MREF Awards

Nominations close on May 13, 2025

The Marketing Research Education Foundation (MREF) is now accepting nominations for the 2025 Everyday Hero award and Philanthropic Company of the Year award. Awards are open to any individual, practicing marketing researcher, brand, or marketing research services provider from any and all countries globally who have contributed significantly to a nonprofit or community in need, or otherwise fit the category as outlined in the category descriptions.

The 2025 MREF Everyday Hero award is given to a researcher who is making a difference in or outside of their community but who may not be getting the accolades they deserve. This individual is impacting their world through efforts such as:

Volunteering at a worthy nonprofit.
Doing the behind-the-scenes work an organization depends on.
Leading and encouraging others to give back through volunteering or other efforts.

Nominees must be currently employed by an insights or market research firm or work within an insights or market research department of a corporation.

The 2025 MREF Philanthropic Company of the Year award is given to a marketing research company that leads by example in the giving of time and financial resources in relation to the size of their organization.

Volunteers – encourages philanthropy, supporting its employees to go above and beyond to make a significant contribution to our world.
Is philanthropic in its community – displays philanthropic leadership in its community.
Gives of its resources – financially supports its causes for a lasting impact.

The nomination process

You can nominate yourself, your co-worker(s), your company, or your clients so long as they meet the judging criteria for the category. There is no fee to nominate. Nominations will be accepted until Tuesday, May 13.

Everyday Hero

https://forms.gle/b2sKJrMsn4pxvWct9

Philanthropic Company of the Year

https://forms.gle/maRuyvSC1dGG4NbV8

Who judges the awards?

The nominations will be judged by members of the MREF board of directors. All judges must sign a non-disclosure agreement prior to judging awards. Judges will not be allowed to judge categories in which they are nominated. And all attempts will be made to ensure the judges do not know the name of the individual or company they are evaluating.

Award deadlines and important dates

February 11, 2025 – Entry period opens
May 13, 2025 – Nominations close at 11:59 p.m. ET

Winners will be announced in July 2025.

2024 Winners

CMB

Philanthropic Company of the Year

Cheryl Halpern

Everyday Hero

Since The Marketing Research and Insight Excellence Awards were founded in 2019 by Quirk's Media, the MREF has contributed two categories: the Philanthropic Company of the Year and the Everyday Hero Awards. The winner of the 2024 MREF Philanthropic Company of the Year award is CMB. The winner of the 2024 MREF Everyday Hero award is Cheryl Halpern.

The Philanthropic Company of the Year award recognizes a marketing research company that leads by example in terms of time and financial efforts given to their community.

Community impact is a core pillar of the CMB culture. CMB is committed to helping its clients strengthen and grow their businesses, and is actively involved in the communities where its employees live and work. CMB and its employees regularly lend their expertise to boards, participate in making their communities a better place to live, and donate their time and money to organizations they are passionate about.

The Everyday Hero award recognizes a researcher who is making a difference in and outside of their community but who may not be getting the accolades they deserve.

Cheryl Halpern powers over 25 years of continuous volunteerism with energetic passion. Skills honed through market research, strategic consulting, and product management equip Halpern to be an effective and empathetic servant leader. She actively engages at all levels of volunteerism for a variety of organizations, from leadership positions to roll-up-your-sleeves engagement with clients. Her primary focus for the last five years has been founding and leading the Buddy Up for Life Dallas chapter, which conducts 28 annual tennis and fitness sessions for Athletes with Down syndrome. It is the largest chapter in the country and has been named “Best of Texas Tennis” for Adaptive Programming by the USTA for the last two years. Halpern advises others to find the joy, as she has, by considering both an organization’s mission and the type of volunteer tasks and opportunities offered.

Past Winners

2023: