Our Team
Christine Matthews
Christine Matthews is a leading public opinion pollster known for her innovative qualitative research techniques and strategic counsel. In every election cycle since 2014, she has convened a panel of women voters from Labor Day until Election Day to study their decision-making process.
She has conducted political polling at every level and nationally. The research she directed on behalf of Maryland Governor Larry Hogan’s 2018 re-election campaign was highlighted as key to winning women.
Her advocacy and issue work for a wide range of clients, such as the American Heart Association, Everglades Foundation, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and others, focuses on topics such as health, climate change, energy and the environment, women in the workplace, education, and infrastructure. The Bellwether team has conducted focus groups, in-depth interviews, surveys, and online discussions to really dig deep into the American experience in places that are often overlooked.
As one of the expert contributors to the Center for American Women in Politics (CAWP) & Barbara Lee Family Foundation’s GenderWatch2018 project, Christine analyzed gender dynamics in the 2018 election cycle. She is also part of a bi-partisan team that conducts cutting-edge research on how voters perceive women candidates.
Chris has a B.A. from Indiana University and a M.A. from Georgetown University and is a member of the American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR). In 2014, Campaigns & Elections magazine named her as one of their top 50 influencers shaping campaigns and the future of the industry.
Karen McManis
Karen McManis is an experienced strategist and communicator and Riva Institute trained focus group moderator.
Karen helps leaders of local, national, and global organizations gain new insight into the values, beliefs, and perceptions of their key stakeholders.
With more than 20 years of qualitative research experience, Karen is adept at moderating long-term panels and online and in-person focus groups. She specializes in conducting in-depth interviews with community leaders, business owners, key voters and people with lived experience and has conducted hundreds of these interviews in more than 30 states.
Her findings have been used to support brand-building and re-branding campaigns, message development, public relations campaigns, executive speeches and presentations, policy platforms, and grant writing and development.
Karen holds a BA in Journalism, with Honors, from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she was a James M. Johnston Scholar. She earned her MBA, with a concentration in Marketing, from Johns Hopkins University.