How a Former DJ Found Her Jam in Compliance & Records
It’s another lively Tuesday at Clear Channel Radio in Grand Forks, and the “On Air” light glows red as Amy Jameson (a studio moniker) moves about her workspace. Request lines blink one after another, a stack of songs waits to be cued, and her fingers dance across the soundboard to keep the content flowing. After each commercial break, she leans into the microphone, her smooth, crisp voice greeting listeners like old friends.
That voice actually belongs to Aimee Bader, who’s taking song requests over the lunch hour. And the phone lines are blowing up. Hits from the eighties and nineties fly in faster than an Eddie Van Halen guitar solo, and the studio buzzes with calls from community members excited to hear their requests make it on the air.
One thing is as clear as the radio signal: Bader is loving every bit of her jammin’ day job. She gets to listen to her favorite music, talk to interesting people, and stay busy, which is a pretty stellar gig for a self-described extrovert. Her mission is simple: serve up the songs people want to hear and make their day a little brighter.
Never a problem with Bader.
Fast-forward a few years, and the setting looks a little different. The radio studio has become a screen full of smiling faces on a Microsoft Teams call, and the soundboard has been traded for a headset. But Bader, now NDIT’s Compliance and Records Manager, is still reaching audiences—and they still breathe a little easier when they hear her voice.
It makes sense, too. The top-notch customer service she’s become known for?
It’s music to their ears.
In addition to music, Aimee Bader loves the thrill of escape rooms, where she enjoys solving puzzles, cracking clues, and working together with her family to beat the clock.
From Rock to Records
Bader’s radio career began almost by accident. A University of North Dakota student with an English degree, she needed an internship to finish a second major in communications, and her academic advisor suggested a local radio group.
“I was at the station for less than a month, and they were just like, ‘You want to start working here?’” she recalls. “I jumped at the opportunity.”
From 2002 to 2010, Bader lived on the airwaves. To this day, her musical taste leans toward the nineties. She especially loves pop, hip-hop, and grunge, with a soft spot for Prince from the decade before. While at the studio, she also served as the board tech for UND football and hockey broadcasts, linking up with the arena and running commercials and live game feeds.
But life eventually called for something more stable, with the pay and benefits needed to raise her two kids. Bader landed an entry-level records management job at a local bank, just as the company was building its records management program from scratch. She grew right alongside it, working her way up from specialist to manager over roughly 12 years.
Along with escape rooms, Bader and her family love cheering on the Minnesota Vikings, making their annual trip to a game a favorite family tradition.
A New Frequency
In August 2021, a fellow records management professional tipped Bader off to an opportunity at NDIT. That changed everything.
The state’s longtime records manager was retiring, and her colleague thought she’d be a great fit. It didn’t take much convincing. Bader applied, landed the position, and found herself with an opportunity to put her experience to work on a much bigger stage: helping support government agencies across North Dakota.
In 2023, a reorganization moved her team under NDIT’s Security umbrella, and everything expanded from there. Today, Bader leads a small but mighty team across several programs. In addition to the state’s Records Management program, they handle data privacy, cyber business resilience, and IT audit support for agencies facing reviews like IRS audits and various assessments.
While those responsibilities might sound like behind-the-scenes work, they have a very real impact on the people of North Dakota. Proper records management preserves public information and supports government transparency. Not only that, but strong privacy practices help safeguard sensitive data, while business resilience and audit support help agencies protect the systems and services people depend on.
In other words, Bader’s team helps state government do things the right way, which in turn helps agencies feel confident they’re meeting their responsibilities to the people they serve.
Bader’s audience looks a little different these days, made up of records coordinators, agency staff, and IT partners from across the state. Instead of the greatest hits of the eighties and nineties, she and her team are delivering what they do best: training, answers, and support. She’s gone from spinning hits to helping people navigate records management, compliance, and the tools they need to do their jobs.
And she’s rockin’ it.
Bader loves spending time with her NDIT teammates, whether they’re collaborating on projects, sharing a few laughs, or simply enjoying one another’s company.
The Right Skills
It turns out that a broadcasting background is great preparation for public service. Bader’s ability to connect with people, communicate clearly, and feel comfortable in front of an audience has translated remarkably well to her work at NDIT.
“I think those skills are always with you,” she says. “They make an impact.”
Public speaking doesn’t rattle Bader, and she volunteers for the very things that make others nervous, such as NDIT’s Ask the Experts sessions, change management meetings, and statewide calls for records coordinators. From CyberCon to IgniteND and everything between, she never passes up an opportunity to help team members across the state. To her, it’s about something bigger: serving North Dakotans.
And with a small team supporting a large state government—including agencies, boards, commissions, cities, counties, and higher education—Bader makes a point of reaching out proactively. She wants people to know they have someone in their corner.
“We try to never say no if people ask us for help. That’s our opportunity to get in front of them and bridge any gaps,” she says. “There are a lot of people out there who want to pursue compliance the right way but just don’t know how. That’s where my team comes in.”
Bader also credits her colleagues for making the work so fulfilling. Even with team members spread across the state, they’ve built a strong virtual culture, and water cooler conversations often turn to music and pop culture. (She’s usually the instigator, of course.)
Stay Tuned
Bader will be the first to tell you that her career journey has been an unconventional one, but she’s incredibly grateful for where it’s taken her. Whether she’s talking to a room full of Team ND members or jumping on a call full of records coordinators, she’s still doing what she’s always loved: connecting with people and making their day a little easier.
So if you ever have a question, a gap, or a challenge, you don’t need to wait for a callback.
Bader’s request line is always open.