Advisory Council
Gina Bongiovi, Chairman 2012
As one of the few native Las Vegans left in town, I'm proud to still call Las Vegas home. I'm also proud to call myself a Rebel, having graduated magna cum laude from the UNLV Honors College with a B.S.B.A. in marketing and minor in business law in 2001. In 2007, I was one of the first students to earn a dual law degree/MBA from the William S. Boyd School of Law and College of Business at UNLV.
In 2005, I started a marketing company and couldn't find a lawyer that was willing or able to help a startup like me. After hearing similar stories from other entrepreneurs, I decided I would dedicate my practice to serving small businesses. With my education and real-world experience, I provide my clients with business-minded legal advice that addresses all facets of business ownership.
As a passionate animal lover, I have rescued several homeless animals, reunited numerous stray dogs with their owners, and I provide ongoing support to the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Utah.
I am a member of the State Bar of Nevada, and the American Bar Association including the Young Lawyers Section, Solo and Small Firm Division, and Business Law Division.
I am admitted to practice in the United States District Court for the District of Nevada and all Nevada state courts.
William Paccione, Past Chairman
Will Paccione is an Internet Specialist and owner of a WSI- We Simplify the Internet franchise in Las Vegas and has clients across the United States.
Will received his Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the College of Staten Island. He worked in the Health and Fitness industry for over 11 years, 5 in New York, the rest in Las Vegas and held every position from Personal Trainer to General Manager. One of Will's achievements
is winning the Company-wide award of "Pre-Sale General Manager of the Year 2003" when he opened the Summerlin 24 Hour Fitness and broke just about every company record that year.
Will has been involved in the Internet since 1997 owning and marketing his own websites, one of which included an online electronics store. Learning the hard way how to market online, he knew that besides Health and Fitness that his passion for the Internet was one that was here to stay. Will invested in a WSI franchise in 2007 because of the resources offered to their franchise owners. With this WSI franchise, he has access to Website Design and Search Engine Optimization support teams around the world.
One of his favorite mottos is "Your Website shouldn't just advertise your Business, it should be part of your Business". He doesn't just make a website and walk away. He helps companies develop strategies to market those websites through a constantly evolving Internet. "Every 1 year in the real world currently equals about 12 years on the Internet... You have a Business to run, I'll keep up to date with the Internet for you".
Will speaks at Conventions, Businesses, Seminars, and anyone else who'll listen. He also is serving as the 2010 Advisory Council Chairman for Vegas Young Professionals and is still and always will be a workout addict.
Sam Blyveis
Born and raised in Michigan, Sam graduated from Olivet College in Olivet, MI in 1997 with a B.A. in Social Science and a Minor in Psychology, as well as a Secondary Teachers Certification. While at Olivet, Sam wrestled in the NCAA Div. III ranks, and later earned national recognition as a high school wrestling coach. Today he remains an avid sports fan of the teams he cheered for in his youth.
Currently, Sam is a Cloud Communications Specialist with Telesphere Networks, where he works with businesses nationwide as they transition from traditional, on premise based phone systems, to the cloud based “Hosted” solutions of today and the future.
Sam attributes his business successes to both his Midwestern upbringing and his competitive nature. When asked about his strengths in succeeding in a down economy, Sam immediately refers to the skills he received during his education while becoming a teacher. “In education, you constantly have to analyze students learning styles and needs. In the business world, we call that “qualifying” a customer. I never would have imagined that those techniques I developed as a student and teacher back then would later be such an integral part of my success in business.”
“I have a very unique opportunity”, Sam notes when asked about how he works with prospective customers and clients. “I get to educate people, and with the world moving to the cloud for so many resources, it opens up a world of possibilities when creating their new solutions.” When asked about how he sees himself in a technology world that is ever changing, Sam states, “After I consult with a customer and finally sit down to design their telecom and data networks, with all of the new features and functionality available, I can’t help but feel a bit like an artist, because essentially, the options available are almost limitless.”
Jonathan Catalano
Jonathan Catalano was born in upstate New York and although not a native of Las Vegas he has called Southern Nevada his home for over 25 years.
Jonathan began his career in the trades after graduating from Boulder City High School and after honing his technical skills took the leap into business ownership. Jonathan, along with a friend and business partner purchased a small “mom and pop” Las Vegas heating and air condition company in 2000. By 2005 they expanded the company to include plumbing services and was now overseeing 150 employees in two states generating over 10 million in annual revenue. Opportunity knocked and in 2006 the company was sold to a national firm.
Jonathan now pursues a challenging career with Realty Executives serving as residential real estate expert. By applying his business, leadership and personal skills learned in his previous venture, he closed over 4 million dollars in transactions in his first year as a residential Realtor and continues the same success through 2009. He attributes his business success to friends, family and referrals.
Jonathan has been a member of the Vegas Young Professionals for more than two years and now serves on the council. He also volunteers his time at the local Three Square food bank. In his free time he enjoys running and has completed several half marathons.
Jasmine Freeman, Ambassador Chair
Jasmine Freeman, CWCA*, CEAP**, Chief Executive Assistant to the, CEO of Office Dynamics. Jasmine holds a diverse background as an executive assistant for more than 13 years. She is a tremendous contributor to the growth of the new generation administrative professional.
Jasmine is a blogger, you can keep up with her at Wild Wonderful Working Woman, is a featured Office Dynamics blogger, and a contributing author in the books, Life Choices: Putting the Pieces Together, Life Choices: It’s Never Too Late (coming March 2012) and Who Took My Pen … Again? Secrets from Dynamic Executive Assistants (coming March 2012).
