Mark Fine was born February 10, 1946 in Cleveland, Ohio, and was raised with a strong Jewish identity. When Fine was in fourth grade, his parents moved the family to Shaker Heights, and again moved to Arizona during his senior of high school. Upon graduation, Fine enrolled at the University of Arizona and became a member of the Zeta Beta Tau fraternity. He graduated in 1964 with a degree in business administration with an emphasis in real estate.

Eugene Buford came to Las Vegas, Nevada from Birmingham, Alabama, when he was two years old with his mother and grandmother. He held a variety of jobs, including washing dishes at the Last Frontier and delivering ice to casinos like the Flamingo and the Stardust, and ultimately retired after thirty-six years with the Post Office. Buford's great grandmother, Mary Nettles, was instrumental in the formation and growth of the NAACP chapter in Las Vegas, and he recalls meetings in her house and his own role as president of the Junior League NAACP.

Louis Wiener, Sr. ( -1946) was a tailor and prominent community member in Las Vegas, Nevada during the 1930s and 1940s. He moved to Las Vegas from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1931 and established a tailor shop on Fremont Street. Wiener died of a heart attack in 1946. His son was prominent attorney Louis Wiener, Jr.

Wendy Starkweather was born July 1, 1949 and was raised in rural Ogdensburg, New York. She attended Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York and became a teacher and librarian in New Hampshire. She married her husband, Peter, on August 26, 1972 in Schenectady, New York and the couple moved to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1978.