Staff

Tom Livingston

Interim General Manager

Tom is a public media leader and consultant with nearly four decades of success at the local and national level. Livingston served two terms as Vice Chairman of the National Public Radio Board of Directors, and has managed three different public radio organizations including WETA in Washington, DC. Livingston also was Executive Director for Eastern Public Radio, and Vice President, Executive Search for Transformations Consulting Group. He is currently Past Chair of the Public Media Business Association.

Tom is a certified Myers-Briggs trainer (Otto Kroeger Associates) and a certified coach (Professional Certified Coach, International Coaching Federation).

Melody Freeman

Director, Business Administration

As a long time employee of The University of Missouri-St. Louis, Melody joined St. Louis Public Radio in March of 2018 as a Financial Accountant/Analyst with the Finance and Administration team. Now, as Director of Business Administration Melody will continue to help oversee the business and fiscal functions of the station while working with the leadership team and staff to support the station’s mission. According to Melody, being able to work for an organization that she admires feels like “having my cake and eating it too, it is a pleasure!”

Whenever she can, Melody volunteers or serves on committees with her son’s school district and her neighborhood association. She is a member of the Chancellor’s Cultural Diversity Council (CCDC) and a former volunteer with the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program. Her free time is spent enjoying time with family, reading a good book, listening to public radio programs, watching HGTV, and listening to music, especially the magnificent playlists prepared by her husband. Her enjoyment of the STLPR award winning podcast “We Live Here” has helped to grow her interest in podcasts and the wonderful stories and learning opportunities that come from them. Her family has also been involved in youth sports for many years with a particular passion for baseball. She has visited almost every youth sports park in the Metro St. Louis area and quite a few in other states. The easiest way to describe her family’s relationship with baseball is to Google, “If You Give a Boy a Baseball.” It pretty much sums up her life as a baseball mom.

Jade Harrell

Director, On-Demand and Community Partnerships

Jade Harrell has been part of the programming team since October 2018 as an announcer on weeknights and weekends. Jade comes to St. Louis Public Radio as a TEDx Speaker, radio and television host and producer. Her passion for community and storytelling matured at iHeart Radio, where she was host and producer of legacy community affairs program, “Sunday Morning Live” for over 13 years. Thousands of person-to-person interviews and decades of committed work in radio, television and media production have afforded Jade the opportunity to positively impact the lives of people all over the world. She has the unique ability to connect with people of diverse backgrounds, circumstances and environments. Her mission is to make a tangible, positive impact on the world and add value to the life of every person she encounters. She has become recognized for her passion, commitment to community, quality content, and authentic positive energy.

Jade is one of ten TedX Gateway Arch speakers (“Ripple Effect” 2017). She was recently named as one of St. Louis’ 50 Most Intriguing Women, Power 100 and Social Influencers (Delux Magazine). She’s been awarded with the “What’s Right with the Region!” Award and Grace Hill Women’s Business Center’s “Wall of Fame”. Jade has been featured in the St. Louis Business Journal, Cortex “People”, the St. Louis American newspaper and on KSDK-Channel 5. She helped to launch several successful podcasts and served as co-host and producer of the #1 Health & Fitness podcast on Apple Podcasts, “The Model Health Show”.

Although her reach is global, she maintains positive impact locally. She is consistently hired as keynote speaker, emcee and facilitator for events and programs with non-profit organizations, educational institutions and private sector entities.

A native of Denver, Colorado, Jade graduated from Hampton University with a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration then entered the corporate arena as an executive in administration, marketing and PR. She worked with Coca-Cola Corporate Headquarters, UPS International PR and GE Capital Commercial Direct before becoming an independent consultant and producer.

Jade is constantly curious and loves to create. She is most happy when “in the lab”, in the kitchen, engaged in meaningful exchange, immersed in story or in adventures with her family.

Jade and husband Christopher are parents to five children and giant rescued dog, “Rocky”.

Follow her adventures via Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at @mrsjadeharrell

Rufus Moore

Director, Sponsorship Sales

Prior to joining St. Louis Public Radio, Rufus Moore worked in business development and sales at several Fortune 500 companies and served in strategic positions at the National level. He has over 20+ years’ experience in sales, sales management, marketing, project management, and strategic planning. Notable is his former years as Regional Business Development for Clear Channel, where he secured major sponsorship and other partnering initiatives.

Rufus’ greatest strengths are his creativity, drive and leadership. He thrives on challenges, particularly those that expand the company’s reach and development of people.

Rufus serves on several boards as Chair and Co-Chair in his community. He has also been involved in volunteer work for the Y.E.S. Foundation, including heading up the NFL High School Player Development Football Camps in his community, with the F.B.I. citizens academy helping to foster and bridge relationships in the community.

Rufus and his wife live in Saint Louis. They have two adult sons and one teenage son. In his free time, Rufus likes to serve the youth sports community, in a mentor, and coach capacity.

Shula Neuman

Executive Editor

Shula Neuman is the executive editor at St. Louis Public Radio. She came the station in late 2013 as a subject matter editor, after having worked as an editor for NPR in Washington, D.C. Shula started her journalism career as a general assignment reporter for the Watertown Daily Times and made the switch to radio when she took a job as a reporter/evening newscaster at St. Louis Public Radio. After that, Shula reported on economic development for Cleveland’s public radio station. This is Shula’s second stint with St. Louis Public Radio. She says she just can’t stay away from her hometown because she’s tired of rooting for the Cardinals in absentia. Shula has a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University; an Executive M.B.A. from Washington University in St. Louis; and a bachelor’s from Reed College in Portland, OR. She claims she has no intention of going back to school again.

Madalyn Painter

Director of Marketing & Digital Media

As the Director of Marketing & Digital Media for St. Louis Public Radio, Madalyn Painter works to move audiences to deeper levels of loyalty to our service to the community. She and her team provide targeted marketing, business intelligence, and visual design and support the station’s digital products and strategy.

Since joining KWMU in 2006, she has helped transform stlpublicradio.org into a regional news destination, with well over 500% growth in site visits.

Previously, she worked in communications and digital media for KETC/Channel 9 (Nine Network of Public Media). She started her career in marketing in 2000 as a copywriter and website designer. Her professional awards include four regional and one national Edward R. Murrow Award.

Her master’s degree in social work, from Saint Louis University, instilled values of collaboration, listening, and evidence-based practice — all surprisingly applicable to marketing. She’s also a proud former English major, with a bachelor’s degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia, and enjoys drawing and poetry.

She grew up in the forested Ozark mountains and still dreams about moss-covered boulders, cold Bull Creek, and the sound of spring peeper frogs. In the city, she delights in gardens — her own and any others into which she can wander.

