Lives Radio Show & Podcast with Stuart Chittenden Stuart Chittenden

Angela Cooper, an organization culture consultant and founder of Mindpower Strategic, talks about her passion for and the pressures of being a business leader responsible for thousands of employees and the physical and mental toll of the burn out she experienced. Cooper also talks candidly about the lived experiences and the evolution of beliefs from faith to humanism that have shaped her work and her life.
As the Founder and Principal Consultant of Mindpower Strategic, Angela Cooper helps organizations shape their cultures. Cooper has over 20 years of experience evolving business environments in ways that help everyone thrive. As the inaugural Chief Diversity Officer at Mutual of Omaha, a Fortune 300 insurance company, for over five years she led the organization’s award-winning diversity, equity and inclusion and culture-shaping programs. Cooper herself has been recognized with numerous accolades for her DEI leadership. Cooper now works as a DEI strategist, change architect, and thought partner having founded her own independent consultancy in June 2022.

Media producer Paul B. Allen IV talks about the multi-generational cultural legacy of his family in north Omaha and beyond, his own international journeys exploring media and culture, and the focus of his media entity 1st Sky Omaha on news dissemination, community outreach, and citizen journalism.
Being the same age as hip hop, Paul B. Allen IV was raised in Southern California in a life of music, recording studios, showcase venues, visual art, filmmaking and radio. He moved to Hawaii in his 20’s where he deejayed, built musical acts, helped start a hip-hop radio station and music festivals, ran a record store and a print shop, and worked as a promoter and musician booking shows around the islands for numerous acts. From there, Allen moved to Europe in 2009 to work in film and deejaying. After coming to Omaha, where Allen’s family has a long cultural heritage, he became Program Director of Mind and Soul Radio 101.3FM, a community radio station out of the Malcolm X Memorial Foundation, which evolved into Allen’s 1st Sky Omaha, where the focus is now on news dissemination, community outreach, and citizen journalism training. In 2018 he started consulting on the creation of the Benson Theatre later becoming its Director of Communication. Today, Allen is focusing on his company, 1st Sky Omaha, building alternative news for East Omaha and traveling around the country to work on projects related to media, including documentary films, digital radio and video channels, and music projects.

Librarian Amy Mather talks about how libraries reflect and respond to their communities  and her own passion for all things library. Mather also shares how creativity offers shape and satisfaction to her life and to the creative capital of the world around her.
Amy Mather is the Partnerships Manager at Omaha Public Library and believes in connecting the community through information, storytelling, and relationships. In 2010, Mather won the Library Journal’s Movers & Shakers award for her outreach efforts to young professionals. As well as her library vocation, she hosted her own podcast “Whatever Mathers” for four years and worked as an adjunct instructor teaching human relation skills at Omaha’s community college. Mather completed her bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of New Mexico, and completed her master’s degree in library and information science from Louisiana State University. Though she grew up in West Virginia and has lived in New Mexico, Louisiana, and Washington D.C., she considers Omaha home. In her free time, Amy is reading, practicing yoga, walking, traveling, bird watching, and, "art-ing."

Drew Davies, the founder of Oxide, a civic-minded brand and design consultancy, talks about the practical and creative side of his years as a designer and a business founder, his work on election and civic engagement materials, and his recent co-authorship of Creative Genius: The Art of the Nebraska Capitol, a book about the Nebraska Capitol’s art.
Davies established Oxide in 2001. He is a national president emeritus of AIGA, the professional association for design, and is the only Nebraskan to have served as a judge for the prestigious design competition, Communication Arts Design Annual. As part of his civic work, Davies contributed to the national ballot design standards for the U.S. Election Assistance Commission and collaborated with the Federal Voting Assistance Program to enhance the registration and voting process for U.S. citizens abroad. In partnership with the Center for Civic Design, Davies designed the Field Guides to Ensuring Voter Intent, which were featured in the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum. He also testified before President Obama’s Presidential Commission on Election Administration. Davies recently designed and co-authored “Creative Genius: The Art of the Nebraska Capitol,” a coffee table book showcasing 100 years of art contained within the State’s grandest building, revealing the themes driving the art, and chronicling the stories behind the artists and their creations.

The Reverend Heidi McGinness talks about her journey from the rubble of post-World War II Germany, to a life in faithful service to the poor, the persecuted, the oppressed, and the enslaved, including her work with the South Sudanese Underground Railroad in retrieving citizens from the North and returning them to the South.
Reverend McGinness has, with unflinching zeal and hope, dedicated her life, alongside others of all faiths and of other ethical traditions, in advocating for and helping the poor, the persecuted, the oppressed, and the enslaved. Reverend McGinness’s service has been recognized with several awards. She has worked with numerous humanitarian and anti-genocide organizations, including Christian Solidarity International, a Swiss human rights organization, in delivering humanitarian aid to Sudan in times of war and peace. From 2004 to 2018, Reverend McGinness assisted the South Sudanese Underground Railroad in retrieving citizens from the North and returning them to the South. Since her third retirement in 2018, Reverend McGinness continues to visit East Africa and work with refugees. Living in Omaha, she also supports Nebraskans in need, including assisting in the work of those combatting human trafficking in Nebraska and further afield.

“Strength rock” musician and lawyer Stephen Pedersen shares the evolution of his musical life, with the bands Cursive, Criteria, and many others, and we’ll hear a few of Criteria’s songs to illustrate his musical style and ethos. Pedersen also talks about his career as an attorney and balancing his two life vocations of law and music.
Stephen J. Pedersen is the Chief Legal Officer of Medical Solutions, the second largest clinician staffing company in the United States. Pedersen is also the lead singer, guitarist and songwriter for the rock band Criteria. Pedersen is a 5th Generation Nebraskan and 5th generation attorney, but has carved out a non-traditional path in the world of law and business; all while writing, recording, releasing and touring throughout North America, the UK and Europe in support of his music. Pedersen has for more than 20 years balanced his passion for his professional work with a continuing love of music making. He is a graduate of Creighton University with a juris doctorate from Duke University's School of law.