José Medrano López

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 intelligence 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. In 2026, he was recognized as a rising star in the Social Intelligence Lab's Insider 50. 

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 institutions—to conduct 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. 

Previous experience includes work as a Senior Research Associate at NORC at the University of Chicago.

Education

• Master of Arts in Urban Education, Cardinal Stritch University

• Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, Indiana University Bloomington