Morris R. Davis Founder and President

Morris Davis, Founder and President of M. Davis and Company, Inc. (MDAC), has more than 40 years of experience in market research, strategic planning, and decision sciences. He has successfully applied his expertise in public and private sector organizations, and not-for profits, seeking to increase profits, improve service delivery, and effectively and efficiently utilize resources to improve business outcomes. Prior to founding MDAC, Mr. Davis was Vice President of Marketing Services, and a partner at the Wellington Group, Inc., then the largest minority owned market research company in the country. He was responsible for strategic planning, development of new accounts, supervising and conducting secondary research, supervising field research staff, and conducting analyses of market research data.

Mr. Davis is a graduate of The Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania.

Kim Dorazio, Ph.D. – Vice President

Dr. Kim Dorazio brings over twenty years of experience in both the private and public sector managing research projects and also converting large volumes of data into decision-making intelligence. Over the course of her career, the results of her work have been used to shape policy and examine the effectiveness of existing policies. A certified Project Manager Professional (PMP), she oversees all aspects of data collection, and utilizes advanced scientific techniques in quantitative and/or qualitative methodologies to plan, design, and manage research projects. She also uses these skills in managing overall operations at MDAC, building and overseeing the team and setting the company’s strategic direction. She is proactive in identifying specific issues and creates strategies to handle them efficiently and engages others on the team in continual reviews of lessons learned and evaluation of best practices.

A former Fulbright scholar, Dr. Dorazio earned her BA from La Salle University, her MA from the University of London and has her doctorate in Business Administration from Drexel University.

Karen Williamson, MBA – Senior Consultant, Healthcare Research

Karen Williamson brings three decades of marketing, communications and program management experience in the health care and government services sectors. For 17 years, she worked at AmeriChoice Health Services, Inc., an innovative Medicaid managed health care company where she held marketing and strategic planning positions at the corporate and local plan level. (AmeriChoice was acquired by UnitedHealthcare in 2002 and became its platform for serving vulnerable public sector communities.) Her marketing and communications expertise was applied to a range of audiences — from state regulators, providers, community leaders to Medicaid beneficiaries. She also spearheaded the entry of AmeriChoice into Medicare managed care. She has served on the boards of MedStar Health Research Institute and the Green Door, a program for people with persistent mental illness. Ms. Williamson has an AB in economics from Wellesley College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, and an MBA in marketing from the University of Chicago in Chicago, Illinois

Donald Kahl, ESQ – Senior Consultant, Housing Research

Donald Kahl brings more than three decades of senior management experience in the legal, business, and non-profit arenas that has included the management and coordination of hundreds of professional and non-professional staff, subject matter experts, outside contractors, and volunteers. Working with MDAC in a variety of capacities, Kahl has been responsible for the design and conduct of complex housing and fair housing projects that have included fact and data gathering using multiple modes. Mr. Kahl has served as the Executive Director of a national non-profit organization based in Washington, D.C. where he was responsible for the planning and management of a wide variety of initiatives promoting equal opportunity in housing, education, employment, and access to public accommodations and government services. Previously, he was also Senior Counsel for the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights & Urban Affairs, he designed the first nation-wide “pattern and practice” lawsuit by a fair housing organization, to bring multifamily housing developers into compliance with the accessibility requirements of the Fair Housing Act. In addition, he was a partner in a large law firm for over 20 years, leading a practice group of attorneys and legal staff.

Mr. Kahl received both his BA in Psychology and his JD degree from the University of Nebraska.

Paul J. Lavrakas, Ph.D. – Senior Consultant, Advanced Survey Methodology

Dr. Paul Lavrakas is a research psychologist, and currently is serving as a methodological research consultant for several universities, companies, and government agencies. He was a tenured Professor of Journalism and Communication Studies at Northwestern University (1978-1996) and Ohio State University (1996-2000), and was the founding faculty director of the Northwestern University Survey Lab (1982-1996) and the OSU Center for Survey Research (1996-2000). From 2000-2007 he was Vice President and chief methodologist for Nielsen Media Research. Dr. Lavrakas is the co-editor for Advances in Telephone Survey Methodology (Wiley, 2008) and editor of the Encyclopedia of Survey Research Methods (Sage, 2008). He also is the sole/lead author of several books, chapters, and AAPOR Task Force reports on telephone survey methods. He co-authored the book, Applied Qualitative Research, with M. Roller (Guilford, 2015). He served the American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR) as its President in 2012-2013. Dr. Lavrakas was the co-recipient of the AAPOR 2003 Innovator’s Award for his work on the standardization of survey response rate calculations.

Thomas Sexton, Ph.D. – Senior Consultant, Advanced Statistics

Dr. Thomas Sexton is a Senior Statistician and Consultant at M. Davis & Company, Inc., as well as a professor in the College of Business at Stony Brook University. He has over 30 years of experience with research design and also the application of statistics and mathematical modeling to public and private sector initiatives. His expertise has been invaluable for MDAC projects for NHTSA, the VA, CMS, HUD, SEPTA, various NYC agencies, and several other entities. He teaches or has taught graduate level courses in data analysis, modeling, decision support systems, health care management, operations research, probability and statistics.

