Raya was born in Tel-Aviv, Israel on July 8, 1935 to Edith and Gerhard Munzner. Her Mother was the daughter of Elsa and David Flachs from Berlin, Germany and her father was the son of Rachel and Zvi Munzner from Mannheim, Germany. Raya's father was jailed in 1931 as a 23 year old attorney, for being "out of the ordinary intelligent, and, therefore, highly dangerous," he was accused of being a communist because he defended social welfare cases. On the day of his release, he fled Germany, crossing the border overnight into Czechoslovakia and onward to Paris to reunite with his then fiancee (Raya's mother) and await immigration papers to the then Palestine, today's Israel. Raya's parents married upon their arrival in Jerusalem and settled in Tel Aviv in 1933. Raya's father obtained his doctorate in Economics and Law at the University of Heidelberg, Germany. Upon arrival in Israel, he got a job counting the out-of-circulation money in the basement of "Bank Yaffet" in Tel Aviv an

Robert D. "Bob" Fisher is a Las Vegas, Nevada broadcast personality and lobbyist. He was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota and moved to Las Vegas in 1994 when he was hired to be the founding president and CEO of the Nevada Broadcasters Association (NVBA). During his 22 years as head of the NVBA, he produced and hosted Observations, a public affairs program broadcasted on radio and television throughout the state of Nevada. Soon after, he began producing and hosting the only weekly live television program about diabetes in the United States; in 2015 his weekly live radio program The Diabetes Show was the only one of its kind to be aired over commercial radio in the U.S. Fisher helped bring the AMBER Alert program to Nevada in 2003, and served as its chairman and coordinator for ten years. His other lobbying successes include the classification of certified broadcasters as First Responders and the elimination of Broadcaster Non-Compete contracts in 2013. He served on the Nevada Homeland Security Commission for 13 years, the Nevada Crime Commission, and the Governor's Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission. Fisher is a founding clergy member of Midbar Kodesh Temple in Henderson, Nevada and served as its cantor for over a decade. After his retirement from NVBA at the end of 2014, he established Bob Fisher Weddings to provide his services as a wedding officiant. In this interview, conducted shortly after his retirement from NVBA, Fisher discusses his childhood in Twin Cities, and the large role Judaism played in his upbringing. He speaks at length about his involvement with United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism over the years, including as regional director of the United Synagogue Youth Far West Region, which took him from Minnesota to California. He talks about his time in Los Angeles, and later, about his life in Las Vegas, including his broadcasting career as well as involvement with Midbar Kodesh Temple.

In this interview, Goldman discusses the impact of strategies for addressing segregation in schools, including desegregation lawsuits, as well as anti-Semitism within the district. He also talks about his push, as region superintendent, for K through 8th grade configurations in schools as well as his opening of West Preparatory Institute, a K-12 school in Westside. Goldman discusses the politics of school naming and goes through the various community members who have schools named after them. In addition, he reflects upon how his job as a Clark County School District central office administrator has morphed over the years, and the different issues that demand his time over the years.

Edward ?Ed? Goldman was born in Rochester, New York in 1951, and spent his childhood in Jerusalem, Israel as well as Cincinnati, Ohio. He received his first bachelor?s degree in political science from Columbia University and a second in Jewish Studies from the University of Judaism. Goldman later received a master?s degree in political science from California State University, and then a doctorate in education and higher administration from UNLV, focusing on educational law. Goldman first moved to Las Vegas while on a leave of absence from his job in Los Angeles to finish his Ph.D. dissertation, working as a math teacher for the Clark County School District. However, it was not until 1981 that Goldman took a full-time position with the district, and moved with his wife, Susan, to the city. After the move, his first job was at Von Tobel Junior High School. Three years later he served as dean at Woodbury Junior High School. From 1989 until 2000, Goldman led recruitment for the school district, and subsequently, he became the Southeast Regent Superintendent. He then was asked to create a new division, Educational Services, which he oversaw for five years. He then took a break from central office administration, returning to the school environment, until he was asked to come back to his previous job as Associate Superintendent for Employee Management Relations.

