Mindy Unger-Wadkins was born August 10, 1965 in Los Angeles, California, and her family moved to Las Vegas, Nevada two years later when her father, Joseph Unger, was relocated by his employer. At the age of twelve, after both her parents had passed away, she moved in with her brother Bob Unger and his wife, Aydie. While studying at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Unger-Wadkins took a clerk job based at Yucca Mountain, and was eventually hired as a full-time public relations officer.

Penelope "Pennie" Ruchman is a long-time gaming and casino professional who graduated from in 1977 from Oberlin College's Creative Writing and American Literature honors program. Following graduation, Ruchman moved to New York City, New York to work as a photographer where she apprenticed for Irving Penn and Arnold Newman before embarking on a career of creating her own artwork, holding one-woman exhibitions throughout the country.

Lawrence Canarelli was born in Roseburg, Oregon shortly after World War II. His family had no money and lived in a tent on the Umpqua River, foraging and living day-to-day. After their tent and everything they owned burned down, Canarelli’s family moved to various logging camps through Oregon and California. His father quit his job and unexpectedly left the family, leaving the 21-year old mother no choice but to put Canarelli and his three siblings in a Pentecostal orphanage.

Bruce Isaacson was born in 1956 in Castro Valley, California and spent his childhood in Oakland, California. Isaacson became the first poet laureate of Clark County (Nevada) in June 2015. He was born in Castro Valley, California to Betty Griffin and Bernard Isaacson, and spent his childhood in Oakland. He received his bachelor’s degree from Claremont McKenna College with majors in economics as well as drama, and continued studying for his Masters of Business Administration at Dartmouth College.

Nevada Assemblyman, Senator, and Regent, Dr. Jack Schofield was born in 1923 and passed away in 2015. In 1941 he graduated from Las Vegas High School, married Alene Earl, and became the Golden Gloves welterweight boxing champion. He earned a bachelor's of science degree from the University of Utah in 1949, a master's degree from the University of Nevada, Reno in 1967, and a doctorate in education from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in 1995.

Joseph Theodor LaVoie was a police officer and civic activist in Las Vegas, Nevada. He was born in St. Boniface, Canada on March 28, 1916. Around 1920, the family moved to Los Angeles, California. In 1939, LaVoie moved to Las Vegas, Nevada, and began work at the Rheem Manufacturing Company in Henderson. In 1946, LaVoie joined the City of Las Vegas Police Department as a motorcycle officer where he worked as a police officer for twenty years, retiring as a sergeant in 1966.