Jasmine is a member of Vegas Young Professionals, is an involved member of the Advisory Council as the Ambassador Program Chair and VYP Toastmasters Liaison; a member of VYP Toastmasters and has achieved her Competent Communicator (CC). Jasmine is also a member of the National Speakers Association (NSA), NSA Speaker Academy, International Association of Administrative Professionals. If that wasn’t enough for you she is also a mother to four wonderful kids and wife to one very supportive man.
*Certified World Class Assistant (CWCA)
**Certified Executive Administrative Professional (CEAP)
Michael Iglinski, Marketing Committee Chair
Michael Iglinski is Director of Business Development & Strategy for Stovall & Associates – Attorneys at Law. Stovall & Associates is a medium-sized general practice law firm with five offices in Southern Nevada focused on civil litigation.
Michael reports to the firm’s owner, Mr. Leslie Mark Stovall, and leads a team focused on creating sustainable business relationships throughout the Southwest. His department helps develop clientele, leads business capture efforts, drives strategic planning, and spearhead commercial & residential property acquisition/development. The group also has responsibility for fostering relationships with other regional law practices and medical practices.
Before joining Stovall & Associates, he held a position at a retained C-level recruiting firm focused on private equity and venture capital funded projects with offices in Boston, New York City & Connecticut. Prior to his recruiting position, Michael served as Director of Operations at regional F&B company in the Northeast in addition to owning/operating two small organic F&B holdings in Vermont.
Iglinski serves on the Advisory Board for the Vegas Young Professionals, in addition to his role a Chair of the Marketing Committee. He formerly served as the local Chair of Economic Development for the State of Vermont’s Department of Business Affairs.
Michael attended Bishop Gorman High School (along with his wife Wendi), University of Nevada Las Vegas and the University of Tulsa-Law. He is currently pursuing his Master’s degree in Business Administration at UNLV. His interests include his children, golf, racquetball, politics and UNLV Men’s Basketball.
Jessica Tomlinson, Community Outreach Committee Chair
Jessica Tomlinson received her B.A. in Communication with an emphasis in Public Relations from the Edward R. Murrow School of Communication at Washington State University. In 2007, Jessica moved to Las Vegas from rainy Seattle after realizing that our city had a flourishing business community and plenty of sunshine! She became a Vegas Young Professional member right away.
Jessica has a diverse background in communications including public relations, events, marketing, business writing, copywriting and internal communications.
From 2007-2009, Jessica worked for The Greenspun Corporation branding their array of magazines, newspapers and websites including Las Vegas Home & Design Magazine, Las Vegas Life Magazine, In Business Las Vegas, Home News, Las Vegas Weekly, VEGAS Magazine, Las Vegas Magazine (LVM), VEGAS2GO, Vegas Golfer Magazine, LasVegasSun.com and LasVegasWeekly.com.
Jessica is currently overseeing internal communications, employee programs and leadership training for Allegiant Travel Company.
One of Jessica's passions is giving back to the community and she does this by serving as VYP's Community Outreach Committee Chair as well as dedicating her time to the Boys & Girls Club of Henderson where she also sits on The Council.
Her other passion is culture and race equality. To support this platform, Jessica has a blog called White Girl Blog-Anything But Vanilla and is working on a novel titled White Girl Diaries, expected to release in January 2012.
Alexia Vernon, Collegiate Outreach Committee Chair
Alexia Vernon is a career and workplace author, speaker, International Coach Federation (ICF) certified coach, and trainer. She specializes in empowering young professionals--and those who recruit, train, and manage them--to develop careers and companies that are successful, sustainable, and make a positive social impact.
Since winning the Miss Junior America competition as a freshman at UNLV, Alexia has been on the speaking circuit addressing audiences throughout the country on career development in the new millennium, sustainable leadership, effective communication and presentation skills, women's empowerment, and managing and demystifying Millennials/Gen-Y. Alexia has partnered locally with such organizations as the Southern Nevada Medical Industry Coalition (SNMIC), Southern Nevada Hispanic Employment Program (SNHEP), International Association of Administrative Professionals (IAAP), DeVry University, College of Southern Nevada (CSN), Realty Executives of Nevada, and has spoken nationally to the National Association of REALTORS®, National Council for Workforce Education, Association of Women Entrepreneurs (AOfWE), Woodhull Institute for Ethical Leadership, Step Up Women's Network, and dozens of college campuses.
Alexia is the author of the 2010 book Awaken Your CAREERpreneur: A Holistic Road Map to Climb from Your Calling to Your Career and through ASTD Press will release a book on onboarding young professionals in Spring 2012. Alexia has shared her career and workplace advice on CNN, NBC, the CW, ABCNews.com, Forbes.com, the Wall Street Journal, Diversity Executive, and hundreds of other online and print media.
Alexia is proud to live with her husband, Stephen, in Las Vegas' first "Extreme Green" home and serves as the President of the Nevada Professional Coaches Association (NPCA) and the Vice President of Community Affairs for ASTD-Las Vegas. When not facilitating introductions between people in her network, Alexia can be found advocating for marginalized groups, on her yoga mat, or hunting for the next best cupcake.
Melissa Skipworth
Melissa Skipworth is in sales and marketing at Exhibit Fair International, Inc. (EFI). She has been with EFI since February of 2002. She overseas marketing campaigns and helps create marketing concepts and materials as well as sell new business.
Exhibit Fair International, Inc. is a full service custom display house specializing in trade show and corporate event management, custom rental trade show exhibits, portable/modular displays, retail displays, kiosks, audio video rental, staging, graphics, storage and much more.
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