Carolyn Goldmark Goodman (1939- ) is the mayor of the city of Las Vegas, Nevada. She began her first four-year term in office on July 6, 2011 and was re-elected for a second term in April 2015. She succeeded her husband of 50 years, Oscar B. Goodman, who served three terms as mayor. Carolyn founded The Meadows School in Las Vegas in 1984, the state's first nonprofit, college preparatory school for pre-kindergarten through 12th grade. She oversaw planning and daily operations of the school for 26 years, retiring in 2010. Carolyn and Oscar Goodman arrived in Las Vegas in 1964. Carolyn Goodman started out working in the hotel industry, and later earned her master's degree in counseling from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) while raising four children. As mayor, Goodman has focused on improving public education and the local economy. She is a board member of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority and serves on the Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance (LVGEA). She is actively involved in the United States Conference of Mayors (USCM), as a member of its Advisory Board, vice-chair of its Task Force on Education Reform, and chair of the Mayors? Business Council. In 2014 Goodman received the UCSM?s Large City Climate Protection Award. As leader of the Meadows School, Goodman was recognized nationally by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) and the National Association of Independent Schools in 2006 with the Seymour Preston Trustee Award for Leadership. She has also been honored by UNLV, receiving the Distinguished Nevada award in 1989, an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree (PhD) in 2006, and Alumni of the Year in Education in 2010. In this interview, Goodman talks about her family background and touches upon her childhood in New York City and attending Bryn Mawr College, where she met Oscar. She discusses the growth of the Las Vegas Jewish population since arriving, efforts to build Jewish community, and her involvement, including with Temple Beth Sholom and the Jewish Federation. In addition, Goodman talks at length about her husband?s political career as well as her own, both dedicated to developing Las Vegas into a safe and prosperous city, with quality education, health care, and arts and culture offerings. She also discusses establishing The Meadows School.

Liliam Lujan Hickey was born in 1932 Havana, Cuba, where her father owned an insurance company and her mother was a music teacher. At age 17, Liliam married Enrique Lujan who owned five casinos and who was twelve years her senior. It was the early 1950s, and the people of Cuba lived with stark distinctions between upper class and low-income families. Liliam and Enrique lived a life of luxury. She became accustomed to flying to New York for dinner and wearing the finest Italian silks for custom dresses. Then in 1959, Liliam’s life took a vast turn as Fidel Castro rose to power and seized assets from the wealthy class. This upended Liliam’s family and in 1962, Liliam, Enrique and their three children fled to the United States. They first arrived in San Diego, California, where Liliam took a job at the Scripps Clinic. While Liliam spoke five different languages, she attended night school to learn English. Eventually, Liliam and her family moved to Las Vegas where Enrique could find work in the casinos. Unexpectedly in 1972, Enrique passed away, leaving Liliam and her children to fend for themselves. Liliam was thrust into the role of matriarch; she learned how to write a check and drive a car. She describes this as a period when her community activism awoke, how she secured a position working for the Nevada Welfare Administration Office, and how her persistent spirit led her to citizenship within a week. Through friends, Liliam met Nevada legislator Thomas Hickey, an Irish American who she endearingly nicknamed her Pink Husband. Liliam credits Senator Hickey with teaching her about life and the world, and ultimately inspiring much of her political activism. She was an active member of the Latin Chamber of Commerce, first known as el Circulo Cubano. At the peak of her career, Liliam became the first Latina to be elected to the Nevada State Board of Education. She envisioned building a village through schools in order to support and help all students be successful. A local Las Vegas school, Liliam Lujan Hickey Elementary School, was named in honor of her public service. Today, Liliam is retired, but continues to work to increase civic engagement in the Latinx community and improve our educational system.

Norma Morrow Zuckerman is the driving force behind the Jewish Repertory Theatre of Nevada [JRTN], an organization she co-founded with Charlene Sher in 2010. The endeavor coincided with Norma’s pursuit of an MFA at UNLV a couple of years prior. With the commitment to her studies and to bring professional Jewish theatrical performances to Las Vegas, her energetic personality intensified. In 2007, she performed in The Diary of Anne Frank and noted the audience was supporting Jewish Family Services Agency. Norma could sense the community’s eagerness for professional theatre and she was just the one to deliver it. Over the following years, JRTN produced an array of Jewish-themed and acted plays. Since then she tries to bring The Diary of Anne Frank to the stage annually and finds partners to bring 1400 eighth graders to the performance. By 2012, her commute between Los Angeles, where she is a garment designer/manufacturer with her husband Eugene, and Las Vegas had become routine and her passion for professional theatre in Las Vegas increased. This was the year that The Smith Center for Performing Arts opened. The first theatrical production was Golda’s Balcony, a one-woman drama starring Tovah Feldshuh. It was the spectacular co-promotion by Norma’s JRTN and the Smith Center. Norma was smitten with the theatre from a young age and studied with some of the best acting coaches—Milton Kastelas, Stella Adler, Wynn Handman. In this oral history she recalls the people who have helped her, the performances that have charmed audiences and the value of live theatre.

Interviewed by Nathalie Martinez. Jocelyn Cortez is a Salvadoran-American immigration lawyer. She grew up on the Eastside of Las Vegas and grew up going to school in the Clark County School District and at UNLV before going to Law School at the University of Arizona. She is an engaged community member as an immigration lawyer working alongside the Culinary Union and the Latino Bar Association.