Leadership

Steven Peralta

Foundation President

Steven Peralta began his role as President of Nevada Donor Network Foundation in 2019 to lead the organization’s philanthropic and fundraising strategic plan to help expand transplantation services and programs in Nevada. Peralta brings a deep commitment to building partnerships and ensuring that the culture of the foundation aligns with Nevada Donor Network and ensures success in the mission.

Raised in a military family instilled in Peralta one big teachable lesson in his life – Leadership. He holds a Juris Doctorate from Seattle University School of Law and his bachelor’s degree from the University of Washington.

 He began his career with Seattle’s NBA (formerly Sonics) & WNBA Team, Seattle Storm. This experience launched his passion for community engagement, team organizing, fundraising, board development, and capital campaign projects. Later he joined the Regional Headquarters of State Farm Mutual Insurance Companies overseeing their underwriting and business development department. Since moving to Las Vegas in 2005, he held leadership positions at Healthcare Preparatory Institute and Academy Medical Equipment.

Prior to becoming the Foundation President in 2019, Peralta served as the Director of Philanthropy for Roseman University’s College of Medicine in Summerlin. In this role, he built and oversaw the medical school’s $66 million capital campaign and major gifts program while also managing the university’s relationships with private philanthropists, corporations, foundations and government leaders.

David Marlon

CEO & Founder, Solutions Recovery Center and former COO of Sierra Health Services

Dave Marlon founded and built one of the most successful addiction recovery centers in the country in the heart of Southern Nevada. The 30-year Las Vegas resident, after successfully addressing his own struggles with substance abuse, realized that he was uniquely suited to help others confronting addiction. 

Dave has been consistently recognized by his peers as a leader in his field. He is the President of the Southern Nevada Association of Addiction Professionals (SNAAP) and the 2018 National Advocacy Award from NAADAC, the Association for Addiction Professionals. Locally, he has been recognized as a graduate of the Leadership Las Vegas program, with the Mayor’s Commendation, and received the Community Counseling Center of Southern Nevada’s Vanguard Award. He has served on the Governor’s Substance Abuse Working Group. Dave’s work in the recovery sector earned him the Inspired Excellence Award from Las Vegas HEALS. 

He founded The CARE Coalition and The Solutions Foundation, both of which combat substance abuse in Southern Nevada and help raise awareness about addictive behavior and its consequences. Dave serves on the board of HELP of Southern Nevada, the Las Vegas Rescue Mission, the Nevada Donor Network, Serving Our Kids Foundation, and the UNLV Soccer Foundation.  He has helped establish the first recovery high school in the nation and is helping champion the fight against the opiate epidemic through his foundation, Vegas Stronger. 

Altogether, Dave has more than 30 years of health care experience in both treatment and insurance. At Sierra Health Services, Dave managed all reinsurance contracts including interface with UNOS and the Organ Transplant Centers of Excellence. He earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics from the State University of New York and holds a Master’s in Business Administration and Master’s in Counseling from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Dave is currently pursuing his Doctorate degree in psychology.

Jan Jones Blackhurst

Board of Directors, Caesars Entertainment and former City of Las Vegas Mayor

Jan Jones Blackhurst served as the first female mayor of Las Vegas from 1991 to 1999. Following her second term as mayor, she joined Caesars Entertainment, where she created the casino industry’s first regulatory practices for problem gaming. Since 1999, Ms. Blackhurst, has served as the Executive Vice President of Public Policy & Corporate Responsibility. And in September of 2019, Jan was appointed to the Caesars Entertainment Company Board of Directors.

During her 20 years at Caesars, Ms. Blackhurst helped develop and grow the industry’s first Responsible Gaming practices to include an ambassador model for the gaming industry and the first industry code of commitment. Under her leadership, Caesars Entertainment has earned a perfect score in the Human Rights Campaign Corporate Equality Index for 10 consecutive years. Most recently, she led the Company’s Gender Equity Initiative. Ms. Blackhurst also served as Chair of the Caesars Foundation, strengthening communities through philanthropic activities and corporate gifts.

Ms. Blackhurst serves on numerous boards, including the Board of Directors for the U. S. Chamber of Commerce and the Women's Leadership Board at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. She is Chairwoman of the Nevada Resort Association and Las Vegas Stadium Authority.

She has also received many recognitions and accolades throughout her career including the Americanism Award from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), the Woman of Diversity Award for "100 Years of Influence - Women Shaping the First 100 Years of Las Vegas", Outstanding Service in a Land-based Industry from Totally Gaming, PR News CSR Professional of the Year and was named by the Las Vegas Business Press as one of its “Women Who Mean Business.” In 2014, she was one of the first women to be inducted into the American Gaming Association (AGA) Gaming Hall of Fame.

Jan Jones Blackhurst has spent most of her professional career pressing against the glass ceiling. Now, she’ll get the opportunity to show others the way after being named Chief Executive in residence at UNLV’s International Gaming Institute. But in her new position, funded by the 2019 Nevada Legislature, she’ll be able to support gender equity through UNLV’s “Expanding the Leaderverse” program by speaking with young students as well as in the college classroom and with professionals in the workplace.

Ms. Blackhurst holds a bachelor's degree in English from Stanford University and attended the University of Southern California's School of Food Marketing Management.

Mendy Elliott

CEO  Founder Capitol Partners

Mendy Elliott has an extensive career in Community, Corporate and Government Relations. She was most recently with the State of Nevada when she was appointed by Governor Jim Gibbons to serve as Director of Business and Industry in 2007, a post she held until July 2008 when the Governor promoted her to the serve as his Deputy Chief of Staff.

Ms. Elliott was recruited into state service after a 30-year career in the financial services industry, making her keenly knowledgeable in policies and regulations governing the financial services industry. She spent 24 years of her financial career with Wells Fargo Bank. Among her various positions, she served as a Personal Banking Officer, Branch Manager, and Commercial Loan Officer. Her most recent posts included Senior Vice President of Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., and Private Banking Manager. Additionally, she served in the capacity of Senior Vice President, Community and Government Relations Department at Wells Fargo where she oversaw all aspects of the bank’s government relations and community relations/foundation programs including serving as the main liaison with the Nevada legislature and the state’s University System. In each of these positions she worked on human resources projects and handled HR issues for her direct staff.

Additionally, Ms. Elliott is an active member of the community, serving in a number of volunteer roles. She is currently active in the Reno Sparks Chamber of Commerce, WIN, United Way of Northern Nevada, Nevada Women’s Fund, KNPB Public Broadcasting, Community Foundation of Western Nevada, American Heart Association, and the Nevada Humane Society.

Rita Vaswani

Senior Vice President, Nevada State Bank

Vaswani is the vice president, client relationship manager for Nevada State Bank and has more than two decades of banking experience. She also has a strong background in health care and focuses on banking relationships primarily serving Nevada’s health care industry. Dedicated to volunteerism and her community, Vaswani serves on several medical, nonprofit and advocacy boards. As a Las Vegas resident since 1992, Vaswani is very active on boards and committees in the community. Vaswani has been honored as one of the 2015 and 2014 Las Vegas’ Top 100 Women of Influence, Distinguished Women of Nevada, and Woman of the Year by the Asian Community Resource Center of Nevada.

Mitch Britten

CEO & Founder, Thrive Cannabis Marketplace

Britten relocated his family to Las Vegas two years ago from Colorado, where he was a leader in developing that state’s medical marijuana industry. There, he served as director of operations for the nation’s largest producer, retailer and employer in both the medical and recreational marijuana industry in Colorado. For his Nevada enterprises, Britten partnered with long-time Nevadans Ed Findlay, Julie Murray, chief executive officer/principal, Moonridge Group; and Phillip Peckman, CEO, Peckman Capital, all of whom have years of outstanding business and community service throughout the valley.

