MEET OUR TEAM
Jeff Andreasen, President | 847-424-4171 ext. 218 |  [email protected]
Jeff has been designing customized survey solutions and delivering actionable research insights for over 30 years. He started with Richard Day Research (RDR) in 1983, which was acquired by Market Probe in 2011. Jeff launched aQity Research & Insights in early 2015 to continue serving long-standing clients and provide new customers with innovative approaches and solutions.

His areas of research expertise include:
  • Financial services (particularly retirement, investments, advice).
  • Needs assessments and community surveys for Park and Forest Preserve Districts.
  • Public policy issues such as open space, education, politics and referenda (pre-election surveys, voter focus groups).
  • Not-for-profit research such as member and donor surveys and strategic plan consulting.

Jeff has contributed to two books on Chicago mayoral politics and has written articles for several publications, including Public Opinion Quarterly. He has a BA in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Illinois-Urbana.
Michelle D’Anjou, Project Manager  | 847-424-4171 ext. 245 |  [email protected]
Over the past 12 years at Richard Day Research, Market Probe, and now aQity Research & Insights, Michelle has managed the research process end-to-end. She started by conducting phone interviews including executive interviewing on complex win-loss studies. She then became a data analyst, coding manager, and is currently a project manager. In this role, Michelle oversees all aspects of research studies and manages the data collection and reporting process.

Her expertise is in financial services studies (especially win-loss and client-attrition studies). She has worked on numerous B2B and B2C client and loyalty studies, as well as public policy surveys. Michelle has a BA in Sociology and an MA in Gerontology, both from Northeastern Illinois University.
Tessa Andreasen, Project Manager  | 847-424-4171 ext. 211 | [email protected]
Since 2008, Tessa has worked on numerous projects across a range of industries and topics. She has been the lead project manager for several financial services studies, including client satisfaction and loyalty studies (both B2B and B2C), employee satisfaction research, brand tracking studies, win/loss studies with retirement-plan sponsors and third-party advisors.

Tessa has also directed numerous resident surveys for park districts and similar organizations, overseeing everything from the initial design stage through analyzing the results and writing the final reports. She is experienced in all types of data collection for these studies – phone, mail, web, and hybrid approaches. Tessa has a BA in Music Education from the University of Illinois-Urbana.
Jim Scholle, Data Collection Supervisor | 847-424-4171 ext. 232 |  [email protected]
Jim is responsible for the aQity Research call center and data processing team. He has been with aQity Research (and formerly Market Probe and Richard Day Research) for 10 years. Jim is an expert interviewer and an excellent teacher and mentor who trains aQity Research’s other executive interviewers.

Jim holds a BA in Speech and Communication from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Max Drew-Caffin, Research Analyst | 847-424-4171 ext. 220 |  [email protected]
Max joined aQity Research & Insights in September 2024. He helps manage virtually all stages of research programs, focusing on programming and formatting questionnaires, managing data collection and sample management, overseeing open-ended coding, data processing and analysis, and assisting with final reports. Max is especially focused on communitywide resident for public agencies and satisfaction research.
 
Max holds a bachelor’s degree from The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a major in economics and a minor in business. He has experience in analytical work with Esperanza Community Services and the American Marketing Association where he held positions as a Project Manager, Consultant, and Data Analyst.