About Us
Jim Addy - President
Mapping Strategies, LLC., is a data analytics firm focused on practical solutions to public policy issues. As the company's principal investigator, Addy provides a wide array of analytical modeling. He has personally provided spatial analysis solutions, such as, districting (also known as redistricting for government jurisdictions), boundary analysis, routing, and targeting. Further, he runs mathematical statistical models for comparisons of how well program participants did or whether a certain group has statistically different characteristics - income, ideology, etc.. As a byproduct of these analytical skills, Mapping Strategies also provides, database design, online maps for websites and video production.
Prior to Mapping Strategies, Jim was the Administrator of School Services and Information for the Iowa Department of Education. For four years in that role he oversaw departmental research, information technology, school finance, nutrition, health, and transportation programs. He personally worked directly in many services offerings (because of the limited staff); geographic information systems (GIS) projects being one of those areas.
Before the education field, Jim was in the private consulting field offering public policy consulting services for nearly 10 years. He worked as the Vice-president of Research and Evaluation for State Public Policy Group and the President of the Eden Company (a political consulting firm). He also worked at the Iowa Legislature.
Jim spent five years at the University of New Mexico as a doctoral candidate where he studied Methods and Presidential Nomination Politics; he sold his field paper proposal, a GIS resource allocation model, to the Dean For President 2004 Campaign. Jim has an M.P.A. from Drake University and a B.S.S. from Cornell College in Economics and Philosophy.
Publications
"Connecting Offenders to Primary HealthCare in Iowa." March/April 2015 American Jails.
"Forum Guide to Empowering Equal Access to Websites." National Center on Educational Statistics, July 2011. Rabbitt, Lee, Jim Addy, Sheila Corey, Kathleen Goza, Thomas Purwin, Rachael Traub, Raymond Woten, and Thomas Szuba.
“Intense Case Management for Behavioral Health Jail Diversion: The Lancaster County, Nebraska Approach.” Part I and II in January/February and March/April 2008 American Jails.
“Structuring a Meaningful Program Evaluation.” Journal of Rural Mental Health Volume 31, Number 2, Spring 2007.
"The Lancaster County, Nebraska Mental Health Jail Diversion Project." March/April 2006 American Jails.
“Structuring a Meaningful Program Evaluation: Iowa Recovers Experience.” Winter 2006
The Dialogue, The Disaster Technical Assistance Center for SAMHSA Quarterly Newsletter.
Invited Talks
"Where Politics and Health Care Collide." College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Drake University, November 2015.
“It’s No Gamble: Polk County’s Medications Assistance Re-Entry Program” Nebraska Mental Health Association 2015 State Conference: Success, Hopes, and Dreams - Keynote Address, May 2015.
"Factors of Crime." Herb and Karen Baum Ethics and the Professions, Drake University, April 2015.
Numerous Presentations at the National Center on Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, Annual and Semi-annual Conferences from 2008-2010 in Washington D.C. and other venues around the country.
“Attitudes of the Electorate,” 2004 United Auto Workers Iowa C.A.P. Convention.
“Health Needs and Disparities of Immigrant Populations,” 2003 Iowa Public Health Conference.
“Recruitment and Retention Strategies Based on Outcomes Evaluation,” 2002 National Foster/Adoptive Parent Association, National Conference, Las Vegas, NV.
“Voters’ Perceptions of Persons with Mental Illness: What It Means for Parity,” 2002 Iowa Mental Health Consortium.
Jim Schuemann - Analyst
Jim brings a number of useful talents to the table for Mapping Strategies, including technical knowledge, a background in IT management, project management, federal and state regulatory compliance for health care organizations and experience in working with governments and health care institutions, both rural and urban. Jim is a veteran of the United States Army 82nd Airborne Division. He has a Bio Medical Degree from Des Moines Area Community College. He studied Business Administration at Upper Iowa University and has a certification as a CBET (Certified Bio-Medical Technician) through AMMI (Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation). He worked for Bio-Tech Engineering, a subsidiary of Regional Health Services, for 7 years providing medical equipment management services and consulting with rural and urban hospitals and clinics across the state of Iowa to aid in their compliance with JCAHO (Joint Commission for the Accreditation of Health Care Organizations). He has just short of a decade in production management (with Toshiba International, and NEMA Fabricators) and quality control of high voltage motor control equipment for the petrochemical industry across the US. Schuemann was also a member of the Academic Advisory Board for the High-Tech Bio- Med Department for Des Moines Area Community College Ankeny Campus. He traveled to Zimbabwe, Africa to provide the government with consulting services for the establishment of a Bio-Medical Engineering program at Africa University in Mutare, Zimbabwe. In addition, he helped in training technicians to work on medical and telephony equipment in rural areas of the country. Furthermore, he managed the desktop computer and peripheral Department for the Iowa Health System for 7 years, providing computer support service across the state of Iowa. This included project management of leased equipment procurement, placement and support.
Benjamin Greear
Benjamin adds technical, financial, and creative depth to the Mapping Strategies team. He provides database administration, analytics, and subject matter expertise regarding HIPPA sensitive databases. In his financial career he's gone from entry-level bookkeeper to Chief Financial Officer. Creatively, Benjamin produces video and audio products: grassroots advocacy training videos, issue awareness pieces, public service announcements, and radio and television advertisements.
On the information technology side, Benjamin creates and maintains databases, builds end-user interfaces, analyzes and processes client data requests, and manages a constant stream of incoming data, including HIPPA-sensitive information, from state and county agencies. Naturally, Benjamin's data analytics include geographic information systems (GIS). Working for SUMO Group, he has supported many advocacy clients with GIS mapping and spatial analysis of organization membership.
The other side of Benjamin's professional personality has been finance. He has 25 years experience directly controlling financial operations and financial analysis, serving in a CFO position for 20 of those years.