Green & Gold Supply Co., a brand-new cannabis cultivation facility Mitch founded, has begun operations in North Las Vegas. The company incorporates the most advanced indoor growing equipment available and will bring 12-15 unique strains to the Nevada market. Using hydroponic growing methods with state-of-the-art mechanical and electrical systems, Green &   Gold Supply Co. will deliver the highest quality product to medical patients. Its proprietary branded cannabis products will be sold in dispensaries throughout Nevada. Strains will be brought to market from the best genetics in the world and will be unveiled beginning in the first quarter of 2017. Green & Gold Supply Co. measures in at more than 15,000 square feet and was designed to be more efficient than other growing facilities by its ability to produce 21 percent more cannabis than a typical facility of its size.

“We want to bring the highest quality cannabis to market in Nevada, and operating our own growing facility is the best way to do that,” explained Mitchell Britten, “A tremendous amount of tradition and science, as well as respect for proven natural remedies, has informed our operations to date. We remain committed to these standards as we work toward propelling the cannabis industry forward in Nevada and beyond.”

Kelly LeGrow

Vice President, Brown & Brown Insurance

With more than 25 years of healthcare and insurance experience, Kelly E. LeGrow has established a strong executive reputation as a sought-after consultant with expertise in provider networks, compensation development, contract negotiation, and the management and development of numerous plan benefits. During the course of her career, she has developed and implemented operational, business and marketing strategies for hospitals, third party administrators, pharmacy benefits managers, managed care organizations and physician groups. Kelly also has developed PPO and HMO networks, home health agencies and insurance brokerage firms. She was instrumental in the expansion and elevation of Waymark Insurance Services, representing many influential organizations across Las Vegas, and continues to expand that service as she joins Brown & Brown.

In previous positions, Kelly oversaw the strategic development and marketing consulting of large self-funded, fully-insured, managed care and ancillary healthcare clients, also providing unique healthcare delivery programs and developing several key analytic tools including evaluation metrics, benchmarking and comparing different benefits designs. Past appointments include executive positions with Sierra Health Services, Silver State Administrators, Prime Health, John Alden.

Life, Horizon Health Care PPO and Hi-Tech Healthcare Services. She holds a current health and life insurance license and is highly skilled in evaluating and negotiating contracts on behalf of physicians groups. Kelly has lived in southern Nevada since 1984 and holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. She has served as vice president of the Nevada Neuroscience Foundation, chair of the board of the Nevada chapter of the American Lung Association, founding board member of Nevada Executive Women in Health Care, and a member of the national Women Business Leaders.

Dawn Gibbons

Chair, Nevada Transportation Authority and former First Lady of Nevada

Dawn Gibbons was born in Atlanta, Georgia and moved to Nevada at the age of 20. She graduated from the University of Nevada, Reno with a bachelor's degree in geological studies. Following graduation, she owned and operated two wedding chapels in Reno, Nevada. During this period, she met her future husband, Jim Gibbons, then a Delta Air Lines pilot. They married in 1986. Together they have one child, Jimmy, who has served in the United States Navy.

In 1991, Dawn Gibbons was appointed to the Nevada Assembly, filling a vacancy created when her husband resigned his seat in order to serve in the Persian Gulf War. She resigned from the state legislature in April 1991, allowing her husband to reclaim his seat. Following her husband's reappointment to the seat, she resumed her career in business until 1998, when she was elected to the Nevada Assembly, serving from 1999 to 2005. During the 2006 election season, she was defeated in the Republican Party primary to succeed her husband in the U.S. House of Representatives, finishing in third place behind Nevada Secretary of State Dean Heller, the eventual winner of both the primary and the general elections, and State Assemblywoman Sharron Angle. In that same election cycle, her husband won both the Republican primary and the general election to become Governor of Nevada.

Gibbons was the Senior Vice President of Intermountain West Communications Company and was a radio talk show host for Fox News and co-hosted the Dawn & Jim Show and the Dawn & Rory Show. In February 2013, she announced her engagement to Jim Hooban, President of the Independent Nevada Doctors Exchange.

