Meghan Mueller

She is the associate executive director at the Homeless Alliance where she has worked since 2013. She specializes in administration and community practice. She believes strongly in the intrinsic value and worth of every person and believes that her practice should reflect that value. She has extensive experience building collaborative relationships with social service providers as well as experience with grant writing and administration, program design and implementation, supervision and team leading, data collection and reporting, and public speaking. She is one of only 4 social workers in the state of Oklahoma to hold an advanced license in social work administration. Meghan is a fellow for the Interdisciplinary Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities program and has professional and research experience with youth, poverty, homelessness and people with disabilities. She has worked with the University of Oklahoma as a Field Instructor and an adjunct professor with the Anne and Henry Zarrow School of Social Work. She believes that housing is a basic human right and that all of our friends and neighbors deserve the dignity of a place to call home. Meghan lives in OKC with her husband and daughters. They enjoy hanging out outside together with their dog.

Dan Short

For more than fifty years Dan has served in leadership positions in both not for profit and for profit ventures. Among them as Executive VP of the Oklahoma Heart Center, Director of Catholic Charities, Co- Founder of AMCAT( A telemarketing software firm ),  a licensed Financial Planner with FIG Financial Services.

With his wife Gae, he co founded Mustard Seed Community Development and served as Director for twenty years. They moved into the 73114 zip code in OKC, one of the poorest and most challenging areas in Oklahoma.

He has helped establish numerous non profits and provided consultation and mentoring to many organizations in both the profit and non profit sectors. He currently serves as a Board member of Outrageous Love and Joe’s Addiction, a community practicing Non Violence and radical love for every person, even so called enemies.

Recently his first book was published, The Santa Claus Chronicles, Heartwarming Tales of a Real Life Santa. Dan loves Jesus and Justice. He is often respectfully referred to as a “troublemaker for Jesus.”

Heidi Smith

With a background in administration, Heidi Smith has specialized in non-profit finance, operations and governance for the past 15 years. Her community service includes a current appointment to the City of Norman Social & Voluntary Services Commission, volunteering for the Community Development Block Grant Policy Committee, and past service on the City of Norman Children’s Right Commission.

“Thriving non-profit service agencies are an essential segment of the social safety nets. I would make it about 26 minutes as a social worker/ direct service provider; Non-profit operations gives me a place to use the skill set I have to be of service to vulnerable members of our community.

Aside from her life as a non-profit finance geek, she is an actual sci-fi geek, principal fandom - Star Trek; Jean Luc Picard is her Captain. Her other interests include finding casseroles that freeze beautifully , discovering the perfect chocolate cake (flourless anything is not an actual cake), taking up craft specialties long enough to complete one project (maybe), and watching Monty Don on Gardener’s World from the BBC.

Chanda Graham

An attorney, former judge and professional vocalist, no one who knows Chanda Graham is surprised to see her transition from the courtroom to the stage. Born and raised in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Chanda routinely juggles her attorney and music personas, working through both to enhance the live music scene in Oklahoma. 

As an attorney, Chanda has extensive experience as a general counsel having served in this capacity with several governmental entities, focusing primarily on employment and labor issues with an emphasis in policymaking and employee relations. She was previously an Assistant City Attorney in Stillwater, Oklahoma, also focusing on employment and labor issues. Chanda has also served as a municipal judge for the City of Oklahoma City, presiding over an arraignment and jail docket. Presently, she is in private practice, with an emphasis on civil litigation and entertainment law. Chanda also serves as Town Attorney for the Town of Arcadia, serving as general counsel and prosecutor. 

With deep roots in gospel, Chanda has been blessed to share the stage with gospel giants Kirk Franklin, Donnie McClurkin, the Clark Sisters, and Kim Burrell, to name a few. Transitioning from gospel to jazz and blues was a natural progression in her musical expression. She has played with the best in local talent, including the Jeremy Thomas Quartet, Matt Stansberry and the Romance, Eldredge Jackson and Listening Pleasure, Taylormade Jazz, BluFonk, Mark Gibson, Jared Deck and many others. She was honored to perform with Blake Shelton on the NBC special “Clash of the Choirs,” and also appeared with Shelton in an opener for NASCAR. Chanda is also a studio vocalist, recording regularly for Grammy nominated, Wes Sharon at 115 Recording, The Music Group and independent music artists of every genre. 

Five years ago, Chanda made her debut as a solo jazz and blues artist and has become one of the most sought-after singers in Oklahoma, headlining the Arcadia Blues Festival in 2017, appearing as a featured artist for the Oklahoma Blues Society as well as Saints Sessions, Deep Deuce Sessions City Sounds at Artspace at Untitled, Duet Jazz Club in Tulsa, OK and the Arts Council of Oklahoma City. Chanda also hosts Live Jazz & Blues Mondays at ICE Event Center, which has quickly become an OKC destination for music artists around the state and beyond and has provided her the opportunity to perform with the most incredible musicians around. 

In 2018, Chanda made her Musical Theatre debut at the Sooner Theatre in Norman, OK, in her favorite musical, Hairspray, playing her favorite character, Motormouth Maybelle. Since that time, she has played roles in two other musical productions, Nunsense and Sister Act. 

Chanda previously served as a Board Member on the Board of Artspace at Untitled, self-described as “an all-encompassing art center in the Deep Deuce district of downtown Oklahoma City . . . provid[ing] free community programming including live music, visiting artists, talks, quality exhibitions, film screenings and related community discussions. Presently, she serves on the programming committee of The Depot in Norman, OK, which is responsible for creating, managing and producing all live music performance related programs. 

Ethan was born in a tiny missionary hospital in West Kenya. He wasn’t expected to live, and was seen as a blessing to his loving parents and the people they served. His childhood was spent properly; playing with homemade footballs, monkey poop, and discarded bike tires. The rhythm and flows of Kenyan life ingrained themselves on Ethan permanently. 

After graduating from college in Texas, Ethan started serving in whatever capacity he could. This led to dozens of adventures around the globe, culminating in an incredible, chaotic, and beautiful five years as the manager of Joe’s Addiction. 

As he worked, Ethan simultaneously discovered a desire to help his friends at Joe’s with their legal questions, and a frustration with the lack of compassionate representation that had tangentially impacted those friends. Taking the plunge, he (somehow) made it into law school. 

Amazingly, Jamie and the rest of the staff at Joe’s missed Ethan, and asked if he would join Joe’s board of directors. Delighted, Ethan hopes to continue to serve with an abundance of love and passion.

Lindsay Cates believes that people closest to community challenges also hold the greatest insight and leadership. Her work is guided by a commitment to shared power, inclusive decision making, and ensuring communities are not only heard, but actively shaping the solutions that affect their lives.

Throughout her more than 15 years of experience, Lindsay has worked across nonprofits, government, and philanthropy to support capacity building, strengthen partnerships, and align resources with community priorities.

She is driven by a desire to build trust between funders and practitioners and approaches her work with humility, accountability, and a commitment to shared learning. Outside of her professional work, Lindsay loves her family fiercely, enjoys finding new bands and live music, soaks up any chance to be outside, and is an Ohio State Buckeye fan (the other OSU).