Kathy Parks

Corporate Accounts Manager

Kathy Parks has been the Corporate Accounts Sales Manager since December, 2014, managing the underwriting team of four Account Executives under the leadership of Market Enginuity. Market Enginuity proudly represents public radio and television stations in 18 markets, including St. Louis, building relationships and sponsorship support from businesses and non-profits to support the mission of public media.

Kathy is an experienced media sales professional with expertise in radio, television and print in the St. Louis market. She was the General Sales Manager for Radio One/St. Louis; Director of Sales Strategy and Business Development, Director of Sales, and Account Executive for Charter Media/St. Louis (now Spectrum); and held positions with Suburban Journals of Greater St. Louis, KLOU-FM, KTVI Channel 2, and KDNL Channel 30.

She began her media career as a media buyer, then director, at two St. Louis ad agencies. Kathy has been a huge fan of St. Louis Public radio for many years, and feels she’s now working in her dream job. Her leisure activities include gardening, cooking, traveling to Costa Rica, and enjoying time with her children and five grandchildren.

Shula Neuman

Executive Editor

Shula Neuman is the executive editor at St. Louis Public Radio. She came the station in late 2013 as a subject matter editor, after having worked as an editor for NPR in Washington, D.C. Shula started her journalism career as a general assignment reporter for the Watertown Daily Times and made the switch to radio when she took a job as a reporter/evening newscaster at St. Louis Public Radio. After that, Shula reported on economic development for Cleveland’s public radio station. This is Shula’s second stint with St. Louis Public Radio. She says she just can’t stay away from her hometown because she’s tired of rooting for the Cardinals in absentia. Shula has a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University; an Executive M.B.A. from Washington University in St. Louis; and a bachelor’s from Reed College in Portland, OR. She claims she has no intention of going back to school again.

Maria Altman

Newscast, Business and Education Editor

Maria Altman was named the editor of the newscast, business and education teams in January, 2018. She came to St. Louis Public Radio in 2004 as the local newscaster for All Things Considered and a general assignment reporter. In 2013 she became a business reporter covering economic development, the burgeoning startup community, biotech and Fortune 500 companies. Her work has been aired on NPR’s Morning Edition and All Things Considered, as well as Marketplace and Here and Now. Prior to her time in St. Louis, Maria worked at KERA in Dallas as a newscaster and at WSIU in Carbondale, Ill. She received her graduate degree in Public Affairs Reporting at the University of Illinois-Springfield and her bachelors degree in journalism and history at the University of Iowa. Maria lives in St. Louis with her husband (whom she met at St. Louis Public Radio) and their two children. She is a proud native of Iowa and can happily name every celebrity or historical figure with even the slightest connection to the Hawkeye state.

David Cazares

Health, Science and Arts & Culture Editor

David Cazares supervises coverage of the arts, health and science for St. Louis Public Radio. Before coming to Missouri, he worked as an editor, arts reporter and podcast host for Minnesota Public Radio. He has also worked for newspapers in Florida, Kentucky and Indiana.

Fred Ehrlich

Politics Editor

Fred Ehrlich was named politics editor at St. Louis Public Radio in January 2018. His editing experience includes long stints at the Belleville News-Democrat and St. Louis Post-Dispatch. He is a proud Badger having graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a degree in journalism and political science. Fred grew up in New Jersey as a huge Yankees fan but after 28 years in the St. Louis area he has adopted the Cardinals as his National League team. He fondly hopes for a rematch of the 1964 World Series in the Best Baseball Town in America.

Brian Heffernan

Digital and Special Projects Editor

Brian Heffernan is the digital editor and special projects editor at St. Louis Public Radio. Before coming to the newsroom in April 2018, Brian reported for a variety of publications including Al Jazeera America, St. Louis Magazine, Riverfront Times, San Francisco magazine and the Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette newspapers in South Carolina. He also worked in St. Louis’ burgeoning startup and tech industry as a project manager and quality assurance specialist. A St. Louis native, Brian received both his master’s and bachelor’s degrees of the University of Missouri School of Journalism. When he’s not plunked down in front of a computer screen, Brian enjoys traveling, exploring the outdoors, cooking and playing the very adult, sophisticated game of wiffle ball.

Jonathan Ahl

Rolla Correspondent

Jonathan Ahl reports from the Rolla Bureau for St. Louis Public Radio. His duties also include covering central and southern Missouri for Harvest Public Media. Before coming to St. Louis Public Radio in November of 2018, Jonathan was the General Manager for Tri States Public Radio in Macomb, Illinois. He previously was the News Director at Iowa Public Radio and before that at WCBU in Peoria, Illinois. Jonathan has also held reporting positions in central Illinois for public radio stations.

Jonathan is originally from the Chicago area. He has a B.A. in Music Theory and Composition from Western Illinois University and an M.A. in Public Affairs Reporting from the University of Illinois at Springfield. He is an avid long distance runner, semi-professional saxophonist and die-hard Chicago Cubs fan.

Chad Davis

General Assignment Reporter

Chad Davis is a 2016 graduate of Truman State University where he studied Public Communication and English. At Truman State, Chad served as the executive producer of the on-campus news station, TMN Television. In 2017, Chad joins the St. Louis Public Radio team as the fourth Race and Culture Diversity Fellow. Chad is a native of St. Louis and is a huge hip- hop, r&b, and pop music fan. He also enjoys graphic design, pop culture, film, and comedy.

Kayla Drake

General Assignment Reporter

Kayla Drake is a reporter at St. Louis Public Radio. She joined the newsroom as an intern and stayed on as a 2020 Poynter-Koch Media and Journalism Fellow. Before joining the station, she interned with KMOV, the St. Louis CBS affiliate. As a storyteller, she aims to create dialogue between audiences and issues. Born and raised in St. Louis, Kayla graduated from Lindenwood University with a degree in journalism and actually got her start at her high school’s rock and roll radio station. When off work, she’s either scoping out a new park, binging history podcasts or eating— but definitely not cooking.

Shahla Farzan

Reporter

Shahla Farzan is a reporter at St. Louis Public Radio. She comes most recently from KBBI Public Radio in Homer, Alaska, where she covered issues ranging from permafrost thaw to disputes over prayer in public meetings. A science nerd to the core, Shahla spent six years studying native bees, eventually earning her PhD in ecology from the University of California-Davis. She has also worked as an intern at Capital Public Radio in Sacramento and a podcaster for BirdNote. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, combing flea markets for tchotchkes, and curling up with a good book.

