BOARD OFFICERS

Tom Kovach
President
Tom Kovach joined the Board of Directors in October 2006 and was elected Vice President in January 2007. He also serves as a co-chair of the Strategic Planning Committee, which is developing a long-range plan for The Center. In addition to his involvement with The Center, Tom volunteers for the Human Rights Campaign, serving on the national HRC Board of Governors and as a co-chair of the local HRC Steering Committee. Tom currently serves as Vice President of Client Services & Senior Consultant for IDC, a Henderson-based consulting firm where he has been responsible for designing fund-raising and public relations campaigns for clients nationwide and in the United Kingdom for nearly 15 years. Having relocated from the East Coast in 1996, Tom resides in Henderson with his partner Matt and their two chocolate labs, Ripton and Ike.

Peter O'Neill
VICE-PRESIDENT
Peter O’Neill is the Senior Vice-President of Public & Community Relations for UnitedHealthcare. In his position, Peter directs corporate communications, media relations, community relations and corporate social responsibility activities for the company’s operations in Nevada. Peter previously served as the Vice-President of Public & Investor Relations for Sierra Health Services, Inc., a Las Vegas-based managed care company that was acquired by UnitedHealth Group in early 2008. He is a founding board member of the Las Vegas Fire and Rescue Foundation, a trustee of the College of Southern Nevada Foundation, a member of the Board of Trustees of Three Square and a member of the Board of Nevada Public Radio. Peter also serves on the Board of Advisors for the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce, the Nevada Development Authority and the Clark County School District School-Community Partnership Program. He is a graduate of the Chamber’s Leadership Las Vegas Class of 2003. In 2004, he was awarded the Chamber’s Community Achievement Award in the field of Communications. In 2008, The Center named him its Man of the Year. He resides in Las Vegas with his partner of 16 years, Humberto Gonzalez.

Desiree Duncan
SECRETARY
Desiree first landed in Las Vegas in June of 2006 when she took the position as a Producer and On-air talent for Vegas PBS (Channel 10). She is originally from Tennessee where she worked as a Producer/Host for the local public television station while earning her Bachelor’s Degree in English-Journalism at Tennessee Tech University. Desiree was first elected to the Board of Directors in March of 2007 after realizing her desire to get more involved in the queer community. She hopes to make a difference by striving for more diversity in the GLBTQ community. Desiree currently sits as a Co-Chair for the Marketing & PR Committee. She also spends her time volunteering for the Human Rights Campaign.

Paul G. De Vido
Treasurer
Paul was born and raised in New Jersey, about 11 miles west of Manhattan, where he attended parochial and public school as well as University. His undergraduate degree is a BS in business administration with a concentration in marketing and accounting. He also holds an MBA degree in marketing. In 2004, Paul relocated to Las Vegas from Manhattan to escape the harsh east coast winters. He has worked for many years as a real estate accountant, first as a budget analyst for a major property management firm in Manhattan, then as the controller of two different real estate development companies. Currently, Paul owns and runs a small bookkeeping firm in Las Vegas and operates an oil well in Wyoming. His involvement in the LGBT community has included being a major donor to many national organizations, as well as having served on the board of the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund. Paul is currently on the advisory board of the Matthew Shepard Foundation.




BOARD MEMBERS

Arron Benson
Arron Benson is a Marketing Program Manager at Wells Fargo where he has worked for over thirteen years. In his current role, he is the the primary coordinator for developing customer acquisition marketing strategies as well as internal and external marketing campaigns for Wells Fargo in Nevada, Arizona, Oregon and Washington. Arron is also co-chairperson of the company's southern Nevada chapter of the LGBT Team Member Network called PRIDE. The PRIDE network is dedicated to community support, team member development and awareness of LGBT issues. Arron holds an undergraduate degree in Marketing from Regis University. In 2000 he relocated from southern California to Henderson where he now resides with partner, John Constantino, and two sons.

Jennifer Bolton
Jennifer is a ten year resident of Henderson, Nevada. She is married with four children, Viviana, Samantha, Hannah and Charlie. Her wife Vivian is a certified court interpreter with Clark County, and together they are foster parents to Hannah and Charlie. Jennifer is a graduate of the University of Southern California with a degree in Philosophy with an Emphasis in Ethics and a Juris Doctorate degree from Whittier Law School. She is an attorney and Judge Pro Tem in Henderson, Nevada. Jennifer opened her practice in 2001 with partner Frank Kocka, Esq. with a primary focus on criminal defense work. Jennifer's community involvement focuses primarily on the LGBT community. She sits on the board of The Center and is a founding member of the local steering committee for the Human Rights Campaign in Las Vegas. Jennifer and Vivian work with these and other organizations in hopes that there will one day be equality for our community.

Marcus Lidey
Marcus Lidey is the Director of Luxury Hotel Operations for Caesars Palace. He has been a member of Harrah’s Entertainment for the last 9 years and served in the Hospitality Industry for the last 13 years. During his tenure at Harrah’s, Marcus earned his B.S. in Hotel Administration from UNLV. Marcus is a founding member of “EQUAL” at Harrah’s Entertainment, the gaming industry’s first GLBT Business Resource Group. He also holds the Professional Development Chair responsible for piloting professional development programs and opportunities. EQUAL focuses on internal talent development, community outreach, awareness and education of GLBT issues and employee support. After organizing this group, Marcus wanted to focus more attention driving local initiatives. With those aspirations, he joined the Center Board in early 2009. He is a native of Las Vegas and resides with his partner, Brian Gordon.