James Jimmerson

Attorney

James (Jim) was admitted to the Nevada Bar, the Nevada and U.S. District Court of Nevada in 1976; to the California Bar in 1977; the U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit in 1978; the U.S. District Court, Central District of California in 1981; and to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1982.

He has authored several articles for legal periodicals on subjects ranging from business torts to family law and representation of celebrities and professional athletes. Mr. Jimmerson also has served as a moderator and panelist for the American Bar Association’s annual meetings on business torts litigation and family law litigation and has spoken throughout the United States on orthopedics and the law and on many subjects, including trial skills, cross-examination, and the art of taking depositions.

Mr. Jimmerson is a former long-time member of the State Bar of Nevada Board of Governors and served as a lawyer representative to Ninth Circuit Judicial Conferences. He has been a Member of the Board of Governors of the American Bar Association and has been selected to be in The Best Lawyers in America and Pre-Eminent Lawyers in Martingale-Hubbell. He is a member of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (AAML) and the American College of Family Trial Lawyers, and a member of the Family Law Section of the ABA. Mr. Jimmerson also is a certified mediator and arbitrator for both the AAML and the American Arbitration Association. Pictured with Jimmerson is his lovely wife Carol. Jim and Carol are the parents of heroic donor, Jacob, who saved the lives of two others through organ donation. We look forward to the impact we will make together on our Nevada Strong community.

Shelley Berkley

Chief Executive Officer and Senior Provost, Touro Western Division

As chief executive officer and senior provost for Touro’s Western Division, Shelley Berkley serves as the administrative and academic head of the Nevada and northern California campuses of Touro University. In this role, Ms. Berkley oversees two of the fastest-growing medical schools in the western United States, as well as allied health science and education programs with a current total enrollment of more than 3,000 students. Prior to joining Touro in 2014, Shelley served the State of Nevada in the United States House of Representatives from 1998 to 2013. She was the first woman to serve the District and held the position for seven terms. Shelley served in the Nevada State Legislature, working to strengthen consumer protection laws and to crack down on drunk driving. She created the Senior Law Project and wrote the Lemon Law which protects new car owners from defective vehicles. Both programs continue to this day. Among Shelley’s proudest accomplishments during her time in Congress was building the new Veterans Administration medical complex in Southern Nevada to provide quality healthcare to the veterans in our community. She was a vocal supporter of providing more funding for graduate medical education (residencies), and an advocate of reforming our nation’s healthcare system. Shelley also was known as one of the strongest and most outspoken supporters of Israel in Congress. She left her mark on every resolution, legislation, committee markup, and floor debate affecting Israel and the Middle East. Shelley was appointed and twice elected to the Nevada State Board of Regents, which governs and sets policy for the Nevada State System of Higher Education, serving from 1990 to 1998. She served as Vice Chairman and fought to keep tuition costs low and to create a law school at UNLV. Her son, Max, graduated from the Boyd School of Law 20 years after Shelley helped create it. Prior to serving in Congress, Shelley was a practicing attorney. She was an attorney for the Nevada State Commerce Department, in-house counsel for Southwest Gas Corporation, and Vice President for Government and Legal Affairs for the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas.

Shelley is currently serving on numerous local and national boards, including: The Anti-Defamation League, National Osteoporosis Foundation, Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance and The American Lung Association. In spring 2016 Shelley received the Distinguished Nevadan Award, the highest honor bestowed by the Nevada System of Higher Education Board of Regents. The award is given to individuals who have made significant achievements that have contributed to the cultural, scientific, or social advancement of Nevada. Earlier this year, Shelley was also honored with the naming of a new elementary school by the Clark County School District. Shelley Berkley Elementary School will open this summer. Shelley is married to Dr. Larry Lehrner, a kidney specialist and Touro adjunct faculty member. She is the proud mother of two sons – Max, an attorney and Sam, the Director of Trade Development at Southern Wine and Spirits of Nevada, and two step-children – David, a specialist in information technology and Stephanie Lehrner, DO, an osteopathic primary care physician practicing in Las Vegas.