Naomi R. Henderson, Founder and CEO
Naomi Henderson opened RIVA in 1981 and is its CEO, directing policy and procedures for two divisions: Research and Training. She is co-founder of the RIVA Training Institute, where she serves as a Master Trainer writing curriculum for public and custom courses and fulfilling her dream to leave the industry in better shape than when she entered, by training researchers in the art and science of rigorous qualitative research techniques. Naomi has been a researcher since 1964, and has led more that 5,500 focus groups and interviewed more than 60,000 people in groups or individually and is a nationally recognized Master Moderator. She is most responsible for the well earned phrase sought after by moderators and potential clients alike: "RIVA Trained Moderator".
Naomi holds a M. Ed. and a B.S. in Education and Psychology from American University. She is a licensed practitioner of NeuroLinguistic Programming [NLP] - a tool that accelerates the collection of behavioral data. As well, she is a certified Master Coach and has earned certificates of completion from Synectics, and the Creative Problem Solving Institute. She is a guest lecturer at George Washington University, Georgetown University and Hood College.
She writes a quarterly column, "Reflections," for the American Marketing Association Journal of Marketing Research. She is also a frequent contributor to Quirk's Market Research Journal on issues related to qualitative research. She has been quoted in American Demographics, Forbes and the New York Times. Appearances on TV include CBS Evening News, PBS Health Week, and NBC Dateline.
Jo Ann Hairston, Vice President - Strategic Planning
As a RIVA Vice President, Jo Ann's job at RIVA is diverse. She works in both the Research and the Training division, shifting hats with ease. As a researcher she is - assigned to focus group projects that range from medical issues to health and beauty aids and from politics to new products. After leading more than 3,200 groups, and earning the title Master Moderator, Jo Ann helps clients access POBAs [Perceptions, Opinions, Beliefs and Attitudes] from respondents that range from homemakers to the homeless and from ages 7 to 97.
As a Co-Founder of the RIVA Training Institute she serves as a Master Trainer and developer of the framework and curriculum for both standard courses and custom courses designed to meet the needs of clients in a variety of industries. She is a credentialed Master Coach for Qualitative Researchers, as well as, individuals transitioning from one career to another.
Veronica Gilbert, Controller
Veronica is the Controller & Office Manager at RIVA. She has over 20 years of experience working in private industry in both general accounting, Certified Public Accounting and administrative/management capacities. Veronica is responsible for all financial issues at RIVA including project costing review and participation in costing for custom courses. Additionally she oversees all human resources functions and participates in the day to day management of the company. She holds a B.S. in Business Administration & Accounting from Hood College.
Amber Tedesco, Director of Research and Training/VP of Operations
Amber is Vice President of Operations as well as the Director of Training and Research. Amber is the first point of contact for research clients and companies seeking information to help craft custom courses to meet internal needs. She is responsible for the strategy, planning and management of all research projects from proposal through the final report. That means being deeply involved with clients from first request to research methodology and scheduling and logistics and steering them through the planning process so their objectives can be achieved.
In her role as the Director of Training, she works with clients to create custom courses for their staff members. She also manages the multiple open courses held at RIVA headquarters in Rockville, MD. Amber is a RIVA trained Moderator, Coach and a Research Analyst, giving her the ability to participate as a researcher on projects; write reports; and shepherd projects thought the RIVA 12-Step research process.
In addition to her 12 years of experience at RIVA, her completion of the following RIVA courses is the platform for the standard of excellence she offers RIVA's clients:
Fundamentals of Moderating
The Art & Science of Qualitative Analysis and Report Writing
Qualitative Toolbox
She holds a B.S. in Family Science from the University of Maryland
Monique Kittka Donlon, Training Manager and Recruiter
As Training Manager, Monique is responsible for the enrollment process for RIVA students for the thirteen standard courses/workshops offered in the Institute. Her enthusiasm, organization, and commitment to RIVA's students makes the enrollment process as individually attentive as the experiential training that make RIVA training courses unique.
By taking the fundamentals of moderating course herself, and becoming a trained moderator, she not only speaks about the course as an opportunity for those calling for information, but from insight based on her experience as a student of the RIVA Method. In addition to her work as the Training Manager, Monique also oversees the recruitment of respondents for the experiential portion of the RIVA workshops where students practice on recruited respondents as part of their training, allowing Monique to put her RIVA training to work as an interviewer.
Monique joined the RIVA family in 2006. She quickly took on the duties which led to her current position of Training Manager, completely responsible for every phase of the enrollment process from initial call to delivery of final certificates.
She is a graduate of the Honors Program at Hood College with a B.A. in both French and English. At Hood, she was President of the French House, an active member of the National French Honors Society (Pi Delta Phi), studied abroad for a semester in Strasbourg, France. As well, she participated in the "Opportunity Rocks" program, sponsored by John Edwards, to help rebuild a portion of hurricane-devastated New Orleans.
Romaine Bailey, Vice President - Government Operations
As a part of the senior management team at RIVA primarily responsible for those projects and programs funded by the Federal Government, she brings a wealth of management experience from more than 20 years of work in Corporate America, not only in the private sector but through her work with Associations. She holds various degrees and certificates in business; and over 12 years specialized training in transformational, cutting edge technologies in personal development.
Her background includes senior corporate level experience in finance and administration, notably producing consistent positive results in staff development as well as day to day operations in these areas. Romaine has also worked for and consulted with various corporate clients, including law firms; non profits, building development companies, and senior level recruiting companies.
Prior to her experience at RIVA, Romaine led seminars for hundreds of people in group settings, as well as individuals in accessing areas of possibility within themselves, she brings a deep sense of integrity to her work and supports staff and clients alike in mastering win/win principles.
She teams with RIVA trainers to coach students enrolled in public and custom classes.