Strength in Diversity for The Sound

In New York, youth specialist The Sound Research has opened a new Diversity Unit to provide research and consultancy on diversity and the 'Millennial generation'. The Unit will be led by qual/quant researcher Dr Vanessa Anderson.

The Sound Research - which has offices in New York, London, Toronto, and Vancouver - was founded in 2007 by Ian Pierpoint, and now has 20 full-time staff and $6m annual revenue.

The new division has been set up to meet an increasing demand for understanding of cultural diversity beyond particular groups in isolation. Pierpoint says that 40% of Millennials are people of color, specifically African American, Latino and Asian, compared with 32% of Generation X.

'Because cultures and their development are dynamic, understanding cultural diversity goes beyond studying particular groups in isolation,' Pierpoint explains. 'Cultural exchange, particularly among the young, goes in both directions, so an understanding of Hispanic culture, or of African American culture, or of Asian or LGBT culture is now essential in understanding American culture.'

Anderson has a background in psychology and education. Most recently, she worked as a Policy Research Analyst at City University of New York's Office of Institutional Research and Assessment, where she performed quant analyses of large data sets in order to inform diverse audiences of policy issues. Prior to this, Anderson was a Research Fellow at Columbia University's Social Relations Lab.

'After years of studying youth of color and their engagement in academic environments, I am excited to broaden my scope of inquiry and dive deep into how they engage with the broader American context, as consumers,' states Anderson.

In April, The Sound Diversity will be publishing research and a short documentary entitled 'The New American Dream'.

Web site: www.thesoundresearch.com .