Sarah Fentem

Health Reporter

Sarah Fentem reports on sickness and health as part of St. Louis Public Radio’s news team. She previously spent five years reporting for different NPR stations in Indiana, immersing herself deep, deep into an insurance policy beat from which she may never fully recover.

A longtime NPR listener, she grew up hearing WQUB in Quincy, Illinois, which is now owned by STLPR. She lives in South St. Louis, and in her spare time likes to watch old sitcoms, meticulously clean and organize her home and go on outdoor adventures with her fiancé Elliot. She has a cat, Lil Rock, and a dog, Ginger.

Jeremy Goodwin

Arts & Culture Senior Reporter

Jeremy D. Goodwin joined St. Louis Public Radio in spring of 2018 as a reporter covering arts & culture and co-host of the Cut & Paste podcast. He came to us from Boston and the Berkshires of western Massachusetts, where he covered the same beat as a full-time freelancer, contributing to The Boston Globe, WBUR 90.9 FM, The New York Times and NPR, plus lots of places that you probably haven’t heard of.

He’s also worked in publicity for the theater troupe Shakespeare & Company and Berkshire Museum. For a decade he joined some fellow Phish fans on the board of The Mockingbird Foundation, a charity that has raised over $1.5 million for music education causes and collectively written three books about the band. He’s also written an as-yet-unpublished novel about the physical power of language, haunted open mic nights with his experimental poetry and written and performed a comedic one-man-show that’s essentially a historical lecture about an event that never happened. He makes it a habit to take a major road trip of National Parks every couple of years.

Andrea Henderson

Sharing America Reporter

Andrea Henderson joined St. Louis Public Radio in March 2019, where she covers race, identity and culture as part of the public radio collaborative Sharing America. Andrea comes to St. Louis Public Radio from NPR, where she reported for the race and culture podcast Code Switch and produced pieces for All Things Considered. Andrea’s passion for storytelling began at a weekly newspaper in her hometown of Houston, Texas, where she covered a wide variety of stories including hurricanes, transportation and Barack Obama’s 2009 Presidential Inauguration. Her art appreciation allowed her to cover arts and culture for the Houston African-American business publication, Empower Magazine. She also covered the arts for Syracuse’s Post-Standard and The Post and Courier in Charleston, South Carolina.

Andrea graduated from the University of Texas at Arlington with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and earned her master’s degree in arts journalism from Syracuse University. For three years, she served on the board of the Houston Alliance of Fashion and Beauty as the media chair, and she is a member of the National Association of Black Journalists. When the proud Houstonian is not chasing a story, she enjoys catching up on her shows, getting lost in museums and swimming in tropical waters.

Follow her journey through St. Louis via Twitter and Instagram at @drebjournalist.

Brent Jones

Senior Data Visual Specialist

Brent Jones is a journalist who works with data and design. He joined the St. Louis Beacon after graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Journalism from Southern Illinois University Carbondale in 2007. In the past five years, he has shot photos of the Pevely Dairy fire and flooding in Cairo, Ill.; compiled data on St. Louis’ hottest days and whitest Christmases; edited a 30-minute video on music in Iraq; designed a 150+ page ebook; and produced audio from an improv show and more than 100 Beacon Roundtables. Jones lives in St. Louis, where he has completed a half- and full marathon and sings in a 16-member a capella madrigal ensemble.

Marissanne Lewis-Thompson

Afternoon Newscaster

Marissanne Lewis-Thompson joined St. Louis Public Radio October 2017 as the afternoon newscaster and as a general assignment reporter. She previously spent time as a feature reporter at KRCU in Cape Girardeau, where she covered a wide variety of stories including historic floods, the Bootheel, education and homelessness. In May 2015, she graduated from the University of Missouri with a Bachelor of Journalism degree in Convergence Journalism. She’s a proud Kansas City, Missouri native, where she grew up watching a ton of documentaries on PBS, which inspired her to tell stories. In her free time, she enjoys binge watching documentaries and anime. She may or may not have a problem.

Rachel Lippmann

Justice Correspondent

Rachel Lippmann covers courts, public safety and city politics for St. Louis Public Radio. (She jokingly refers to them as the “nothing ever happens beats.”) She joined the NPR affiliate in her hometown in 2008, after spending two years in Lansing covering the Michigan Capitol and various other state political shenanigans for NPR affiliates there. Though she’s a native St. Louisan, part of her heart definitely remains in the Mitten. (And no, she’s not going to tell you where she went to high school.)

Rachel has an undergraduate degree from the Medill School of Journalism, and a master’s in public affairs reporting from the University of Illinois at Springfield. When she’s not busy pursuing the latest scoop, you can find her mentoring her Big Brothers Big Sisters match, hitting the running and biking paths in south St. Louis, catching the latest sporting event on TV, playing with every dog she possibly can, or spending time with the great friends she’s met in more than nine years in this city.

Rachel’s on Twitter @rlippmann. Even with 240 characters, spellings are still phonetic.

Jo Mannies

Political Reporter

Jo Mannies has been covering Missouri politics and government for over 40 years, much of that time as a reporter and columnist at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. She was the first woman to cover St. Louis City Hall, was the paper’s second woman sportswriter in its history, and spent 4 years in the D.C. bureau. She joined the Beacon in 2009. She has won several local, regional and national awards, and has covered every president since Carter. She scared fellow first-graders in the late 50s when she showed them how close Alaska was to Russia and met Richard M. Nixon when she was in high school. She graduated from Valparaiso University in northwest IN,and was the daughter of a basketball coach. She is married and has two children, both lawyers. She’s a history/movie buff, cultivates a massive flower garden, and bakes banana bread regularly for her colleagues.

Wayne Pratt

Morning Newscaster and Senior Correspondent

Wayne Pratt is a veteran journalist who has made stops at radio stations, wire services and websites throughout North America. He comes to St. Louis Public Radio from Indianapolis, where he was Assistant Managing Editor at www.insideindianabusiness.com. Wayne also launched a local news operation at NPR member station WBAA in West Lafayette, Indiana and spent time as a correspondent for a network of more than 800 stations. His career has included positions in Sydney, Nova Scotia, Toronto, Ontario and Phoenix, Arizona. Wayne grew up near Ottawa, Ontario and moved to the United States in the mid-90s on a dare. Soon after, he met his wife and has been in the U.S. ever since.

