Gina Savage

MA, Survey Research, 2016

Research Manager, Insights at Purple Strategies

Gina Savage is from Chicago. She attended the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign for her undergraduate where she received a Bachelor of Science in Advertising and a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish. During her undergraduate years, she held internships and worked as a research assistant for two professors. Through her experiences, she discovered a passion for all things data, strategy and market research.

With a knack for research, she explored graduate programs that would cater to her growing research interests while allowing her to work full-time. With the programs online nature, the flexibility allowed her to complete her coursework when it best fit her schedule. She completed her Master of Arts in Survey Research in 2016.

Since graduating, she has held research and consultancy roles within advertising, design and consulting agencies. Largely focused on quantitative research, she works with clients to create objective-based and strategy-led surveys for clients across a diverse range of categories and industries. Every client and project request brings a new and different challenge, which keeps her constantly motivated.

Some useful advice for potential students would be to get absorbed in the culture and world around you. Public Policy, specifically Survey Research, relies on human instinct, interaction and observation. Being socially aware is just the start towards becoming a great public policy student.

In her free time, Gina enjoys reading non-fiction books, watching House, sipping a hot cup of coffee and spending time with family and friends. She considers herself to be a wannabee interior designer, has a newfound love of Home Depot and loves all things Magnolia and Joanna Gaines.