Our Team
Expert industry consultants dedicated to helping innovative companies succeed.
Covalence has its origins in the value of lasting relationships. This characteristic defines us as an agency of collaborators and enables us to deliver rapid results for our clients.
Mike Norris, Principal
B.S.E.E., M.S., M.B.A.
For over 26 years, Mike’s career has been focused on providing domestic and international companies with strategic guidance and advice. These services span business, marketing, and operational consulting that are underpinned with a deep understanding of enabling technologies.
Mike has worked as an executive and partner at both professional service organizations and Fortune 5000 companies. He has worked as a principal executive on five M&A engagements and four start-ups.
Examples of organizations he has worked with include KPMG, Rosetta Marketing, Intel, CA Technologies, Autodesk, Panasonic, Lenovo, Internet2, Verizon Wireless, BCBS, CardioVascular BioTherapeutics, Microsoft, Universal McCann, Digitas, Motorola, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and Shell Oil Company.
Mike received a B.S.E.E. and an M.S. from the University of Illinois, Urbana, an M.B.A. from the Cameron School of Business, The University of St. Thomas, Houston, and an executive education at the Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley.
Caren Williams
Brand Strategist
Caren is a passionate brand and marketing strategist with over 15 years of experience building brands both in-house at Procter & Gamble and Nestle and as a strategic brand consultant at Interbrand, the world’s largest brand consultancy.
With experience across a wide variety of corporate and consumer brands, some of Caren’s most significant projects have been leading strategy engagements with brands such as Google, Honeywell Aerospace, eBay, Intel, Adobe, The North Face, and Stanford Hospitals. Additionally, Caren has experience working with several startup technology companies on their brand positioning, customer experience and product marketing strategy.
Living and working in the San Francisco Bay Area for the past 8 years, Caren is originally from Texas where she earned an MBA from the University of Texas and a BS in Biomedical Science from Texas A&M University.
Rob Meyerson
Brand and Naming Strategist
Rob works with business leaders to build identities for their organizations, products, and services. More than a name or logo, Rob believes an identity is defined by clear, focused beliefs, expressed through compelling words, and substantiated by consistent actions. His specialties include strategic positioning, naming and messaging, brand architecture, qualitative research, and organizational change.
Rob’s diverse background and deep brand consulting experience allow him to bring new thinking to old conversations and give him a unique perspective on what drives perceptions and behavior. His client experience ranges from the Fortune 500 to Silicon Valley startups, and from San Francisco to Shanghai.
Prior to becoming an independent brand consultant, Rob was the head of brand architecture and naming at HP. He previously held strategy director roles at several leading, international brand consulting firms such as Interbrand and FutureBrand. Rob holds a Master of Science from the University of California, Berkeley and a BA from Indiana University in Bloomington.
Tamara Crawford
Creative Director, UX and Brand Designer
Tamara guides her clients toward creating their future by bridging design and business, brand behavior, and user needs to craft image, improve customer interactions, and build intuitive digital experiences. An award-winning creative director, she is a visual designer, content strategist, and UX designer with two decades of experience in identity, digital marketing, advertising, and product design. Her technology and medical clients include Cambia, eBay, HP, Hitachi, Microsoft, OvaScience/Augment IVF, Synchronoss, UCSF, Wacom, WebMD, and Wyeth. Raised in the San Francisco agency and tech culture, Tamara joins our team from her Portland, Oregon studio. She holds a degree in Industrial Design from the Rhode Island School of Design where she studied under noted product designers Marc Harrison and Karim Rashid.