Jason Rosenbaum

Politics Correspondent

Since entering the world of professional journalism in the mid-2000s, Jason Rosenbaum dove head first into the world of politics, policy and even rock and roll music. A graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism, Rosenbaum spent more than 4 years in the Missouri State Capitol writing for the Columbia Daily Tribune, Missouri Lawyers Media and the St. Louis Beacon. Since moving to St. Louis in 2010, his work has appeared in Missouri Lawyers Media, the St. Louis Business Journal and in the Riverfront Times’ music section. Rosenbaum lives in Richmond Heights with with his wife Lauren Todd, an engineering librarian at Washington University.

Corinne Ruff

Economic Development Reporter

Corinne Ruff joined St. Louis Public Radio as the economic development reporter in April, 2019. She grew up among the cornfields in Northern Illinois and later earned degrees in Journalism and French at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She has since reported at the international, national and local level on business, education and social justice issues.

Her written work has appeared in a variety of publications including: Retail Dive, The Chronicle of Higher Education, U.S. News & World Report, C-U Citizen Access and The News-Gazette. Before moving to St. Louis to join the public radio family, she worked in Washington D.C. for more than three years. There, she founded the business podcast Conversational Commerce and co-hosted a weekly show on the public radio station WPFW about the intersection of higher education and social justice. When she’s not on the hunt for a good story, you can find her scoping out the local music scene and looking for good eats that don’t involve whatever Provel “cheese” is.

Eric Schmid

Metro East Reporter

Eric Schmid covers the Metro East area in Illinois for St. Louis Public Radio. He joins the news team as its first Report for America corps member and is tasked with expanding KWMU’s coverage east from the Mississippi. Before joining St. Louis Public Radio, Eric held competitive internships at Fox News Channel, NPR-affiliate WSHU Public Radio and AccuWeather. As a news fellow at WSHU’s Long Island Bureau, he covered governments and environmental issues as well as other general assignments.

Eric grew up in Fort Collins, Colorado, but traveled east to attend Stony Brook University in New York where he earned his degree in Journalism in 2018. When he’s off the clock, Eric enjoys spending time outside hiking and bicycling or simply lounging in one of St. Louis’ many green spaces.

Aaron Doerr

Production Assistant

Aaron’s first glimpse into the world of audio production came during his high school band practices in the 90’s when they recorded themselves for reference and, later, for early social media websites - think Myspace and Napster. But as the oldest child with access to the family video camera it was actually in the late 80’s when Aaron first began playing with video production experimenting with perspective illusions, stop and start techniques and sound effects in homemade videos with siblings and friends. The fun he had as a kid got serious in college when a Practicum in Radio class at UMSL introduced him to the professional world of radio and audio production - right here at 90.7 KWMU.

“It really is exciting” he says talking about the energy of live radio “…it’s like an airplane taking off. You feel all this energy here [in the studio] with all these people running around and figuring things out and you’ve just done mic checks and you’re monitoring air control for the handoff and then you hit the button and give a big [here Aaron raises his hand and with a flourish points forward with a loud whooshing noise]… it’s just fun.” In 2001 Aaron changed his academic focus from art to audio and earned an audio engineering degree from Webster University. Having returned to KWMU to for an internship requirement his graduating year he was hired as part time production assistant in 2004.

A typical shift of St. Louis On The Air sees Aaron, usually working alongside an intern (full circle moment) positioning microphones, cueing the start of the show, balancing audio levels, playing music breaks, airing call-ins, and fading in theme music. And there really are a lot of people in the room: there’s two or three producers monitoring show content, social media engagement, potential podcast excerpts. There’s a call screener too and when the room gets noisy Aaron puts on a (very nice pair of) headphones and zeros in.
Post production duties include editing the show and recording re-takes for the re-air if necessary, recording and uploading promos for the next day’s show, and separating the program into segments for the podcast.
Show inside jokes include yelling “Hit the dump!” when anyone on the air says something that could be construed as vulgar, and “Cue [song name]” when anyone on the air mentions something (even remotely) related to a famous song.

Aaron teaches guitar and bass guitar full time from his home studio in the Lindenwood Park neighborhood of south St. Louis city where he also hosts jam sessions for his adult students, live streams improvisational music over NASA tv on twitch, and maintains a growing collection of audio equipment. His wife Amy earned her PhD in Psychology from UMSL in 2010 and their dog Tallis has an adorable instagram account.

Sarah Fenske

St. Louis on the Air Host/Producer

Sarah Fenske joined St. Louis Public Radio as host of St. Louis on the Air in July 2019. Before that, she spent twenty years in newspapers, working as a reporter, columnist and editor in Cleveland, Houston, Phoenix, Los Angeles and St. Louis.

She won the Livingston Award for Young Journalists for her work in Phoenix exposing corruption at the local housing authority. She also won numerous awards for column writing, including multiple first place wins from the Arizona Press Club, the Association of Women in Journalism (the Clarion Awards) and the National Society of Newspaper Columnists.

From 2015 to July 2019, Sarah was editor in chief of St. Louis’ alt-weekly, the Riverfront Times. She and her husband, John, are raising their two young daughters and ill-behaved border terrier in Lafayette Square.

Lara Hamdan

St. Louis on the Air Producer

Lara Hamdan joined St. Louis Public Radio as the news intern in 2017. A year later, she became a producer for St. Louis on the Air. A St. Louis native, Lara graduated with a degree in journalism from Webster University. She is a cat-mom to Sali and Sami, a lover of traveling, fluent in English and Arabic – and in eating falafel sandwiches and veggie burgers. She enjoys discovering new people and gems in the city throughout her work at St. Louis Public Radio.

Evie Hemphill

St. Louis on the Air Producer

Evie Hemphill joined the St. Louis on the Air team in February 2018. After earning a bachelor’s degree in English literature in 2005, she started her career as a reporter for the Westminster Window in Colorado. Several years later she went on to pursue graduate work in creative writing at the University of Wyoming and moved to St. Louis upon earning an MFA in the spring of 2010. She worked as writer and editor for Washington University Libraries until 2014 and then spent several more years in public relations for the University of Missouri–St. Louis before making the shift to St. Louis Public Radio. When she’s not helping to produce the talk show, Evie can typically be found navigating the city sans car, volunteering for St. Louis BWorks or trying to get the majority of the dance steps correct as a member of the Thunder & Lightning Cloggers of Southern Illinois. She’s married to Joe, cat-mom to Dash and rather obsessive about doubt, certitude and the places where refuge and risk intersect.

Alex Heuer

St. Louis on the Air Executive Producer

Alex Heuer joined St. Louis Public Radio in 2012 and is the executive producer of St. Louis on the Air. Alex grew up in the St. Louis area. He began his public radio career as a student reporter at Tri States Public Radio in Macomb, Illinois and worked for a few years at Iowa Public Radio. Alex graduated summa cum laude from Western Illinois University with a degree in history and earned a teaching certificate in 6 - 12th grade social studies. In 2016, he earned a Master of Public Policy Administration with a focus in nonprofit organization management and leadership from the University of Missouri-St. Louis. He has won local and national awards for reporting and producing and his stories have been featured nationally on Morning Edition and All Things Considered.

