Nevada politician and women's advocate Imogene "Jean" Young was born in Miami, Oklahoma, on December 28, 1929, to Daisy Adelphia (Flook) and Clarence Nathan Young. She had one brother, Byron Young. Her family moved to Joplin, Missouri, where she attended kindergarten through high school. In 1951 she graduated from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas with a B.A. in Sociology. After graduation she worked as a recreational therapist for the American Red Cross in military hospitals until 1955.

For Leonardo Martinez, the United States was never meant to be a destination—it was merely a short stop along the way as he awaited the day he could safely return to his family in El Salvador. Now a man who embraces the occasional Big Mac from McDonalds but never turns away a Salvadoran pupusa, Leonardo has embraced both places as home with memories that took him from his humble upbringings in Santa Lucía to the bright lights of the city of Las Vegas.