, and credits her early interest in art alongside her study of rhetorical theory for instilling a passion for data visualization and reporting.
She's also had some recent personal experience with prospective college students, with one son in college and another who is just beginning his search. She's loved having the opportunity to go beyond the data and see the college search through a parent’s eyes. Outside of work, you'll find her juggling multiple hobbies including photography, paper crafting, and garment sewing. She says the need to create is in her genes thanks to her grandmothers — one who sold Singer sewing machines (she still has a vintage Featherweight to this day) and the other who was a well-known papier mâché artist in Maine in the 60s and 70s.
Hira Siddiqui (she/her/hers) has been promoted to Senior Research Analyst. In her new role, she'll be tasked with additional leadership and mentoring responsibilities for our growing Research & Analytics team. Hira originally came to SimpScar on the Strategy team, so her ability to design survey instruments and marry quantitative and qualitative data with actionable insights is an incredible asset to our agency. We actually had a chance to sit down with Hira and learn more about how her role (and the agency) has evolved over the past five years. You can read that interview here.
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We're incredibly proud to have such talented & genuinely good people working alongside us as we try and advance the industry we care so deeply about. Be sure to reach out and congratulate these individuals on their well-deserved promotions & new roles. And stay posted on our careers page as we look to add several more roles in the coming months.
