Leadership Listen

Nathan began his career as Assistant to the President at Harding University. After spending almost ten years in the president’s office, Copeland became the founding Director of The Center for Professional Excellence in the Carter College of Business where he also served as an Assistant Professor. Upon leaving higher education, Nathan began using his business knowledge and skillset in private sector operations with companies in energy acquisition, construction and ultimately founding a consulting practice. 

Copeland holds a BBA in Management Studies as well as an MBA from Harding University. He later earned an EdD in Higher Education Administration from The University of Alabama. 

Without the support and encouragement of his wife, Erin, daughter Kate, sons Colin, William and Grant, Nathan would not have been able to accomplish half of the items listed above. 

Dr. Frazier currently serves as the Dean of the Carter College of Business Administration.

Prior to returning to Harding University (2001), his alma mater, Dr. Frazier worked 18-years for several financial service organizations. His last job, prior to Harding, was Senior Vice President and Senior Loan Officer for The American National Bank of Beaver Dam, WI. While working in Wisconsin, Frazier also served as a vocational minister for 11-years. Dr. Frazier served as the Associate Dean and Chair of Management for the Carter College of Business from January 2010 to July 2015. 

He teaches Entrepreneurial Management, Management & Organizational Behavior, and directs the COBA Leadership Seminar. He was a long-time sponsor for the Reynolds Governor's Cup Business Plan Competition and COBA's Society for the Advancement of Management. Frazier has served as the President for the Society for Advancement of Management (SAM) and Regional Chair for ACBSP.

 In 2005 Dr. Frazier was named COBA's Outstanding Faculty of the Year and also received the Teacher Achievement Award in 2009. In 2014 he received the C.Sam  Walls Entrepreneur Educator award.  He is a Wisconsin native (yes, an authentic "cheesehead") and loves the Packers, Brewers, Bucks, and Badgers! He sings (was in several musicals in community theatre in Wisconsin), plays the guitar, and enjoys reading. Dr. Frazier has been married for 40 years and has four children – Shawn (Katie), Cameron (Jami), Melanie (Jordan), and Chelsea (Braden). Three grandchildren, Daisy, Louis, and Jovie! And two more grands on the way!

 Frazier leads 25 COBA faculty, 4 administrators, and 900 Undergraduate and Graduate students.

Jenna Byrnes, the Senior Vice President of the Oklahoma City Dodgers, has been with the team since September of 2010. Byrnes is dedicated to leading the revenue generating efforts of the organization with emphasis in Ticket Sales, Marketing and Special Events. Additionally, Byrnes has a concentration on designing and implementing business strategies, plans and procedures. 

In her time with the Dodgers, the team has increased attendance by 21% and maximized opportunities for non-baseball programming at the ballpark for businesses, non-profits and members of the community.

In addition to her revenue responsibilities, Byrnes focuses on leadership and professional development for the 50 full-time members of the organization with a focus on internal communication and company culture. She serves as a resource for other industry executives and was recognized as the 2013 and 2015 Pacific Coast League Female Executive of the Year. In 2016, Byrnes was named a member of the okc.biz Forty Under 40 class. Byrnes also had the opportunity to contribute her perspective on “Finding Your Baseball Why” to The GMs Handbook, published in 2018 which hit #1 in 11 of Amazon’s book categories.

Byrnes is involved in the OKC community through her participation in Leadership Oklahoma City (Class 37), Leadership Oklahoma City LOYAL Program (Class IX) as well as her service on non-profit boards including: the OKC Dodgers Baseball Foundation, the Bricktown Board of Directors and the YWCA – Oklahoma City. She is also involved with Strata Leadership’s Institute for Emerging Leaders where she serves on their Advisory Council.

Jenna is originally from Somerset, Ohio and has made a home with her husband, Michael and daughters, Peyton and Camden, in Nichols Hills. In their spare time they appreciate sharing their love of travel with their children, enjoying live music and watching college football.

Jon and Becky are two Oklahoma business partners and friends who have 35 combined years of experience in nonprofit development. He's the designer, she's the writer, but they call themselves "marketers disguised as fundraisers." 

They cut their teeth building Oklahoma State University Foundation's inaugural marketing department whilst having some serious Imposter Syndrome that first year. While at OSU, they were able to set down the first roots of philanthropic storytelling via print, graphic and digital deliverables leading to the launch of the $1 billion initiative, Branding Success, which is Oklahoma's largest philanthropic campaign effort to date. Their wanderlust for building something new led them to Oklahoma City for a nearly decade-long service to Oklahoma's largest nonprofit healthcare system, INTEGRIS Foundation, where they led teams in annual giving, events, stewardship, major gifts, and built a ground-breaking employee giving campaign model that's been internationally replicated by development shops around the world.

After dreaming of a full-fledged company aimed at empowering and equipping this generation of nonprofit leaders,  We Are For Good launched in 2020 through their podcast of the same name. The podcast debuted as the #1 nonprofit podcast on Apple iTunes and host some of the industry’s most respected thought leaders as guests.  But their favorite thing is teaching, and We Are For Good workshops bring the best thought leaders and innovative disruptors to our space to empower professionals to do more for their missions. They're on a mission to reimagine the nonprofit professional development space, to flip the donor pyramid upside down and rename our industry in their spare time.

