Our Staff

Karla Raines

Principal and CEO

Karla has her dream job. She advises Corona’s customers on organizational strategy and gets to do the same at Corona where she serves as the firm’s CEO. She balances her days between guiding customers and stepping back to take a look at the "big picture" to ensure the firm's on track with its strategic direction.

Karla is sought after for both her strategic leadership and her ability to create custom solutions and identify untapped potential. She engages customers through original insights backed up by research. But that’s just the beginning. “Ah ha!” moments drive commitment to change, which ultimately lead to long-term viability.

People are often surprised to learn that Karla is an industrial engineer by trade (BS, Iowa State University). Her MBA (University of Texas) shines through. Karla stays abreast of the latest thinking in the field and designs custom frameworks, developed specifically for nonprofits facing strategy and business model challenges.

Kevin Raines

Principal

Kevin was the guy who turned the lights on at Corona. After a five-year career as an aircraft designer understanding physics, and another six years as an economic researcher understanding dollars, he decided to pursue the hardest thing of all to understand: people. He founded Corona in 1999, and the lights have been on ever since.

Kevin earned his bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering from the Missouri University of Science and Technology and holds a Master of Public Affairs degree (emphasis in demographics) from the University of Texas at Austin.

Leo Lewis

Principal

A bachelor's degree in finance and an MBA led Leo to find his true calling as a researcher. He gained his first project-based market research experience during his MBA studies. After graduation, and following a stint in commercial banking in New York City, Leo returned to his native Denver area and continued his personal research and writing activities relating to natural and holistic health. This led to a natural transition in joining Corona Insights in 2002 when Leo joined colleagues in market research project management, design, implementation, analysis and reporting activities for a variety of clients.

Leo earned his BBA in Finance from Texas Tech University and an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin (McCombs School of Business).

David Kennedy

Research Manager

When David boosted his undergraduate degree in business with an emphasis in marketing, he knew market research was the direction he wanted to go. He started work on his master's degree about the same time he came to call Corona home. David needs plenty of hooks on which to hang the many hats he wears. Ranging from managing research projects to providing marketing insights, he takes full advantage of the professional opportunities that his work at Corona offers.

David earned his BS in Business Administration (marketing emphasis) from the University of Missouri and a certificate in market research from the University of Georgia.

Matt Herndon

Research Manager

Matt is one of those guys who is perfectly content spending most of his day crunching numbers in spreadsheets and stats programs. As one of Corona’s data geeks, Matt regularly works with Corona’s customers to uncover those little nuggets of insights inside the numbers that might not be obvious.

Matt holds a Master of Business Administration degree and a Bachelor of Science in Business (emphasis in marketing) degree, both from Emporia State University.

Beth Mulligan

Research Manager

Beth has long been focused on her interests in psychology, and in particular understanding people’s thinking and decision making. So it only makes sense that she chose a career of helping companies and organizations to understand the psychology of their customers and service recipients and work on ways to better meet their needs. And it doesn’t hurt that she’s very scientifically-and mathematically-oriented and loves to gather and analyze data to answer clients’ questions.

Beth has a Ph.D. and M.A. in cognitive psychology from the University of Colorado at Boulder, and a B.A. in psychology from Macalester College in St. Paul, MN. She also earned graduate certificates from CU in science and technology policy and cognitive science. Her research is published in the Journal of Behavioral Decision Making; Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition; and Memory & Cognition.

Holly Russo

Senior Analyst

In a nutshell, what Holly enjoys most about her job is talking with people and translating their opinions into actionable insights for Corona's customers. In fact, she’s pretty happy throughout the entire research process as it involves a lot of thinking and writing, two of Holly’s favorite ways to spend a day. Her background in small business operations and customer service management offered the perfect platform for jumping into qualitative research which gives her the opportunity to listen for, and think about, what’s really at the heart of the issue for the customers and stakeholders who our clients want and need to understand in order to be successful.

Holly earned her MBA as well as her BS in Marine Biology from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. If you ever need a focus group conducted with sharks, there simply could not be a more ideal candidate.

Todd Stoltenberg

Analyst

An assortment of undergraduate courses in marketing and consumer behavior initially sparked Todd’s interest in market research. After getting his degree, Todd started out in the industry by working as a research associate and mystery shopping manager for a small research firm in his home state of Nebraska. Now, he enjoys his work at Corona in large part to the in-depth analysis he gets to conduct for a wide variety of organizations.

Todd earned his BS in Sport Management (emphasis in Business) and minors in both Marketing and Health & Human Performance from Nebraska Wesleyan University.

Meredith Badler

Project Coordinator

Graduating with a liberal arts background, a strong work ethic and a new home in Denver, Meredith had numerous paths to explore. Her early career included administrative, editorial and sales responsibilities. The various skills she acquired along the way and her growing interest in the nonprofit sector led her to Corona. Meredith appreciates the breadth and depth of Corona’s work and their diverse client base. She enjoys serving customers every day and helping them make a bigger impact in our community.

Meredith graduated cum laude with a BA from Smith College. She had a double-major in Comparative Literature (not English!) and French Studies. She also spent a year studying with the Université de Paris IV – La Sorbonne.

Jennifer Kirn

Office Manager

After several years in business administration and operational management Jenn joined Corona. From leading national autism franchises in human resource and operational development, to managing real estate teams, she has played significant roles in several industries. Her broad operational background has provided her with the knowledge and expertise to lead the firm in human resources, accounting and administrative management.

Jenn obtained her bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with an emphasis in Marketing from the University of South Carolina.