Meet the team
We’re your partners, guiding your higher ed leadership team to research-led transformation. As higher ed experts we have more than 35 years of experience in all areas across campus, including admissions, student affairs, DEI, marketing, alumni affairs, housing, instruction, and research.
We infuse our higher ed expertise with experience gained outside of the industry in areas like customer experience, marketing, publishing, community development, wellness, and market research. Since 2017 we’ve worked with over 100 higher education organizations to center audience insights in their strategy and build capacity for organizational transformation and innovation.
All of the team members who’ll support you have extensive on-campus experience and proven competency in social listening and strategy. Your dedicated team will work with you to make sense of the data, tailor it for the appropriate campus and other stakeholders, and build in actionable guidance to meet your goals.
Liz Gross (she/her)
Founder and CEO
Dr. Gross pioneered the use of social listening research in higher education. With over 20 years of experience at the intersection of social media, education policy, leadership, and marketing, she’s shaped the higher education digital landscape since Facebook’s launch. She founded Campus Sonar in 2017 to empower higher ed leaders with knowledge and insights gained from vast social media and online data.
Liz is higher education’s most trusted voice in social intelligence, and an award-winning speaker, author, and strategist. Earning regular media coverage in Inside Higher Ed and the Chronicle of Higher Education, Liz was named to GreenBook’s 2019 GRIT Future List. She’s spoken at SXSW EDU, SXSW Interactive, and 100+ higher education events, and authored two indispensable guides for higher ed: The Higher Ed Social Listening Handbook and Fundamentals of Social Media Strategy: A Guide for College Campuses. Association leaders, college presidents, and boards look to her for counsel when integrating social intelligence into strategic planning.
Liz’s higher education experience spans the private and public sector (including the University of Wisconsin campuses in Milwaukee and Waukesha). She received a Ph.D. in Leadership for the Advancement of Learning and Service in Higher Education at Cardinal Stritch University, a master’s degree in educational policy and leadership from Marquette University, and a bachelor’s degree in interpersonal communication from the University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point.
Amber Sandall (she/her)
Principal + Vice President Client Strategy Operations
With over a decade of experience in shaping strategy and generating insights, Amber guides client strategy development, informing institutional planning, marketing, communications, programs, experience, and operations, by applying market, brand, competitor, and audience research findings to achieve goals. Her expertise as a business leader, marketing and brand practitioner, and researcher offers a multi-faceted perspective to developing and applying strategic insights. Amber was recognized as an industry pioneer on the inaugural Social Intelligence Insider 50 list and has trained over a dozen social intelligence researchers and strategists.
At Campus Sonar, she partners with clients to advance strategies such as driving institutional growth based on brand equity assessments, expanding program offerings using competitive and audience research, increasing marketing effectiveness (including personas, positioning, and brand) through market research, and enhancing communications to build awareness, change minds, and encourage action by applying findings about audience behaviors, attitudes, and trends.
Amber holds a Masters of Business Administration (with certificates in Consulting and Entrepreneurship) and a Bachelors of Arts with dual degrees in Communications Science & Rhetorical Studies and Spanish Language from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. She also has a certificate in Mixed Methods Research from the University of Michigan.
Michelle Mulder (she/her)
Marketing Manager
Michelle is a seasoned marketing expert who leads brand awareness, inbound lead generation, and nurturing strategies. She creates and manages content that guides leads through the customer journey to drive growth and engagement.
At Campus Sonar, Michelle brings a strategic, data-driven approach to amplify the reach and impact of the team’s insights. She collaborates closely with Strategists to turn complex research into compelling, actionable insights tailored for the higher education industry.
With nearly 20 years of experience in higher ed and 12 in educational publishing, Michelle brings a wide breadth of experience to the role. She’s built a thoughtful, connected marketing strategy that focuses on clear communication, smooth workflows, and leading with empathy.
Agassy Rodriguez (he/him)
Social Intelligence & Insights Manager
Agassy Rodriguez is an expert in social intelligence, public relations, brand health, and higher education strategy. He leads a team of analysts who help higher ed organizations use social listening to better understand their audiences, measure brand health, and make data-informed decisions. His work covers various institution types, including small to large campuses and higher education associations, with experience in analyzing prospective student conversations, crises, faculty research, and competitor comparisons to inform institutional strategy.
Agassy designs and leads custom research initiatives focused on enrollment, strategic planning, executive communications, and competitive benchmarking, and oversees projects including annual industry trend analyses and broader higher ed topics. He brings nearly a decade of experience in higher education to his work, with a background in student affairs and leadership development. Before joining Campus Sonar, Agassy designed and led assessment efforts to understand and improve student experiences, including publishing research on the experiences of first-year students at a large, public university.
Agassy holds master’s degrees in Communication, Technology, and Society (Clemson University) and College Student Personnel (Bowling Green State University), along with a bachelor’s degree in Public Relations (University of Florida). He is passionate about equipping campus leaders with the insights they need to tell their story, strengthen their impact, and create meaningful change on their campuses and across the higher ed industry.
