Operations
Executive Director – Jim Clements
Jim@madenewomaha.com
Jim founded Made New Makerspace in 2018. He is an expert in the field of direct care to foster and underserved youth. His experiences include working as a youth pastor at an inner-city church plant, as well as serving for more than eight years with one of America’s top organizations for youth care and advocacy. Jim has three certifications in the teaching family model of youth care, which he earned during a four-year period running a live-in group home for teens. He also worked as a crisis counselor for a national hotline, and for the two years prior to founding Made New Makerspace, he taught as a skilled trades instructor at a special high school for youth removed from their homes. Jim and his wife Chelsea have four children as well as a very friendly (and very large) hound named Titan.
Board of Directors
President – Eric Kaplan, Union Pacific
president@madenewomaha.com
Eric Kaplan has been called MacGyver, Gadget Guy, Tinkerer, and Handyman. From the day he took apart a flip-style clock radio, he realized that the Lego, slot cars, Erector sets, and other toys of his youth would shape his path forward. After graduating with a Mechanical Engineering degree from Georgia Tech, Eric’s career has been split between construction project management and product design and development, today serving as Manager for Facility Design-Mechanical Systems for Union Pacific Railroad.
Outside of work, Eric is the President of Made New Makerspace, Vice-President of Omaha Maker Group (Nebraska’s first Makerspace), and is the founder of the Omaha Mini Maker Faire. If he isn’t watching his latest creation come to life on the 3D printer, he’s restoring a 1950’s vintage metal toolbox or Tonka toy, doing some leatherwork, building yet another marble run, or figuring out how to make life in his smart home even better. Eric was appointed by President Obama’s White House in 2016 to serve as Nebraska’s ambassador to the ‘Nation of Makers’ national organization. Besides making things, he also “makes” events – he’s on the Board of Directors for the Dundee Memorial Park Association, serving as the production manager of the annual Dundee Day festival, and on the Board of Directors for the Atlanta Dogwood Festival, providing cash management and logistics oversight to that event. Eric and his wife, Brevard, have lived in Dundee since moving to Omaha in 2011 from Atlanta.
Vice President – Ryan Cohagan, Epic
Development – Jose Santa-Maria, Piscatorem, LLC
Guillermo Rosas, Metropolitan Community College
Drew Pauly, Pitchfork Strategies