Edward May was concieved by his parents Edd May and Rosetta Turner May while they resided in Marshall, Texas. The May family relocated while pregnant with Ed and he was born in Las Vegas, Nevada on Ocober 23, 1955. Ed was the oldest of five children. May attended UNLV, Cornell and Harvard, and is involved with Victory Baptist Church.

James Cashman Jr. was the son of Las Vegas pioneer James Cashman Sr. and Leah Barker. Like his father, James Jr. was a civic and business leader in the region. The Cashman Family is an inductee of the UNLV Business Hall of Fame.

Julia A. Payne was born in the 1940s in Santa Monica, California. Her parents had moved to southern California from Columbus, Ohio. After Julia graduated from high school in 1963, the family decided to move to Las Vegas where it was “less hectic.” Her father was one of the first African American athletic trainers for a professional football team. Her mother was swim team captain at Ohio State University and knew Dr. Ralph Bunche. For Julia, adjustment to Las Vegas was difficult. The city was not as diverse as Los Angeles.