Kelsey Stockton (she/her)
Senior Strategist
Kelsey is driven by opportunities to bring a campus’s mission, vision, and values to life. She thrives on partnering with clients to shape compelling stories and translate insights to action. Kelsey is an expert in student affairs, partnerships, relationship management, change strategies, and marketing and communications. She partners with institutions to facilitate brand development and measurement, reputation growth, and team skill-building to drive effectiveness and impact. At Campus Sonar, Kelsey works with large and small campuses, as well as higher ed adjacent organizations, contributing strategic expertise alongside industry research on topics such as audience engagement, recruitment and growth, and audience behavior and interests.
In her nearly 12 years on campus, Kelsey specialized in student life and experience. Kelsey holds a Master of Arts in College Personnel from Bowling Green State University, a leadership certificate from Marquette University’s Graduate School of Management, and a Bachelor of Arts in English and Classical Languages from Marquette University. In her career, Kelsey has worked with both public and private institutions on diverse projects and initiatives, including supporting clients with research content and insights.
Keagan Miller (she/her)
Strategist
Keagan thrives on aligning social intelligence with executive priorities and supporting campus teams in integrating data and insights into new and existing workstreams. She’s an expert in social intelligence, communication strategies, marketing and communication research, digital storytelling, and social media strategy and analytics. Her passion for combining data and insights with brand development and evaluation empowers clients to drive forward strategic, data-driven decisions.
At Campus Sonar, Keagan partners with a range of institutions, from large public to small, highly selective private, to apply research and strengthen understanding of the dynamic higher education landscape, evaluate recruitment and retention strategies to support market expansion, and develop marketing and communications plans in alignment with institutional and departmental objectives.
With more than 10 years of experience in higher education, Keagan has supported campus leaders and departments from admissions to alumni relations. Keagan holds a Master of Arts in Corporate and Organizational Communication and Bachelor of Arts in Applied Communication Studies with a minor in Business Administration, from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. She lives in the St. Louis area with her family and enjoys volunteering with local community organizations committed to supporting youth and families.
José Medrano López (he/him)
Social Intelligence & Insights Consultant
José brings over a decade of experience in the education space, from the K–12 world as a teacher and public policy researcher to the higher ed space as a researcher. He is an expert in social listening as a research method in addition to traditional research approaches, including focus groups, interviews, and survey instruments. José combines quantitative and qualitative methods to provide clients with clear insights.
As an experienced analyst, José supports clients by drawing actionable insights from unstructured datasets to support clients’ marketing and communications goals. He works with a variety of clients from small private colleges to large Division I universities to higher ed related organizations like foundations, associations, and research institutes. He supports these clients by conducting market and competitor research, brand equity assessments, targeted analyses categorized by patterns or topics, alumni engagement analysis, and segmented audience research to inform strategic planning and programming.
Prior to Campus Sonar, he served as a Senior Research Associate at NORC at the University of Chicago. José holds a Master of Arts in Urban Education degree from Cardinal Stritch University and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science with minors in Spanish and Latino Studies from Indiana University Bloomington.
Erika McDowell (she/her)
Social Intelligence & Insights Consultant
Grounded in using data to empower clients, Erika enjoys helping them recognize their impact, elevate their message, and strengthen campus connections. Her expertise in social listening, social media management, online community engagement, email marketing and digital ad strategies, and content planning sharpens her ability to identify and contextualize the online conversations that matter most to campus leaders.
Erika leverages quantitative and qualitative research to directly answer client questions and support insights-to-strategy implementation for a range of institutions—from medium private and large public R1 campuses to philanthropic organizations. She conducts broad and focused analyses (examining and interpreting data based on identified themes and segments), often uncovering the perceptions and narratives that shape prospective student behavior, non-degree and transfer learner pathways, and institutional reputation. Erika delivers audience research and social intelligence that measures and informs brand health, tracks reputation, and supports understanding enrollment audiences.
Prior to joining Campus Sonar, she has over a decade of digital marketing experience spanning nonprofits, alumni relations, and higher ed advancement. Erika holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Management from Oregon State University, with a focus on, and direct experience with, small and family businesses.
Hannah Lopez-Lynch (she/her)
Social Intelligence & Insights Analyst
Hannah is an expert in traditional qualitative research methodologies. At Campus Sonar, she helps clients uncover meaningful insights from online conversations, using data to inform strategy, elevate brand narratives, and understand how communities engage across digital spaces. She’s passionate about transforming unstructured data into actionable insights that support client goals. Hannah’s professional background spans roles in both higher education and applied research. Prior to joining Campus Sonar she led career development initiatives at a small, liberal arts institution. Her research roles focused on community-based research across a variety of topics, using participatory design and evaluation methods to center stakeholder voices.
Hannah holds a Master of Arts in Applied Anthropology with a Graduate Certificate in Public Interest Design from Portland State University, where she also earned her Bachelor’s degree in Anthropology.
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