James Deacon was born at home in White, South Dakota. For the first few years of his life, the family moved around a lot to accommodate his father's job as school superintendent. Their summers were spent in a cabin on a lake, where Jim helped his grandparents in their store, seining minnows, clerking, and storing ice. From his eighth grade year through high school graduation, the family lived in Aberdeen, South Dakota.

Roberta Sabbath was born on December 23, 1943 in Richmond, Virginia. She received her bachelor's degree in French Studies from the University of Maryland, College Park in 1965 and married Dennis Sabbath in 1967. The couple spent two years in Chicago, Illinois before moving to Kodiak, Alaska in 1969 where she started an adult basic education program and a youth program. After about two years in Alaska, Sabbath and her husband moved to Las Vegas, Nevada.

Martin Dean Dupalo was born February 20, 1967. His parents were Eva Auge, a German citizen, and Milton Dupalo. Dupalo graduated from Eldorado High School in 1985, attended the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), and was selected for a Truman Congressional Scholarship at Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. After a stint as a firefighter, four years in the Air Force and Air Force Reserve, and a brief marriage, Dupalo began teaching at UNLV in 2003.

John Gubler was born in 1942 in Las Vegas, Nevada. When Gubler’s parents moved to Las Vegas in 1936. His father practiced law and his mother raised the four Gubler sons. The Gubler family focused on education, family and their Mormon values. Gubler went on to become a lawyer and move back to raise his own family on the western side of the Las Vegas valley.

Karen Sarret Bartolo moved to Las Vegas, Nevada from Reno at five years of age in 1948 with her family. Her father opened Sarret's Office Supply. Karen was a member of the Las Vegas High School Rhythmettes, a dance team. She was baptized at 15 as a Mormon and graduated from Brigham Young University. Karen was an elementary school teacher in Sandy, Utah, and at several schools in Las Vegas.

Arte Nathan was born October 3, 1950 and was raised in Utica, New York. He moved to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1987. His training in Human Resources helped him evolve the thinking in the casino industry to allow management and labor to work for the best interests of both. Educated at Cornell University, Nathan worked with Culinary Workers Union’s Jim Wilhelm to develop a profitable relationship that served the casino owner and the people who maintained the cleanliness of the property.

Rachel Coleman was born in in Fayette, Mississippi. Rachel came to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1957 from Vicksburg, Mississippi, with her husband and young son. She advanced from her position as glass washer at the Tropicana Hotel and Casino to executive housekeeper at the Hacienda Hotel and Casino in 1969. Rachel became a representative for the Culinary Union 226 in 1973, then became department head of the union in 1981, and finally ran for union president in 1987.