Amy N. Thayer, Ph.D.

Dr. Amy Thayer is a researcher and strategist with a proven track record of helping organizations unlock meaningful insights into their audiences, donors, employees and communities. She has worked in a wide array of sectors and industries, including health and wellbeing, education, philanthropy, social justice, animal welfare and diversity and inclusion.

Amy’s approach to research integrates academic scholarship with mixed-method inquiry to uncover individual behavior. Many of Amy's research inquiries have focused on underserved populations and health disparities.

Amy also has performed studies related youth philanthropy, philanthropy education and charitable giving of high net worth donors, as well as projects devoted to understanding and promoting generosity.

Before launching 4B Strategies, Amy served as Director of Research at Achieve, a full-service research and marketing agency for nonprofits. At Achieve, Amy helped lead several national research studies, including The Millennial Impact Report, the nation’s most comprehensive ongoing studies of Millennials  (born 1980-2000) and their engagement with nonprofits and social movements.

She has a vast history in the nonprofit sector, having previously led research projects at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis; managed research investigations at Kaiser Permanente’s Institute for Health Research and Kaiser Permanente’s Center for Health Research; coordinated research and development responsibilities for municipal government; and provided program direction for The Girl Scouts and another organization that served at-risk youth.

Amy has authored and co-authored peer-reviewed journal articles in the areas of public health and philanthropy. Amy has also co-authored two textbook chapters: one dedicated to the leisure and health of people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered in Leisure, health, and wellness: Making the connections, and another related to generational differences in charitable giving in Achieving Excellence in Fundraising, 4th Edition.

Amy has also served as Associate Faculty in the School of Physical Education and Tourism Management at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, where she taught Introduction to Research Methods in Health, Kinesiology and Recreation to master's students.

She served as the Associate Director of Research at the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy from 2012-2015.

Amy is also a dynamic speaker and has presented at variety of conferences and events, including SXSW, The Gay and Lesbian Medical Association and the Association for Research and Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action, Running USA, Volunteer Match Summit, Triathlon Business International Conference.

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Amy's education includes:

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Ph.D. in Human Nutrition, Foods, & Exercise from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

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M.S.R.A in Recreation Administration for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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B.S. in Secondary Education from the University of Dayton