David Parks
Biography currently unavailable.

Stephanie Rosol
Stephanie is Vice President of Human Resources for Wynn Las Vegas and Encore – overseeing the company’s human resources and serving 13,000 employees between the two. Her varied responsibilities include recruitment, employment, training, employee communications and services, human resources administration and employee relations. Her first assignment was to lead the challenging effort to interview more than 20,000 applicants and to hire and train 5,000 employees for the opening of Wynn Resorts’ newest property, Encore, all while simultaneously caring for 9,000 active Wynn employees. She shares her private life with her partner, Eryn and their dog Ace. When she is not working hard to change the face of HR, you can find her at yoga class.

Jon Sparer
Jon Sparer is a founding partner of the Las Vegas-based architecture firm YWS Architects. He brings more than thirty years of design experience to the drawing board, offering extensive knowledge in developing comprehensive architectural design plans for clients of all types and sizes. Jon’s vision for architectural brilliance, along with his licenses in eight states – which include Nevada, Indiana, Louisiana, Illinois, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Rhode Island, Kansas, and Pennsylvania – establish him as a trendsetter in the design-build industry on a local, regional, and national level. Prior to YWS Architects, Jon spent nineteen years at a Las Vegas-based design-build firm – ten of which as vice president of architecture. His responsibilities included direct design supervision for several of the world’s premier resort-casinos such as the Bellagio and Mirage Hotels in Las Vegas; and the Borgata in Atlantic City. Jon received his education from the University of Oxford, England and graduated from Ohio State University in 1977. Jon is a member of The National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB) and the American Institute of Architects (AIA). Additionally, he has served as a trustee on the board of the Lied Discovery Children’s Museum for more than ten years.

Tod Story
Tod Story is a 23 year resident of Las Vegas, he graduated from Las Vegas' Bonanza High School and then graduated from UNLV with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication Studies, with emphasis in public relations and political science. Tod was one of the original founders of the UNLV College Democrats in 1995 (Now UNLV Young Democrats).  He was involved extensively with the Students for Clinton/Gore 1996 Campaign and organized a “Rock the Vote” bus tour visit on campus, many rallies as well as visits by President Clinton.  He attended the Democratic National Convention that year, serving as a page, and in 2000 was a Nevada Delegate to national convention.  Tod worked as staff to U.S. Senator Richard Bryan, and is currently District Director for U.S. Congresswoman Shelley Berkley, a position he has held since her election in 1998.  Tod served on The Center board from 1997 to 2002, was one of the founding members of the Las Vegas HRC Steering Committee and is currently a Director on the board for the Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth, an Ambassador for the ONE Campaign and a member of the Liberace League of the Liberace Museum.  He lives in Henderson with his partner of 15 years, Michael Ginsburg.

Laura Sussman
Laura Sussman relocated to Las Vegas in 1997 from Columbus , OH . She spent the first 30 years of her career working in nonprofit organizations, with her two most recent positions as Executive Director of two Las Vegas nonprofits. She joined the Center board in 2009 with the desire to get more involved and have an impact in the GLBT community. She and her partner, Wendy Kraft, have recently opened the first gay-owned funeral home in Southern Nevada , Kraft-Sussman Funeral Services. They live in Summerlin with their three daughters.


Bruce Wenger
Bruce Wenger joined the Board of Directors in February 2009 as Chair of the Fund Raising Committee. Bruce was also a founding member of the local HRC Steering Committee. He currently serves as Vice President of Client Services & Senior Consultant for IDC, a Henderson-based consulting firm where he has been responsible for designing fund-raising and public relations campaigns for clients nationwide and in the United Kingdom for nearly 20 years. Born in Minnesota, Bruce moved to Southern Nevada in 1997 from New Jersey and lives in Henderson with his partner Richard and their two daughters, Sydney and Kendall.

Jasen Woehrle
Jasen Woehrle, who moved to Las Vegas from Chicago in 2007, is thrilled to have The Gay & Lesbian Community Center of Southern Nevada as the first organization for which he is a board member. He is Vice President at The Firm Public Relations & Marketing where he leads the luxury and tourism practice areas—notable client roster including Boyd Gaming Corporation, Canyon Ranch SpaClub at The Venetian and The Palazzo, World Wildlife Fund/Earth Hour Las Vegas and Trump International Hotel & Tower Las Vegas. Originally hailing from St. Louis, Jasen’s volunteer service includes work for The St. Louis Effort for AIDS and St. Louis PRIDE. In Chicago, he provided public relations support to Season of Concern, the Chicagoland theater community’s fundraising effort in the fight against AIDS. Prior to Las Vegas, Jasen thrived in leadership positions with many well-respected and nationally renowned artistic institutions including the Tony Award-winning Chicago Shakespeare Theater, the critically acclaimed Stages St. Louis and the historic Goldenrod Showboat. He lives in Henderson with his partner Matthew and the two cats they rescued, Miss Hannigan and Annie.