Our Team

Caroline McGarr

Managing Director and Co-Founder

Caroline is an experienced research consultant with over 13 years in the sector, living and working in Erbil since 2016. Previously to founding thinkbank she gained experience with leading global agencies including Ipsos, GfK, and YouGov.

In Iraq Caroline has personally led research projects for clients including Lafarge, Careem and EY, as well as social research projects for clients including the International Republican Institute, FCDO, M&C Saatchi and UNICEF, providing a unique and deep level of insight into what drives ordinary Iraqis in their behaviour, attitudes and decision-making. Prior to Iraq, Caroline’s experience has mainly been in London, running international research projects for global brands and institutions such as Barclays, Government of Singapore, Kingdom or Bahrain and other public and private sector institutions in UK. She has also worked in Egypt and South Sudan.

A regular speaker at Iraq-focused conferences such as IBBC, Iraq Finance Expo and the Iraq Digital Transformation Summit, she presents fresh data and insights to business leaders across sectors. She has shared best practice with industry colleagues through MRS Professional Webinar, Exploring the Challenges of Polling in Iraq. Caroline also provides training in qualitative research principles, techniques and on NVIVO software to faculty and students in the International Relations and Diplomacy Department at Tishk International University, Erbil.

Middle Eastern politics and society at both the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) and the American University in Cairo. She holds an Advanced Certificate in Social and Market Research and is a member of MRS and ESOMAR.

Rebaz Nuri

Operations Director and Co-Founder

Rebaz is an Iraqi national based in Sulaymaniyah with over 11 years experience in research in Iraq. He has worked as Head of Operations at YouGov Iraq, MEL Specialist at MSI, as well as leading on major research projects for Oxfam, IRC and USIP.

In research operations Rebaz has developed strong network of interviewers and moderators across Iraq. He has implemented large-scale (n=4000+) quantitative studies in Iraq, including face-to-face representative tracking surveys. He has managed hundreds of focus groups and stakeholder interviews on highly sensitive topics, as well as ethnographic studies in all governorates of Iraq, including the most complex localities. Rebaz oversees thinkbank’s extensive in-house translation team, is an experienced moderator, interviewer and translator, including simultaneous translation.

Rebaz has a Master’s in Linguistics from University of Sheffield, and a BA in English Language and Literature, University of Sulaymaniyah, Iraq. He teaches courses in English Language and Communications at the University of Sulaymaniyah. He has also been recognized by market research industry peers as a GRIT 2021 Future List Honoree.