Emily Woodbury

St. Louis on the Air Senior Producer

Emily Woodbury joined the St. Louis on the Air team in July 2019. Prior to that, she worked at Iowa Public Radio as a producer for two daily, statewide talk programs. She is a graduate of the University of Iowa with a degree in journalism and a minor in political science. She got her start in news radio by working at her college radio station as a news director. Emily enjoys playing roller derby, working with dogs, and playing games – both video and tabletop.

Jade Harrell

Director, On-Demand and Community Partnerships

Jade Harrell has been part of the programming team since October 2018 as an announcer on weeknights and weekends. Jade comes to St. Louis Public Radio as a TEDx Speaker, radio and television host and producer. Her passion for community and storytelling matured at iHeart Radio, where she was host and producer of legacy community affairs program, “Sunday Morning Live” for over 13 years. Thousands of person-to-person interviews and decades of committed work in radio, television and media production have afforded Jade the opportunity to positively impact the lives of people all over the world. She has the unique ability to connect with people of diverse backgrounds, circumstances and environments. Her mission is to make a tangible, positive impact on the world and add value to the life of every person she encounters. She has become recognized for her passion, commitment to community, quality content, and authentic positive energy.

Jade is one of ten TedX Gateway Arch speakers (“Ripple Effect” 2017). She was recently named as one of St. Louis’ 50 Most Intriguing Women, Power 100 and Social Influencers (Delux Magazine). She’s been awarded with the “What’s Right with the Region!” Award and Grace Hill Women’s Business Center’s “Wall of Fame”. Jade has been featured in the St. Louis Business Journal, Cortex “People”, the St. Louis American newspaper and on KSDK-Channel 5. She helped to launch several successful podcasts and served as co-host and producer of the #1 Health & Fitness podcast on Apple Podcasts, “The Model Health Show”.

Although her reach is global, she maintains positive impact locally. She is consistently hired as keynote speaker, emcee and facilitator for events and programs with non-profit organizations, educational institutions and private sector entities.

A native of Denver, Colorado, Jade graduated from Hampton University with a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration then entered the corporate arena as an executive in administration, marketing and PR. She worked with Coca-Cola Corporate Headquarters, UPS International PR and GE Capital Commercial Direct before becoming an independent consultant and producer.

Jade is constantly curious and loves to create. She is most happy when “in the lab”, in the kitchen, engaged in meaningful exchange, immersed in story or in adventures with her family.

Jade and husband Christopher are parents to five children and giant rescued dog, “Rocky”.

Follow her adventures via Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at @mrsjadeharrell

Lauren Brown

We Live Here Host/Producer

Lauren Brown holds a Bachelor of Journalism degree from the University of Missouri where she also studied Social Justice. Lauren joined St. Louis Public Radio in June 2019 as an associate producer for the We Live Here podcast. In March 2020 she became the co-host and producer for We Live Here. In August 2020 she worked as a freelancer with American Public Media on an hour long documentary about the racial climate on college campuses titled Black at Mizzou: Confronting race on campus. She is a native of the Chicagoland area and is a huge fan of music from Neo-Soul to Hip-Hop, hence her vinyl collection.

Jia Lian Yang

We Live Here Host/Lead Producer

Jia Lian Yang holds a Master of Social Work from Washington University in St. Louis and a Master of Divinity from Eden Theological Seminary. She is the co-founder of the St. Louis-based Who Raised You? podcast, which explores culture and family with a focus on stories from people of color. The show won the Arts & Education Council of St. Louis’ 2018 stARTup competition and was named the best local podcast of 2019 in St. Louis Magazine. Jia brings her experience with LGBTQ advocacy, mental health, workers’ rights, mutual aid, anti-racism and the arts to her coverage.

Jim Althoff

Alternate Host

Jim Althoff fills in for regular hosts when the need arises. Jim is a life-long radio guy. He’s done jazz in San Francisco, classical music here in St. Louis and many years of talk radio in between--in San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, Milwaukee and St. Louis. Married to Andee for almost 25 years, he is the proud father of two sons, Harry, a senior at Truman State University, and Daniel, a Parkway high school student. In between his gigs with St. Louis Public Radio and the classical station, Jim works as a substitute teacher in the Parkway district and does a little writing. He’s long been a fan of public radio and is delighted to be associated with NPR, PRI and the other providers through St. Louis Public Radio.

Charlie McDonald

Afternoon Host

Charlie McDonald is your guide for afternoon listening Monday through Friday on 90.7 FM. He made his radio debut in Southeast New Mexico as an announcer. Over the years he worked for stations in Nebraska, Kansas, Cape Girardeau, MO, and Columbia, IL before settling in St. Louis. Charlie has been an announcer, producer, audio engineer and news-person for a variety of stations, and stays active with voice-overs and audio recording projects. He also has taught students with special needs ranging from Kindergarten to High School age. He earned a Master’s Degree in Special Education from UMSL in 2012. Charlie is a former adjunct instructor for UMSL, teaching a course in digital sound, recording and production. Prior to joining our station as a weekend announcer, he worked for 11 years as a show host, audio engineer and producer for KFUO (Classic 99) FM and AM. Charlie’s lovely wife June tolerates his free-time activities (to a point!), which include playing guitar and keyboards, and dabbling with home recording.

Greg Munteanu

Mid-Day Host

Greg Munteanu is the mid-day host at Saint Louis Public Radio. Greg obtained his degree in audio production from Webster University in Saint Louis, where he hosted a Grateful Dead themed show on The Galaxy, a student-run radio station. A loyal listener for many years, he has been involved with Saint Louis Public Radio as an intern and volunteer since 2010; you may have heard his name mentioned on Saint Louis on the Air, where he has helped with production and served as board operator. Greg cooks, teaches guitar, gardens, and records lots of music when he is not at the station’s helm.

Mike Schrand

Morning Host

Mike Schrand began his radio career at St. Louis Public Radio as an intern and volunteer from 1986 to 1988. Schrand worked on-air in various capacities until 1992. After a short stint in the corporate world, he returned as a weekend announcer in 1995, and in 1996 was hired full time. Schrand has served as Traffic Director, Assistant Program Director, Program Director, and Operations and Program Manager before moving into the Morning Host position. In his spare time he writes, sings, and plays bass in the local roots quartet Salt Of The Earth, and enjoys down time with his family.

