This is who we are.
A team of researchers, communicators, and behavior change practitioners, expert in understanding public opinion, skilled in researching motivations and testing messages to support behavior change, thorough and innovative in our methodology.
Our Story
OpinionWorks began in 2001 with a conviction that sound market research can help non-profit organizations and public agencies engage more effectively with their donors, constituents, volunteers, and the people they serve – all to advance the public good. We began by exploring these issues in the Chesapeake Bay region, our home. Today, our work has grown to be national in scope and has led to innovations in how practitioners engage the public on recycling, land conservation, plastic pollution, tobacco usage, social determinants of health, and a host of other topics.
Our Team
Steve Raabe
Founder and President
Steve Raabe founded OpinionWorks in 2001 to provide mission-driven clients with critical insights into behavioral decision-making and public policy, based on sound survey research. He has built a firm that is grounded in social science and specializes in helping non-profit and public sector clients reach and engage their constituents and the general public to motivate action.
Steve is an innovative researcher, knowing that these times require new approaches to reaching audiences that are mobile, multilingual, mistrustful, not answering their phones, or digitally disconnected. He believes that his own team must reflect the diversity of the communities he studies, and has built an organization that is extremely proficient in reaching people whose first language is not English, low-income residents, young and mobile residents, and others who are often difficult to reach through traditional methods.
In his home region, Steve is a trusted and non-partisan observer of public opinion. He has been the public opinion pollster for The Baltimore Banner, examining elections and attitudes on a wide range of issues, following 17 years polling for The Baltimore Sun. He regularly conducts statewide and local surveys across the country today.
Steve is a sought-after behavior change expert. He developed the pioneering Chesapeake Bay Stewardship Index, (detailed here): Chesapeake Behavior Change. He developed the national Recycling Confidence Index for The Recycling Partnership and collaborates with the Partnership to measure recycling behaviors and motivations in local communities from Virginia to California.
Mackenzie Boughey
Senior Analyst
Mackenzie is a graduate of Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland, with a focus on public policy and opinion research. Mackenzie has strong quantitative skills and an appreciation for the human elements of qualitative research. Her work includes setting sampling targets, analyzing survey and interview-based data, and helping translate findings into client-ready insights.
She previously interned with the Public Religion Research Institute and the Goldstein Program at the Washington College Department of Political Science. She also contributed to Washington College’s Eastern Shore Opinion Poll. In 2024, Mackenzie received the Louis. L Goldstein Award from Washington College for her interest, enthusiasm, and potential in the field of public affairs. She is currently pursuing a Master of Public Policy as a part-time student at American University.
Outside of her work, Mackenzie enjoys diving into a good book, staying active as a former college athlete, and exploring both DC and her hometown of Annapolis.
Kathy Flament
Moderator
Kathy Flament is an experienced executive interviewer and a talented, innovative focus group moderator, with over 30 years’ experience. Kathy has an engaging style and employs a sense of humor to put participants to ease. When participants are comfortable, they speak openly and freely so the data collected goes beyond what participants think they should say to what they really feel and believe.
Kathy holds certificates from the Burke Institute in Advanced Moderating and the Riva Institute for Skill Acceleration. She has been a guest lecturer at Boston University, a speaker at the New England chapter of the Marketing Research Association and the International Builders’ Show. Kathy has received the honor of being a Top 20 featured moderator in Survey Magazine. She also holds an MBA in Market Research from Northeastern University and a BA in Foreign Languages from Barat College.
In her free time, Kathy is an accomplished artist. When not painting or knitting, Kathy can be seen at the beaches of Delaware and beyond. She is most proud of completing the Boston Marathon in 1999 and giddiest about kissing a grey whale in both 2023 and 2024.
Julie Patton Lawson
Community Advisor
Julie is a skilled communicator with over 20 years’ experience implementing behavior change initiatives, convening coalitions, and managing projects. She is widely recognized as an expert on plastic pollution policy and is also known for her leadership on issues such as litter, dog waste, and other sustainability initiatives. Julie has worked with OpinionWorks for well over a decade, advising behavior change efforts involving litter, recycling, public health, economic development, and policy, bringing a comprehensive approach to community-focused campaigns.
In 2017, Julie was appointed to DC Mayor Muriel Bowser’s cabinet as Director of the Office of the Clean City, and prior to that she served as the founding director of Trash Free Maryland, a nonprofit organization dedicated to driving lasting solutions to prevent trash pollution. Julie holds a BA in Linguistics from Haverford College.
Shirley Marte
Moderator
Shirley is a skilled market researcher with a 25-year career as an interviewer, facilitator, and questionnaire-developer. She is bilingual in English and Spanish and is experienced in reaching and connecting with non-traditional market research audiences. Through her personal manner and upbeat style, Shirley is extremely skilled at reaching young, urban audiences, while also employing an engaging technique that works well across demographic segments. Her empathetic presence opens up participants when we are pursuing the most sensitive research topics.
Outside of her work, Shirley enjoys pop culture trivia, city-building video games, gardening, and spending time with her family and her parrot, Sammy.