Dr. Sexton received a B.S. in Mathematics and Physics from St. John’s University, a M.A. in Mathematics from Hofstra University, and both a M.S. and Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics and Statistics from Stony Brook University.

Wayne Wormley, Ph.D. – Senior Consultant, Education and Training Research

Dr. Wormley has played a variety of roles at MDAC over the past twenty years – focus group moderator, internal training and development consultant, internal strategic planning consultant, and subject matter expert (SME) in Diversity and Inclusion. He currently is the Senior Practice Leader and SME for Education, Management & Training and the Compliance Officer across all research operations. In addition, he plays a role in marketing and business development, helping to identify potential business opportunities at the local, state and federal levels. And he leads MDAC’s efforts to identify new contract opportunities in education, training, workforce development, process improvement and management practice. Dr. Wormley has conducted, analyzed, and presented findings of focus groups, employee satisfaction surveys and culture audits; designed and delivered educational, professional development and training sessions to employees; and helped managers and senior leaders develop effective strategies to improve overall organizational productivity, efficiency and profitability.

He received his undergraduate degree in Psychology and Black Studies (double major) from Amherst College and graduate degrees from Stanford University in business (MBA) and education (MA and Ph.D.).

Inspector Richard Miller – Senior Consultant, Transportation Research

Inspector Richard Miller is a retired law enforcement professional with extensive experience in traffic safety research. During his 27 year career with the Michigan Department of State Police, Mr. Miller directed several traffic safety initiatives involving speed, impaired driving and seat belts for the Department and served in the field as Post Commander at both small and large state police posts. In his final position as an Assistant District Commander he directed the activities of over 250 field staff. He was then selected as Chief of Police for a department in southeast Michigan followed by another career as traffic safety spokesman for AAA Michigan.

With MDAC, Mr. Miller has served as Principal Investigator on two NHTSA automated speed enforcement projects and Project Manager on a NHTSA nighttime seatbelt enforcement project directed at identifying the characteristics of unbelted drivers in the hours of darkness. Mr. Miller co-instructs the National Highway Institute course: Road Safety Audits/Assessments (NHI380069). He is one of a handful of law enforcement traffic safety experts selected by NHTSA to serve on their State Occupant Protection Program Assessment panels. Mr. Miller has a B.S. in Criminal Justice from Michigan State University.

Alan Karr, Ph.D. – Senior Statistician

Dr. Alan Karr joins the MDAC team as a senior statistician. Dr. Karr is Principal of AFK Analytics, LLC; Professor of Research and Managing Director of the Data Science Institute at Temple University; Senior Research Data Scientist at the Fraunhofer USA Center Mid-Atlantic; and Director Emeritus of the National Institute of Statistical Sciences (NISS). Previously, he was Director of the Center of Excellence for Complex Data Analysis (CoDA) at RTI International; Director of NISS, Professor of Statistics & Operations Research and Biostatistics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; and a founding Associate Director of the Statistical and Applied Mathematical Sciences Institute. Prior to moving to North Carolina in 1992, he was a tenured faculty member, chair of the Department of Mathematical Sciences, and Associate Dean of the School of Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.

He holds one patent, and is the author of three books and more than 160 scientific papers, the majority of which have co-authors from disciplines other than statistics. Karr is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Statistical Association and the Institute of Mathematical Statistics, as well as an elected member of the International Statistical Institute and the Johns Hopkins Society of Scholars. He is a founding editor of the Journal of Privacy and Confidentiality, a co-founder of the International Total Survey Error Workshops, and has served on numerous study panels convened by the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine. He received a Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics from Northwestern University.

Stephen Poulin, Ph.D. – Senior Consultant, Advanced Statistics and Data Analytics

Dr. Stephen Poulin brings 30 years of IBM SPSS software and analytics experience to the MDAC Team, and has been involved in data preparation and analytics for over 250 organizations. He also worked for 10 years as a researcher for the Center for Mental Health Policy and Services Research, University of Pennsylvania. His data analytics experience includes predictive modeling, which ranks the predictors of target outcomes and can be used to predict future outcomes. He has also been involved in developing cluster models to identify groups with similar preferences or behaviors, and analyzed text data identify sentiments or topics, which can, in turn, be used for predictive and cluster modeling.

Dr. Poulin received his Bachelors and Masters degrees from Virginia Commonwealth University, and his Doctorate degree from Columbia University School of Social Work with a concentration in Social Policy, Planning, and Policy Analysis.