Nick Acquisto

Announcer/Host

Nick Acquisto started at St. Louis Public Radio in May of 2019 as a weekend announcer. A St. Louis native, he served as Music Director at the St. Louis community radio station, KDHX for eight years and hosted and programmed the art-pop and new music show, The Space Parlour there for fifteen. The show often featured performances and interviews with local and national artists. He has a lifelong passion for public radio, music, current events and new media.

Nick has a degree in interactive digital media and a minor in audio production from Webster University. He and his wife, Emily, enjoy time with their three children, experiencing live music and travel.

Cindy Collins

Announcer/Host

Jeff Franklin

Weekend Announcer

Jeff Franklin is weekend morning announcer and weeknight back up announcer and has been with KWMU-90.7 since July 2013. Jeff also does voice over work for the Jazz Channel KWMU-2. Jeff started in public radio as a board operator/announcer at WUSF-89.7 Tampa Florida in 1999. He later hosted Jazz All Night four nights per week and hosted and produced “Jazz Focus” on Sunday Evenings.

Jeff attended Ball State University majoring in History and English and learned computer skills at ITT Tech. Jeff is an Army veteran and has travelled extensively through Europe, India, and Mexico. He moved to St Louis from Florida to be closer to family in 2013. Jeff enjoys voice over work, mobile DJing, Renn Faires, Science Fiction, wine festivals and all music especially Jazz.

Nick Garcia

Weekend Announcer

Nick Garcia is your weekend evening announcer on 90.7 FM. After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in marketing from the University of Missouri St. Louis, Nick launched an internet radio station devoted to St. Louis music in the summer of 2012, and soon came to St. Louis Public Radio to host a show celebrating and interviewing various music makers in the region. Nick’s love for public radio began while listening to Car Talk when driving to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, where he worked during college.

He also currently works with an agency based in Nashville where he manages social media accounts for Live Nation clubs and theaters across the United States.

Nick is a native of North St. Louis County and enjoys playing guitar, taking photographs, seeing live comedy, and taking time to unplug in nature. He’s also a strong believer that one of the day’s important decisions is which vinyl record to play while making breakfast - when he’s not listening to Morning Edition, of course.

Rod Milam

Part-Time Announcer

Rod Milam is a broadcaster originally from University City, MO. He started in radio as an engineering student on KMNR in Rolla, MO. Eventually, he changed majors and started working at KDHX and KWMU in the early 90s on the air as an announcer. At KWMU he helped start the talk show “Cityscape/Talk of St. Louis” before it became “St. Louis on the Air”. He later, simultaneously, also worked in the news and sports departments as a reporter at KMOX in the late 90s. He did correspondent work for CBS Radio, CNN Radio, the AP, Radio France Internationale, and others while in St. Louis, and then moved to Tokyo, Japan and did freelance reporting while teaching English. After reporting for CBS and CNN during the 9/11 attacks, Rod eventually moved to New York City, but left media for several years upon arriving. After the 2008 financial crisis, he went back to media in the form of a videographer, video producer/director, voiceover artist, and documentarian based in New York City. He came back to St. Louis after more than a dozen years and has worked with the arts and culture channel HEC Media both in front of and behind the camera. He’s served as one of the producers of the local theatre review show “Two on the Aisle”, producer of the podcast “Talking with Authors”, and worked on Mid-American Emmy award winning video teams for the website Educate.Today. Now, while back at St. Louis Public Radio after 20+ years, he fills in hosting on the air when needed, be it during the early morning hours for Morning Edition, in the afternoon with All Things Considered, or at noon for St. Louis on the Air. He’s also brought some video productions for web distribution to St. Louis Pubic Radio for the Events and News departments.

Dennis Bentley

Support Systems Administrator

From Cadiz, Kentucky, Dennis has been an avid radio-head since childhood. As a teenager, he used to hang out at a rural AM. station and used what he observed there to build a small, but fully functional radio station in his bedroom out of used and barely working electronics.

After completing an Associates in Applied Aerospace Science/Instructor of Technology Community College of the Air Force and a Bachelor of Science degree in Occupational Education from Wayland Baptist College, Dennis rose through the ranks of the United States Air Force. During his nine years of service, he taught electronics (starting at age 18) and communications and weather equipment, including radar, teletype, card punch, and crypto. He was stationed in Northern Japan for three years.

After the Air Force, Dennis spent over 25 years in corporate IT.

Dennis’ passion for both quality journalism and the ‘magic’ of radio never waned. After moving to the St. Louis area in 2006, he permanently set his car radios to 90.7 and no other station. He began working as St. Louis Public Radio’s Support Systems Administrator in 2017.

Mary Edwards

St. Louis Symphony Producer

Mary Edwards came to St. Louis Public Radio in 1974, just after finishing her Bachelor of Music degree at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. She has served the station in a number of capacities over the years.

From 1988-2014 she also taught an undergraduate class in radio production at Webster University. Mary was inducted into the St. Louis Media History Foundation Media Hall of Fame in April, 2017 and received the Gateway Media Literacy Partners’ Charles Klotzer Media Literacy Award in 2012. Mary retired from St. Louis Public Radio in 2018, but still serves the station as a St. Louis Symphony Producer.

Daryl McQuinn

Director of Technology

Daryl McQuinn is a 35-year veteran of radio engineering, having worked at stations and radio groups in Texas, Illinois and Missouri (including, coincidentally, a couple of years in the 1990s at KMST-Rolla, now part of St. Louis Public Radio). Early in his career, Daryl realized that that radio was rapidly evolving from tape players and vinyl records to computers and hard drives and has since made it his mission to stay on top of the latest and greatest technology. With the help of his team, his goal at STLPR is to keep the state-of-the-art equipment and computers in top shape, so that the rest of the staff can do their jobs without frustration. He’s happiest when everything is working properly!

In his free time, Daryl enjoys listening to and playing music; he started learning the guitar when he was eight years old and played in bands throughout high school, college and beyond. He still likes to perform and is keeping his skills up by currently teaching himself the electric upright bass. When not working, playing music, attending concerts or mixing music that he records in his “laboratory,” Daryl likes to travel with his wife Liz; they have visited more than 40 countries as far-flung as Greenland, Bali and Antarctica. He also likes to edit their travel videos down to something someone would actually like to watch. They really like living in the St. Louis area and the city’s many cultural institutions, especially the Missouri Botanical Garden, which his father-in-law headed for many years. He also likes helping others with their audio projects, most recently volunteering with the International Institute to help them with their broadcasting initiatives.