Teresa Ramirez
Outreach
Teresa Ramírez, PhD is an experienced translator and outreach coordinator. A first-generation Mexican American, Teresa is dedicated to uplifting underrepresented communities through mentorship, advocacy, and educational programs, and this approach to ensuring that all voices and perspectives are heard shapes her approach.
Teresa earned her doctorate degree in Molecular Pharmacology and Physiology from Brown University, where she currently serves on the President’s Advisory Council on Diversity and the Advisory Council of Biology and Medicine. She also served as a Health Specialist at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism at the National Institutes of Health.
Social Research and Public Outreach Projects
Research-driven insights through focus groups, surveys, and field studies to inform public policy, outreach, and behavior change initiatives.
Focus groups in Spanish and English for the District of Columbia Department of the Environment, which is the local regulator of lead exposure, conducted among parents of children under age 2 to understand why they had not had their children tested for lead as required by law, and how DDOE could encourage better compliance among parents.
A representative statewide survey of Ohioans for the Inter-University Council of Ohio, which is the consortium of the state’s public universities, to determine the public’s attitudes and capacity for supporting public higher education institutions through the state budget.
Working with Spectrum Science Communications, focus groups in Denver and Philadelphia among urban residents of color for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, to explore the messages and images that would persuade this audience to visit a National Wildlife Refuge.
In 2012 and again in 2014, a 2,000-interview bilingual health study for a coalition of partners led by the Horizon Foundation and including Johns Hopkins Medicine, measuring health risks and behaviors, with a survey instrument and methodology modeled after the Centers for Disease Control’s Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System survey.
A series of focus groups for the Maryland Citizens’ Health Initiative and the Maryland Health Benefit Exchange among unenrolled eligible adults to understand barriers to enrollment under the Affordable Care Act and ways the Exchange and non-profit advocates could reach out more effectively.
Focus groups among teens in English and Spanish for the Anne Arundel County (Maryland) Department of Health to understand teen attitudes and information consumption on the topics of sexual health, tobacco usage, physical activity, and healthy eating.
An extensive, year-long field research project examining consumption and sharing of contaminated fish from Anacostia River waters, and how anglers can be persuaded to throw back what they catch, rather than consuming and sharing it. This project, funded by the EPA, NOAA, and Chesapeake Bay Trust, identifies a complex problem and makes clear recommendations for future outreach, through deep field interviews of fishermen in English, Spanish, and Vietnamese along the banks of the river, and a focus group to test messages and outreach techniques.
Focus groups among Medicaid-eligible new and expecting mothers in six communities across West Virginia, including some very rural communities in the south and southwestern parts of the state. This work, conducted for the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources, was aimed at improving the way DHHR communicates and positions its Right From The Start program, which provides free services for low-income mothers to help them have a healthy pregnancy and first year, but was not reaching a large share of eligible mothers.
Working with FingerPaint Marketing, focus groups and key informant interviews among key internal and external audiences for SUNY Empire State College, to help this member of the State University of New York system understand its current brand, and identify the most compelling updated brand position with integrity for them in the rapidly-evolving higher education marketplace.
An innovative project at the intersection of religious faith and climate change, conducted for Lutheran World Relief, an international relief and development NGO. Through focus groups in Minneapolis and Fort Wayne, Indiana, among LWR constituents, we examined the language and attitudes that animate discussion on this topic across the spectrum of science and belief, producing work that was later presented at the conference of the American Evaluation Association.
The Chesapeake Bay Trust has frequently funded our work because they believe our approach fits with their social behavior change model, as we help the Trust and their grantees move people to adopt socially-desirable stewardship actions to help clean up local waters.
For the Utah Courts System, a statewide telephone survey in English and Spanish, measuring the public’s perception of the Courts, with particular focus on perceived barriers to Court access and confidence in fair outcomes. This study informed the Courts’ strategic plan.
The Hamilton County (Ohio) Solid Waste Management District, seeking to raise their residential recycling rate by 3%, hired us to test the barriers to recycling, and develop an outreach plan. Through five focus groups conducted in two rounds of testing and a baseline countywide telephone survey, we identified why residents are not recycling more. Our test very specifically went beyond message testing to evaluate and develop an entire new suite of ads and printed outreach materials: Recycling: It’s One Thing We Can All Do.
Through extensive focus group and psychological testing for the Alice Ferguson Foundation and a consortium of public sector funders, we examined the motivations for littering, and the messaging that will reach this audience and change their behavior. Our research determined that a positive, empowering message was the best way to reach the audience of chronic litterers, and it has formed the basis for a regional public outreach campaign across Metropolitan Washington, D.C.
Focus groups conducted for The Horizon Foundation in Spanish, Korean, and English on the sensitive topic of medical advance directives to help engender a community-wide campaign.
Driving Insight Across Critical Sectors
We partner with mission-driven organizations across four key areas—helping shape decisions that impact lives, communities, and the future.
Public Policy
We provide policymakers with clear, evidence-based insights to shape legislation, improve services, and respond to community needs.
Public Health
From health education to policy adoption, our research supports initiatives that improve population health and healthcare delivery.
Environment
Our studies empower environmental groups and agencies to act on public sentiment, drive conservation, and promote climate responsibility.
The Arts & Culture
We help arts organisations and funders gauge audience engagement and the social value of cultural programs.