Fila Bertrand offers 18 years of management experience across the convenience retailing, personal storage, and professional services industries; driving achievements in retail operations, information technology portfolio management, consulting services, and Program Management Office implementations.  

Throughout his career, Dr. Bertrand has capitalized on organizational challenges to strengthen his leadership skills across multiple management practices while sustaining his academic interest for organizational change.

Dr. Bertrand is a Certified Change Management Professional ( CCMP ) by the Association of Change Management Professionals ( ACMP ); also holding a Portfolio Management Professional ( PfMP ) certification and a Project Management Professional ( PMP ) certification by the Project Management Institute ( PMI ).  

Believing in personal growth through continuous knowledge-sharing, Dr. Bertrand is honored to be part of the advisory council for the Harding University Center for Organizational Leadership and the prospect of positively impacting other leaders.

Sheryl Chesnutt is the CEO of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Rutherford County. She is a results driven executive with commitment to the Mission at the Boys & Girls Clubs "To enable all young people, especially those who need us most, to reach their full potential as productive and caring, responsible citizens." 

Sheryl has proven relationship skills focused on growing corporate and community support. Strong execution of organizational strategy, team development, and board relations. Responsible for overall planning and operations of three units - in Murfreesboro, Smyrna, and Shelbyville, the largest individual clubs in the State of Tennessee. She is committed to the development of high level leaders and teams that deliver excellence to those they serve. 

Kent Brown is a life-long member of Northwest Church of Christ, where he is currently the Preaching and Executive Minister. 

Kent received his B.A. in Bible from Oklahoma Christian University, his M.S. in Family Life Education from Lubbock Christian University, and his M.A. in Ministry from Oklahoma Christian University. He is currently completing his D.Min. from Abilene Christian University, focusing on the Biblical mandate for diversity in Christian communities. 

He has served for many years on the Camp Rock Creek board, and is working to develop a non-profit ministry. He and his wife, Leah, have three wonderful children and very little free time. 

Carter Davis is a husband, father, committed follower of Jesus, member of the Hills Church and the Head of Global Loyalty Partnerships for Expedia Partner Solutions who resides in Southlake, Texas. He and his wife Holly  have been married for nearly 23 years and have 3 girls and 1 boy that attend Grapevine Faith Christian School and Keller ISD. They have been members of the Hills Church for over 20 years between the North Richland Hills and Southlake campuses and have served in missions, student ministry and led small groups.

Carter's professional journey started in the Admissions Office at Harding University before pursuing his MBA at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth. After finishing his MBA, he has been a part of growing leading technology companies in the travel industry (Sabre, Travelocity, Orbitz & Expedia) through building B2B2C ecommerce partnerships with large brands such as JPMorganChase, Royal Bank of Canada, Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines as well as numerous small businesses and startups.  In these roles, he has led the acquisition, the daily operations (including PnL management) and the retention of these partnerships while transitioning both teams and partnerships across 2 corporate acquisitions.

When not spending time with family, church or working, Carter enjoys CrossFit, attempting to rank local bbq restaurants and cooking on his Traeger.  

Heady is a friend, father, pastor, encourager, greeter, and your number one fan. His willingness to engage, give, create and lead is an example for anyone wanting to impact humanity. 

From his current and past work in non-profit service with Love OKC to his community building with Shipwreck Talks to his people development with #GoWin - this guy does it all with grace, humility and a smile. 

Heady is a breath of fresh air and you are going to finish this episode feeling on fire to be a light to those around you. 

After 17 years of experience in the K-12 educational environment, Dr. Mercado completed her last role in education as principal of a secondary campus in Houston, TX on June 2013. Dr. Mercado transitioned from being an educator to running a nonprofit organization that offered human performance coaching and professional development to educational, government and nonprofit entities across the USA for seven years. Currently, Dr. Rosalinda Mercado is the Chief Operations Officer of Sunny Glen Children’s Home. 

Dr. Mercado’s undergraduate studies were completed at Abilene Christian University, earning a Bachelor of Science in Interdisciplinary Studies. She obtained both her Masters of Education in Educational Administration and Doctor of Philosophy in Curriculum & Instruction from Texas A&M University in College Station, TX.

 Dr. Mercado wrote her dissertation on her life story. Living in Harlingen most of her life, Rosalinda placed herself at Sunny Glen Children’s Home in San Benito, TX. Her dissertation offers her personal narrative: From Being Considered At-Risk to Becoming Resilient: An Autoethnography of Abuse & Poverty. She also contributed a chapter to a book published with professors from University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Her chapter is entitled, “From Being Considered At-Risk to Becoming Resilient: An Autoethnography of an mmigrant Child Finding Her Voice in Becoming a US Citizen.”

 Dr. Mercado serves as a sustaining member of the Junior League of Harlingen, as an alumnus with the Texas Lyceum. Additionally, Rosalinda has served on numerous nonprofit boards to advocate the prevention of the abuse of children.