Ian James:  

Life While I no longer work on partisan political matters (yup I gave up on the party politics years ago), I have focused my 24 years of public relations, grassroots organizing, as well as issue advocacy, campaign & ballot management into a new ventures. The first is a brand new company (Ohio Petition Company) which I started after seeing many other companies & groups try & fail at placing issues on the ballot in Ohio. It always made me mad that so many carnies moved into Ohio to ramp up a petition drive, charge millions of dollars then leave the state with piles of cash & angry clients. My other company (The Strategy Network) continues to generate public awareness & support for a wide range of issues including civil rights, health care, telecommunications & environmental matters as well as an assortment of ballot measures. I also jointly own a video production studio in Columbus that focuses upon public issue development & general advertising. And if that weren’t enough... I also work as the Chief Operating Officer of a non-profit organization (James A. Rhodes Leadership Foundation) which provides financial assistance to Ohioans who seek an in-state community or technical college education. Yes, I am still a work-a-holic. As the COO of a non-profit, I develop scholarship programs to provide tuition, books & other educational materials to financially needy Ohioans. I have also been active in developing a comprehensive social networking component that each of the scholarship recipients will utilize throughout their college years & beyond. What’s more I have developed a diploma to work initiative that requires our scholarship recipients to work in Ohio for a period of four years upon graduation. This initiative – when merged with the social networking component – links employers to a future workforce with the goal of creating a relationship that will not only improve the scholarship recipient, their family, but the employer & state as well. My work often means that I am called upon to com...Expand for more