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 than 6,000 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 an MEd and a BS 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 is a frequent contributor to Quirk’s Market Research Journal on issues related to qualitative research as well as, written for, “Reflections,” for the American Marketing Association Journal of Marketing 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.
She is a member of the Qualitative Research Consultants Association (QRCA) as well as the chair for the MD/DC Chapter.
Naomi enjoys reading fiction, writing poetry, and creating crafts such as making jewelry & greeting cards.