William G. Swenson, Ph.D. – Subject Matter Expert, Disability and Emergency Preparedness Research

Dr. William Swenson has directed or managed national, State, and local level projects under grants from the Administration on Developmental Disabilities of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Homeland Security, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the State of Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, and other departments serving people who are aging or have disabilities. He has developed and deployed evaluation, training and technical assistance programs, and planning materials for national and state agencies. He has directed and managed national and state level projects, surveying people with disabilities and other vulnerable populations, and conducting other research and planning projects.

Romell Cooks – Subject Matter Expert, Transportation Research

Romell Cooks is a proven leader with 20 years of management and organizational experience, managing, planning and implementing transportation safety programs in the public and private sectors. She is an expert in the areas of state and community occupant protection programs, occupant protection enforcement programs and outreach to stakeholders.

Her work with MDAC involves subject matter expertise on projects related to transportation, housing, and advocacy for older adults, and she has more than 20 years of experience directing government agency and civic leaders in the planning, development and initiation of programs in these same sectors. Mrs. Cooks also has substantial experience in utilizing financial and statistical data to document program performance and manage issues and risks impacting program performance and has been an invaluable resource to MDAC with regard to its Program Evaluation service offering.

Kris Laubscher – Administrative Assistant and Bookkeeper

Kris Laubscher joins us as an Administrative Assistant and Bookkeeper. Her background includes experience as an administrative assistant, paralegal and home-based customer service agent. In her spare time, she enjoys Penn State football, creative writing and home improvement projects. Kris got her B.S. in Psychology from Pennsylvania State University.

Daniel Goscicki – CATI/Web/IVR Programmer; Database Administrator

MDAC leverages Mr. Goscicki’s working knowledge of HTML, CSS, and SQL as well as 5+ years of experience with Voxco survey software to bring each client a customized data collection and reporting solution.  He runs and updates reporting, aggregating and manipulating large data sets, and performs Quality Control. He is also involved in proposal writing and project coordination.  Daniel has a breadth of experience spanning multiple industries and positions, and we take full advantage of his varied and robust skill set.

Christina Engelken – Research Assistant

Christina Engelken is trained in applied research, bringing over five years of experience in survey design and administration; IRB submission; complex data analysis; data visualization; and report writing. Christina obtained her Master of Arts Degree in Clinical Psychology from Sam Houston University. Currently, she is in the midst of completing her PhD in Applied Psychology at Southern Illinois University.While still in her early career, Christina has already excelled in utilizing best practices to provide research consulting services for multiple government organizations, including the Illinois Department of Transportation, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Ryan Nation – Research Assistant

Ryan Nation is a PhD candidate in Applied Psychology at Southern Illinois University. His academic training has brought him expertise in survey design, quantitative and qualitative research methods, complex data analysis, and effective report writing. His professional experience has provided him with extensive qualitative experience, conducting work both as a licensed therapist and as a qualitative researcher.

He earned his B.A. at St. Bonaventure University in 2017, his M.S. from the University of Southern Mississippi in 2020, and his M.A. from Southern Illinois University in 2023, while currently pursuing his Ph.D.

Alyssa Kopecki – Research Assistant

Alyssa Kopecki brings over five years of experience in academic research to MDAC. Alyssa obtained her Master of Arts degree in Psychological Research from Texas State University, where she was trained in quantitative research methods. Alyssa has previously worked on projects in the higher education field, including supporting a five-year grant project funded by the Department of Education. Her other professional experience includes teaching courses in research methods and statistics to undergraduate psychology students at multiple universities.

Aaron Horenstein – Research Assistant

Aaron Horenstein brings over five years of experience conducting research and using data to inform decision-making within the public and private sectors. Trained in social science research methods, he has significant experience analyzing data, designing surveys, and communicating research findings to a variety of audiences. As a Researcher with M. Davis and Company, Aaron helps plan and execute surveys and evaluations, analyze statistical data, and develop insightful communications to support clients during their decision-making process. Aaron received an M.A. in Quantitative Methods in the Social Sciences from Columbia University, and a B.S. in Conservation and Resource Studies from the University of California at Berkley.

Victoria Osten, Ph.D. – Research Assistant

Dr. Victoria Osten brings over five years of experience gathering and analyzing data using advanced qualitative and quantitative methods for gaining insights and support research projects at leading public and private institutions. She is a social science researcher with hands-on experience in all aspects of research projects from design to publications. Dr. Osten uses STATA, SPSS, R and nVivo to translate complex data into clear and understandable stories for non-technical stakeholders and scholarly publications. She obtained her doctoral degree in sociology from University of Ottawa in 2019 and her Master of Arts Degree in Sociology and Equity Studies in Education is from University of Toronto.

Our Professional Call Center Staff

The leadership of M. Davis and Company, Inc. attribute the success of our call center in Center City Philadelphia to a dedicated group of professional supervisors and interviewers.  In this regard, we are proud to recognize an exceptional group of individuals who have five or more years tenure with the company:  Debra Taylor (Lead Supervisor) and Trina Boyd.