2023 Young Researcher of the Year – Agency: LaShanda Seaman and Joshua Proctor

LaShanda Seaman, Opinium

At Opinium, Seaman (pictured, second from left) has delivered high-impact research across sectors, including launching public policy at the House of Commons and managing some of the agency’s most technical B2B studies. Outside of Opinium, she is a member of the MRS main board, part of the organisation’s People & Talent working group, and sits on the Social Researchers of Colour (SROC) committee.

Recently faced with a participant recruitment challenge, Seaman problem-solved with the client to utilise different recruitment channels. She has also championed deliberative and participatory methodologies, upskilling the agency on how and when to implement them. Under her mentorship, youth advisory boards were successfully built into a project exploring the digital lives of young people.

In other work examples, Seaman gave a presentation at IIEX Amsterdam, to researchers and client-side stakeholders, on how to design inclusive research that better utilises tools at their disposal.

At Opinium, Seaman is involved in the recruitment for both the 10K BlackInterns and Diverso programme, where she designs workshops for, interviews and manages candidates. She was recently appointed as the lead for internal DE&I training at Opinium.

Outside of Opinium, Seaman is the youngest researcher to be invited into the MRS People & Talent programme. As part of the New&Returning Talent stream, she works on initiatives to increase ethnic diversity within market research.

Her co-production and leadership of a speed networking event in collaboration with SROC provided early and mid-career researchers with a safe space to engage with senior leaders, including chief executives of research agencies.

Through mentorship, advocacy, and targeted initiatives, Seaman is amplifying diverse perspectives, with the aim of creating an environment where the next generation of researchers can flourish.

In the submission for the award, Lorien Perryfrost, head of qualitative research at Opinium, said: “LaShanda’s dedication to the market research industry is inspiring and she is a real asset to Opinium, managing industry involvement alongside juggling complex projects and demanding clients. LaShanda has been proactive in increasing awareness of and educating researchers on DE&I. She proactively presented to Opinium considerations for how to make online communities user-friendly for disabled audiences. She has mentored researchers, myself included, on participatory research design, which we have successfully built into some high-profile projects.”

Seaman said: “I am deeply honoured and grateful to receive this award. Receiving this award is not just an acknowledgement of my work, but highlights the dedication and impact of young researchers across our industry. The shortlist alone demonstrates the breadth of talent among this cohort. I am grateful that MRS recognises the passion and potential of emerging researchers and look forward to continuing to champion this group in the future.”

Joshua Proctor, Jump! Innovation 

In April 2022, Proctor (pictured, second from right) was a mid-weight strategist at Jump! Innovation. By July 2023, he was head of cultural insight and had founded a specialised research and strategy practice within the business – Jump! Culture Studio – growing the studio from a rough idea to a team of three.

In the first year of the studio, Proctor led a global research and innovation project for Heineken to develop a new energy drink brand for Africa. Researching in new markets, he worked with the client team to highlight the value in partnering with creative practitioners to better understand cultural shifts shaping the meaning of energy in Africa. He has now shared this approach throughout the agency as best practice.

In other work, Proctor built on his existing relationship with the Adidas football team to win a global research, insight and strategy pitch. Leading a team of seven, he explored the future of youth culture and football through qualitative research methods including an in-person cultural immersion curated by Jump! Culture Studio. Proctor then presented the research report at the company’s 2025 strategy kick-off.

Proctor also worked with Jump!’s foresights agency Dive Without Fear to combine traditional qualitative research with AI signals to help Jameson understand the cultural landscape of influential mega-cities.

Proctor has championed working with youth engagement officers and local interlocutors to spotlight under-heard voices for research, and has written an article for Research Live advocating a collaborative approach to working with young people.

He also recently completed the Creative Semiotics ‘How to do Semiotics in Seven Weeks’ course, shared what he had learned across the business, and used the new skills to offer semiotics to clients.

In the award submission, Paul Kelders, chief executive at Jump! Innovation, said: “Early on, it was clear that Josh possessed maturity and vision beyond his years. He’s super-smart, with a commercial mindset, so it was a ‘no-brainer’ for us to trust him to develop our Culture Studio. This trust is paying off due to his own vision of how to uncover insights, and because he’s unafraid to listen and evolve. We’ve added him to our group leadership team because we believe in Josh’s ability to help forge our future. He’s a rare talent and we love having him as a senior member of the team. His enthusiasm makes everything stronger.”

Proctor said: “It’s a real honour to have won this award. Over the past year, setting up Jump! Culture Studio has been a labour of love: one that absolutely wouldn’t have been possible without the trust of the agency partners and the support of the incredible team around me. But more than that, it’s really been about trying to advance an approach to research that is truly embedded within culture – contributing to it, rather than extracting from it. It’s a validation of the work that we do as a team, beyond just myself, that this is something that the judges wanted to recognise with this accolade.”