A native of Edwardsville, Illinois, Daryl graduated from Lewis and Clark Community College with an associate’s degree in radio and TV technology and then earned his bachelor’s degree in mass communications and music from Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville. As a student, he worked at the university’s public radio station, WSIE, in a variety of roles, from music librarian to on-air announcer. He is delighted to have come full circle back to public radio.

Spencer Reed

Traffic Director

Spencer Reed has been Overlord of Traffic for KWMU since 2004. By "traffic" we mean radio announcements and shows on our air, not the delays of automobiles on highways. He is our resident comic, making holiday parties merry with his prank gifts. A half-Brit military brat, he serves southern Illinois as a soccer referee. He is the father of twins.

Rufus Moore

Director, Sponsorship Sales

Prior to joining St. Louis Public Radio, Rufus Moore worked in business development and sales at several Fortune 500 companies and served in strategic positions at the National level. He has over 20+ years’ experience in sales, sales management, marketing, project management, and strategic planning. Notable is his former years as Regional Business Development for Clear Channel, where he secured major sponsorship and other partnering initiatives.

Rufus’ greatest strengths are his creativity, drive and leadership. He thrives on challenges, particularly those that expand the company’s reach and development of people.

Rufus serves on several boards as Chair and Co-Chair in his community. He has also been involved in volunteer work for the Y.E.S. Foundation, including heading up the NFL High School Player Development Football Camps in his community, with the F.B.I. citizens academy helping to foster and bridge relationships in the community.

Rufus and his wife live in Saint Louis. They have two adult sons and one teenage son. In his free time, Rufus likes to serve the youth sports community, in a mentor, and coach capacity.

Kathy Parks

Corporate Accounts Manager

Kathy Parks has been the Corporate Accounts Sales Manager since December, 2014, managing the underwriting team of four Account Executives under the leadership of Market Enginuity. Market Enginuity proudly represents public radio and television stations in 18 markets, including St. Louis, building relationships and sponsorship support from businesses and non-profits to support the mission of public media.

Kathy is an experienced media sales professional with expertise in radio, television and print in the St. Louis market. She was the General Sales Manager for Radio One/St. Louis; Director of Sales Strategy and Business Development, Director of Sales, and Account Executive for Charter Media/St. Louis (now Spectrum); and held positions with Suburban Journals of Greater St. Louis, KLOU-FM, KTVI Channel 2, and KDNL Channel 30.

She began her media career as a media buyer, then director, at two St. Louis ad agencies. Kathy has been a huge fan of St. Louis Public radio for many years, and feels she’s now working in her dream job. Her leisure activities include gardening, cooking, traveling to Costa Rica, and enjoying time with her children and five grandchildren.

Pax Baker

Account Manager, Corporate Sponsorship

As a musician, some of her favorite programs are Cut & Paste, the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra broadcast, and Classical 90.7 KWMU-3, just to name a few. Pax holds a Bachelor of Arts in Vocal Music from the University of Missouri-Columbia and a Masters in Arts Management and Leadership from Webster University. When she’s not in the office, she’s exploring what St. Louis has to offer with her fiancée and Vivian, the sassiest pup in the world.

Jeff Bewley

Associate Development Director, Major Gifts

Jeff Bewley has been with St. Louis Public Radio since January 2010. He has been involved with major gift fundraising for over 23 years, working for a number of organizations in St. Louis: St. Louis University, the St. Louis Zoo, and St. Louis Science Center. He holds a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville with an emphasis in non-profit management. He received his undergraduate degree in Art History from Webster University.

Maria Bradford

Associate Development Director, Major Gifts

Maria is an experienced fundraiser who has worked with the Saint Louis Zoo, St. Louis Black Repertory Company and Grand Center, Inc. among others. Her great satisfaction in life has been to help people find creative ways to support the causes they care about. Before joining the staff at St. Louis Public Radio she worked at the St. Louis Community Foundation to help nonprofit organizations access funding opportunities. She is a Certified Fund Raising Executive and holds master’s degrees in business administration and arts administration from Southern Methodist University.

Sophie Broz

Special Events Coordinator

Sophie has been a KWMU listener for as long as she can remember. She fondly reminisces about listening to Car Talk every weekend growing up and becoming obsessed with Fresh Air and 1A in college.

Sophie joined St. Louis Public Radio as an intern in January 2018 and transitioned to a full time position that April. She loves that her role as Special Events Coordinator gives her the opportunity to play a role in the relationship between St. Louis Public Radio and the community we serve.

In her free time Sophie enjoys travelling, gardening, and practicing yoga.

Geoffrey Burton

Account Manager, Corporate Sponsorship

Lisa Custalow

Senior Development Officer

When Lisa Custalow was little, she dreamed of having her own radio advice show on pet issues. Think Car Talk, but for cats and dogs. A dream undoubtedly spurred by the hours spent listening to NPR with her family. As an adult, Lisa prefers to work behind the scenes as development coordinator at St. Louis Public Radio. She is excited to be part of an organization that is doing so much to connect the community, whether that be through news coverage, personal stories, or other programming.

In her spare time, Lisa enjoys hiking with her husband and two dogs, as well as cuddling with her cats while listening to podcasts. She also enjoys needleworking, scouring local thrift shops, and attempting to play piano and ukulele.

Leslie Davis

Special Events Director

Leslie Davis comes to St. Louis Public Radio as a long-time listener and NPR groupie. She brings twenty years of experience in event and program management along with a strong commitment to St. Louis and the region to her role as Special Event Director.

Leslie joins us from the John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics at Washington University. Prior to that she worked for Destination St. Louis and Clipper Cruise Line. She is an active leader and member of several local nonprofit organizations. She earned her B.A. from University of Missouri-St. Louis and her M.A. from Washington University’s Nonprofit Management Program.

Leslie loves exploring the many gems that St. Louis has to offer, working through her never-ending list of restaurants to try, traveling, keeping up with the latest movies and recovering from the frenzy of events curled up on the couch with a good book.

Kiriana Mack-Hansen

Senior Development Officer, Major Gifts

Kiriana Mack-Hansen is a lifetime NPR devotee who joined St. Louis Public Radio in 2019. She manages communications with STLPR’s Cornerstone Society members and works to bring these donors into a closer relationship with the station. The urgent and essential mission of public media is what inspired Kiriana to join it, and she is especially inspired by those individuals who make that mission possible. She considers it a privilege to work directly with some of the station’s most dedicated and engaged supporters.

