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Neli Esipova is a sociologist with an extensive experience in multicultural research. Through her career, Esipova has travelled and conducted research in over 60 countries across all continents.
Prior to founding MI, Esipova worked at Gallup Inc. for 20 years. She was a founding member of the Gallup World Poll, where she was instrumental in the creation and execution of World Poll study. As the Lead Research Director at Gallup, Esipova developed qualitative research globally, and implemented over 350 complex quantitative studies. She executed data collection efforts in hard-to-survey places including Chechen Republic, Nagorno-Karabakh region, and Turkmenistan.
In addition, Esipova is a global expert on migration. She directed Global Migration Research Initiative for the Gallup World Poll. She created the concept of “desire-plan-preparation” and developed Gallup Potential Net Migration Index and Migrant Acceptance Index. She co-authored several reports for International Organization for Migration (IOM).
She is an expert in distilling complex concepts into simple and easy to understand questions for people of all cultures and backgrounds. Neli Esipova was a Lead Gallup Researcher on World Bank Global Findex project. She worked closely with the client on the questionnaire development and all qualitative research efforts around the globe. As the Lead Researcher on ILO’s Women at Work project, Esipova led Gallup’s team through all stages of the research process from questionnaire design to data collection and data analysis. She co-authored Towards a Better Future for Women and Work report with the client.
Esipova is an author of more than 20 peer-reviewed research articles and 150 of publications on Gallup.com.
Neli Esipova holds an MBA with an emphasis in Marketing Research & Consulting and MA in Slavic Literature from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and an MS in Chemical Engineering from Lomonosov Institute of Chemical Technology, Moscow, Russia.
Igor Himelfarb is a methodologist and statistician. Throughout his career, Himelfarb designed and conducted numerous quantitative studies, conducted large-scale data analyses, and published results. Himelfarb encompasses academia and industry experiences. Prior to joining Multicultural Insights, he worked at Gallup as the Advanced Design and Analytics and Educational Testing Services as an Associate Psychometrician.
Himelfarb’s specialization is in statistics, research methodology, and applications of behavioral research to business. He is an author to numerous peer-reviewed journal publications and various conference presentations. In the past 10 years, Himelfarb has been teaching statistics and research methodology graduate-level courses.
Himelfarb holds a PhD in Educational Statistics and Research Methodology, and a Master’s degree in Statistics from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Additionally, he holds a Master’s degree in Educational Psychology, and a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the California State University, Northridge.
Frank Laczko is the former Director of the IOM Global Migration Data Analysis Centre in Berlin. Prior to this, he was Head of Research at IOM HQ in Geneva. He was the Co-Chair of the UN Expert Group on International Migration Statistics (2018 – 2022). He has acted as an adviser to several international agencies, including WHO, UNHCR, ILO, and OECD.
His current research focuses on migration from and to China. He has published extensively on a wide range of migration topics and is also an expert on social policy issues related to poverty, labor markets, and aging. He is the co-author of Changing Work and Retirement (1991). He is also the co-author of “Measuring Global Migration: Towards Better Data for All” (Routledge, 2024).
Alex Anokhin is a researcher with an experience in managing qualitative research projects for businesses and non-profit organizations. He advised companies in diverse industries (including diamond trade, peer-to-peer lending, advertising, and education) on developing research-based product, go-to-market, growth, and scaling strategies. Alex Anokhin holds a Ph.D. in History and B.Sc. in International Relations from Tomsk State University.
Gabriela Atanasiu is a senior professional with 21 years experience in marketing research, project management, consulting, data analysis, and recruitment. Prior to joining MI, she managed data collection services for Gallup World Poll in 29 countries. She coordinated inbound and outbound international research projects across all methodologies through external vendors and internal Operations department. In her career, Atanasiu provided decision makers with data insights and best practices while staying focused in order to ensure the international project fieldwork is executed within budget, time and quality standards.
Gabriela Atanasiu holds a Master’s degree in Economics, and a Bachelor’s degree in Marketing from the Academy of Economic Studies, Bucharest, Romania.
Guoliang Fang is a data generalist with extensive expertise in business analytics and reporting. His areas of expertise include result-driven data visualization design and development; efficient structured and non-structured data querying; and expertise with data ETL and manipulation in various scripting languages. Fang brings a solid understanding of financial mathematics and various data APIs.
Guoliang Fang holds an ABD in Applied Mathematics from the Pennsylvania State University, and a Bachelor of Sciences in Applied Mathematics from Beijing Normal University. Additionally, he holds certificates for Big Data Management and Data Visualization and Communication from Duke University.