OUR MISSION IS SIMPLE, YET AUDACIOUS.
To empower people with the tools and courage to build their best lives, on their own terms.
To influence academic, civic, private and public sector leaders to steward informed policies that enable all people, everywhere, to live their lives in peace, health, security and opportunity. To support private sector strategies that contribute to improving socioeconomic conditions for diverse communities.
We do this by harnessing the power of actionable insights and compelling storytelling to provide you with critical information needed to strengthen advocacy, set agendas, shape policy discourse and create positive change in people’s lives.
WHO WE ARE
Empowering people to build the lives they choose. Inspiring policymaking that makes that possible.
Our Founders
Ophat (Art) Manosilapakorn
is the visionary Founder and Research Director of Sprint Research, an international boutique market research agency dedicated to delivering meaningful insights to both public and private sector clients. As a serial entrepreneur and market research expert, Art brings over 17 years of award-winning experience to the table. His academic background includes a BA in Medical Technology from Naresuan University in Thailand and an MBA from Royal Holloway, University of London, UK. Art’s innovative approach and strategic foresight have consistently driven success and excellence in the industry.
Languages: Thai, English
Michael Bąk
has spent nearly 30 years in Asia working on tech policy and inclusive, sustainable development, diversity and inclusion and human rights protection. He has worked as a diplomat, UN official, led public policy for a major tech company (hint: Facebook/Meta) and was Executive Director of a Paris-based NGO working on information integrity globally. Michael has worked across the Asia Pacific and Europe, regularly collaborating with the business community, governments, multilaterals, activists, civil society and academia. His interviews and writing have been featured in Euronews, Global Government Forum, Süddeutsche Zeitung, L’Usine Digitale, among others. He is a Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the NYU Center for Global Affairs specialising in cyber policy.
Michael holds a BA in French Literature and International Studies from Kalamazoo College, USA, and an MA in International Relations and Development Economics from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, USA, and executive certificates from American University and the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore.
Languages: English, French, Bahasa Indonesia, Malay, Japanese, and some limited Thai and Spanish (and learning Portuguese)
Our Story
It all started at a cosy housewarming party in the vibrant city of Bangkok back in 2015. Art and Michael, two strangers with a knack for impactful conversation, met over a shared laugh and an unexpected discussion about the meaning of "YOLO" – which Michael amusingly admitted he’d never realised stood for "You Only Live Once."
From there, a friendship was born.
Art, a whiz in market research, and Michael, an expert in human rights-based sustainable development and public policy, found common ground in their shared North Star: to create positive change in the world. Their toolkit? A blend of genuine smiles, heartfelt actions, personal endeavours, and, most importantly, their professional projects.
Data insights became their secret weapon. These insights helped them slice through the biases that often cloud our judgments—whether we realise it or not. They understood that easy analytics obscure critical – often very consequential – nuances that can only be uncovered and interrogated by rigorous, expertly crafted and expertly analysed methodologies and tools. This is what truly informs impactful and sustainable decision-making.
As a public policy expert, Michael maps the stories that explain the political economy, the perceptions of key stakeholders, and the pulse of key influencers. Art, on the other hand, is deeply grounded in strategic market research, extracting the authentic voices and lived experiences of people regarding important aspects of their lives and the policies that enable them.
Over the years, Michael would seek out Art’s advice on how to extract solid data points out of unreliable data environments. (He even hired him once to run a survey for him about inclusion.)
Serendipity brought them together. And Covid19 gave them time to consider how to strategically integrate core principles of market research into advocacy, public policy development and policy making. How to ground prioritisation, decision-making, engagement strategies, and advocacy around unbiased data, tracked over time. This approach provides the most effective means to drive progressive policymaking that allows people to create and improve the lives they want to live.
In short, how to make market research more accessible and valuable to NGOs, academics, public policy leaders and policy makers.
Art and Michael — two friends from different backgrounds, cultures and disciplines, united under one Centre of Excellence.
Together, they are committed to driving positive policy and social change that empowers everyone to live their best lives, on their own terms.
Our Principles
Equity
Create equitable outcomes for our communities.
Authenticity
Remain true to our personalities, values and spirit, regardless of pressure to act otherwise.
Inclusion
Embrace all people irrespective of their characteristics, endeavour to create equal access to opportunities and remove barriers to people’s participation in all aspects of public life.
Ethical Researchers
We are committed to upholding the highest standards of integrity and ethical conduct in all our research activities. This is not just a formal compliance requirement, but fundamental to our organisation.
We ensure that all our research methodologies, data collection processes and findings are shared openly with our client partners. We aim to create the most effective environment of trust and accountability.
We prioritise the dignity, rights and welfare of all participants in our studies through informed consent, privacy protection and confidentiality. For us, these are moral imperatives.
Our research is guided by principles of impartiality and objectivity. We strive to prevent biases, both in data collection and analysis, to ensure that our findings are reliable and credible.
We engage in projects that have the potential to contribute positively to society. Our research aims to address pressing socioeconomic challenges and contribute to social progress, wellbeing, health and happiness.
SDGs
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a global call to action to end poverty, protect our planet and create peace and prosperity for all people. With targets set on 2030, the SDGs rally diverse actors and stakeholders – citizens, governments, civic groups, academia, the private sector and multilateral organisations among others – to drive positive economic, social and political impact that improves and changes lives. The SDGs help us all move toward building the world we want and the lives we cherish.
Sprint Public Interest is proud to embrace Resilience, Diversity and Human Rights as we work side by side with our client partners in helping move us all a little closer to achieving the SDGs. Everyone has a part to play and we are eager to help strengthen your ability to contribute as much and as best as you can across all your endeavours.