Kiriana grew up in Nashville and attended University of Pittsburgh, where she studied Art History, English Literature, and Italian. She comes to St. Louis from Springfield, MO, where she spent four years (that’s 24 pledge drives!) in Membership at Ozarks Public Broadcasting. Prior to her career in public media, she worked in curatorial departments at non-profit art institutions in Pittsburgh, London, and Springfield.

When she’s not at work, Kiri enjoys traveling, working on her creative writing, seeking out the latest art exhibitions, and looking for the best places to do yoga around St. Louis. She obsessively collects vintage paperbacks, is an admitted dessert snob, and loves a good Old Fashioned.

Linda Reich

Account Manager, Corporate Sponsorship

Linda Reich has enjoyed working at St. Louis Public Radio since 2004 as a Corporate Accounts Representative. During this time, she has developed strong friendships and strategic partnerships with her clients…who value their brand alignment with NPR. In her free time, Linda enjoys (in random order)…yoga, tennis, travelling, music and family.

Dan Seymour

Fundraising Data Manager

Dan has taken a bit of a circuitous route to his role at St. Louis Public Radio. First a public school music teacher, then an account executive at a friend’s electronics startup, then a business manager at a shelter, then… skipping the country for a few years to teach English overseas, and then finally returning to the U.S. and settling in St. Louis. Even though he is a transplant, Dan was raised on public radio (WITF in eastern PA) and is thrilled to be a part of the STLPR family today.

Erin Sutter

Public Media Community Accounts Specialist

Erin loves music, theatre, and the performing arts; cultivated by a childhood spent tagging along with her musician father on his various gigs. She had the opportunity to grow up backstage, which is a magical place! It fueled a curiosity about how things work. She always wants to be behind the scenes, dig deeper, and unravel the mysterious.

Erin holds a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from Roosevelt University. Erin’s background includes event planning, marketing, sales, and stellar customer service. Public media has always been an essential part of her daily life, so she is ecstatic to be part of the team generating revenue for St. Louis Public Radio.

Erin’s favorite things aren’t things, except books, she would be lost without books! She loves nature, espresso and spending time with friends and family. Erin is devoted to her basset hound, Betty. Coming home to an elated dog is one of life’s greatest pleasures.

Jackie Wagner

Account Manager, Corporate Sponsorship

A big fan of public media, Jackie Wagner is thrilled to be a part of the team at STL Public Radio. She thrives on interacting with and assisting her clients. Her world revolves around family, coffee, restaurants, books, museums, and yoga…and who Terry Gross is interviewing next!

Madalyn Painter

Director of Marketing & Digital Media

As the Director of Marketing & Digital Media for St. Louis Public Radio, Madalyn Painter works to move audiences to deeper levels of loyalty to our service to the community. She and her team provide targeted marketing, business intelligence, and visual design and support the station’s digital products and strategy.

Since joining KWMU in 2006, she has helped transform stlpublicradio.org into a regional news destination, with well over 500% growth in site visits.

Previously, she worked in communications and digital media for KETC/Channel 9 (Nine Network of Public Media). She started her career in marketing in 2000 as a copywriter and website designer. Her professional awards include four regional and one national Edward R. Murrow Award.

Her master’s degree in social work, from Saint Louis University, instilled values of collaboration, listening, and evidence-based practice — all surprisingly applicable to marketing. She’s also a proud former English major, with a bachelor’s degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia, and enjoys drawing and poetry.

She grew up in the forested Ozark mountains and still dreams about moss-covered boulders, cold Bull Creek, and the sound of spring peeper frogs. In the city, she delights in gardens — her own and any others into which she can wander.

David Kovaluk

Visual Communication Specialist

David Kovaluk is a visual artist living in St. Louis. He has a Bachelor’s degree in photography from Webster University, and he currently works for St. Louis Public Radio as their creative everyman. His day-to-day responsibilities tend to be a mashup of graphic design, web design, photography and any other visual design challenge the station can throw at him. David is decidedly a cat person, loves a good DIY project, collects vintage cameras and lenses, and believes fluorite is the most beautiful mineral.

Alex Rice

Digital Media Developer

Alex Rice is a Digital Media Developer at St. Louis Public Radio. He studied Web Design and Web Development at Southwestern Illinois College and is responsible for making web updates, designing back-end systems, and building and maintaining digital technology at the station.

Alex landed a job at the station in 2019 after an extended internship and sees his future in building web solutions for non-profits. Outside of the station, Alex is a foodie and sushi aficionado.

Brendan Williams

Digital Product Lead

As the Digital Product Lead, Brendan works with departments across the station in maintaining the digital presence of St. Louis Public Radio while also managing the station’s digital communications. Brendan comes to St. Louis Public Radio following an internship with The Nine Network of Public Media, working on the Emmy Award-winning American Graduate initiative. He is a graduate of Saint Louis University where he studied journalism, visual communication and Italian.

Melody Freeman

Director, Business Administration

As a long time employee of The University of Missouri-St. Louis, Melody joined St. Louis Public Radio in March of 2018 as a Financial Accountant/Analyst with the Finance and Administration team. Now, as Director of Business Administration Melody will continue to help oversee the business and fiscal functions of the station while working with the leadership team and staff to support the station’s mission. According to Melody, being able to work for an organization that she admires feels like “having my cake and eating it too, it is a pleasure!”

Whenever she can, Melody volunteers or serves on committees with her son’s school district and her neighborhood association. She is a member of the Chancellor’s Cultural Diversity Council (CCDC) and a former volunteer with the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program. Her free time is spent enjoying time with family, reading a good book, listening to public radio programs, watching HGTV, and listening to music, especially the magnificent playlists prepared by her husband. Her enjoyment of the STLPR award winning podcast “We Live Here” has helped to grow her interest in podcasts and the wonderful stories and learning opportunities that come from them. Her family has also been involved in youth sports for many years with a particular passion for baseball. She has visited almost every youth sports park in the Metro St. Louis area and quite a few in other states. The easiest way to describe her family’s relationship with baseball is to Google, “If You Give a Boy a Baseball.” It pretty much sums up her life as a baseball mom.

Jess Luther

Senior Operations Specialist

Jess Luther is the senior operations specialist in the Office of the General Manager. She spent the first six years of her tenure at the station working in finance and administration. Jess’ efforts are now focused on internal and board communications along with talent and culture initiatives, all of which provide the distinct satisfaction of having used one’s college degree (hers is in English from Truman State University). A St. Louis-area native, by her early 20s Jess had lived in Bridgeton, Ferguson, St. Charles, St. Peters, O’Fallon, Bellefontaine Neighbors, and Maplewood. She has been proudly relinquishing 1% of her income for almost a decade as a resident of St. Louis City proper.

Marquetta Wise

Senior Business Assistant