Board | Committees

NPF Board of Directors

Wendy Van Vacter | President

Wendy is AVP, IT Risk Management for a Midwest life insurance and annuity carrier. While risk management is Wendy's day job, she spends her free time focusing on her passion for Las Vegas history and historic preservation. Since moving to Las Vegas full-time in 2012, Wendy has been a continuous volunteer at the Neon Museum and a regular supporter of the Nevada Preservation Foundation. Wendy resides in Paradise Palms, the first master-planned community in Southern Nevada and the first neighborhood on the Clark County Register of Historic Places.

Russ Rowe | Vice President

Russ works in the arena of government affairs focusing on zoning and land use planning and has represented various gaming clients, nonprofits, and public agencies. He obtained his law degree from the University of San Diego and has represented clients before the Nevada legislature since 2001. His extensive board experience includes the Urban Land Institute, AFAN, and Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance. A 40-year resident of Nevada and a graduate of UNLV, Russ resides in Henderson with his wife and two daughters.

Frank Woodbeck | Treasurer

Frank serves as Executive Director of Grants and Special Projects in the office of the CSN President. Previously, Frank served as Executive Director for Workforce Development with the Nevada System of Higher Education (NSHE), as Interim Vice Chancellor for Community Colleges and as Executive Director of the Nevada College Collaborative with NSHE. He was responsible for launching and leading efforts to improve efficiency and effectiveness of certain business operations among Nevada’s community colleges, in his initial role with NSHE. Previously, he was the director of the Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation for the State of Nevada, and served on the cabinet of Governor Sandoval. Frank serves on several other boards including Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance and Three Square Food Bank. He and his wife, Suzan, live in the McNeil Estates, a mid-20th century neighborhood in central Las Vegas.

Jennifer Gaynor | Secretary

Jennifer is a member at the law firm of Dickinson Wright, where she is a key part of the firm's Gaming and Regulatory Law Department and leads the firm’s Nevada Government Relations team. Jennifer represents clients before the Nevada legislature in Carson City, as well as before state and local regulatory boards. She specializes in privileged licensing, including gaming, liquor and cannabis. She and her husband Paul live in Southridge in downtown Las Vegas with their son.

Jennifer Lazovich

Jennifer is a native Nevadan and a key member of the law firm of Kaempfer Crowell. With over twenty years of experience in the area of zoning, land use planning and government affairs, Jennifer provides counsel to large casino-resorts, residential, industrial and commercial developers, as well as educational institutions and other prominent businesses in Nevada. She has provided legal services to the nonprofit Liberace Mansion, represented The Smith Center for the Performing Arts, and provides pro bono legal services for The Animal Foundation.

Brian McAnallen

Brian is Vice President of Government Affairs for the Porter Group. He has more than twenty years of lobbying experience, representing a diverse client base, which includes local government, the business community in two different states, communication companies, hospital systems, healthcare non-profits and trade associations. Most recently he worked for the City of Las Vegas, as Director of Government Relations, driving the agenda and strategy on all efforts for the city at the local, state and federal level. Brian was born in Butler, Pennsylvania and grew up in Tempe, Arizona where he studied Political Science and History at Arizona State University.

Craig Sean Palacios, AIA

Craig is a practitioner and academic of building science. As a practitioner, Craig is the co-founder and co-owner of Bunnyfish Studio. Since the founding of Bunnyfish in 2011, Craig has been mostly focused on transforming the small downtown Las Vegas community into a thriving global economic hub.

In academia, Craig is an architectural historian, university instructor, lecturer, and writer. In practice, Craig has been critical to a new found interest in saving Nevadas stock of historical buildings. Starting with downtown Las Vegas, Craig has worked with owners and the community to preserve or adaptively re-use buildings.

Amy Raymer

Amy is a veteran educator in the Clark County School District, currently serving students, teachers, administrators, and other stakeholders as an administrator in the K-12 Literacy and Language Development Department. Originally from Illinois, Amy is almost considered a local after recently reaching her 20th year of Las Vegas residency, and she is also a proud UNLV Rebel, holding a Master of Education in Curriculum and Instruction and Master of Arts in Urban Leadership degrees from the university. Amy is a self-described "history geek" and enjoys researching, developing, and facilitating opportunities for others to engage with Nevada history; she served as a volunteer tour guide for the Neon Museum from 2010-2018, and she has volunteered for the Nevada Preservation Foundation. Recently, Amy purchased a 1954 ranch home in the John S. Park neighborhood downtown and is working to restore the home to its original mid-century aesthetic.

Bradley Schrager

Bradley is head of the Wolf, Rifkin, Shapiro, Shulman & Rabkin's Politics & Government practice. He handles campaign finance compliance matters, election litigation, ethics investigations and more, for a wide variety of clients including state and national political parties; federal, state, and local candidates; legislative caucuses; political action committees; nonprofits; and others involved in political and legislative processes. He also has expertise in ballot measures, representing both proponents and opponents of popular initiatives and referenda. He is also a mid-century architecture enthusiast and lives in a mid-century Ranch home in Las Vegas.

Steven Spann

Steven is co-owner of The Doyle in downtown Las Vegas. He is an artist, developer and business owner. Steven lives in the historic John S. Park neighborhood with his wife Mary Ellen and daughter Maye.

Jon Sparer, FAIA

Jonathan is an award winning designer responsible for international resort and gaming projects such as the Borgata in Atlantic City, MGM Macau and as the Executive Architect for the Mirage, Treasure Island and Bellagio projects as well as community-focused projects Congregation Ner Tamid in Henderson and the Gay & Lesbian Center of Southern Nevada (The Center) in Las Vegas. Jon served as President of American Institute of Architecture Nevada (AIA NV) and AIA Las Vegas (AIA LV) and currently serves as the Nevada Fellow representative in the AIA Western Mountain Region. He received both the Nevada Silver Medal and Nevada Service Awards and was elevated into the prestigious AIA College of Fellows for his professional portfolio of work and extensive volunteer service. He also serves or has served on the board of directors for numerous organizations including The Center, Discovery Children's Museum and Jewish Family Service Agency (JFSA). Jon, originally from New York, currently lives in Las Vegas with his husband and fellow architect John Klai, FAIA and their 2 puppies in their extensively remodeled, circa 1951 mid-century home in McNeil Estates.

Jesse Wadhams

Jesse is with the law firm of Fennemore Craig, representing various Nevada state agencies including the Gaming Control Board and the Taxation Commission. Prior to joining Fennemore Craig, Jesse was the Director of Regional Government Relations for Newmont Mining Corporation where he developed and executed legislative policy and regulatory strategies. Outside of work, Jesse lives in Reno and is the proud parent of twin boys. He enjoys spending time with his family, hunting, camping, fishing, and rooting for the Minnesota Twins.

Nicole Willis-Grimes

Based in the Reno office, Nicole has been with The Ferraro Group for over twelve years where she heads up the firm’s public affairs practice, representing clients before state and local officials. Nicole has worked for several nonprofits in Minnesota and Washington, D.C., as well as served on numerous nonprofit boards. Before moving to Reno in 2005, she lived in Washington, D.C. for five years in the Columbia Heights neighborhood. Outside of work, Nicole loves traveling and camping around rural Nevada with her husband and twin boys, visiting historical towns off the beaten path. So far, Ely is her favorite. She and her family are the second homeowners of a 1953 home in Reno’s Old Southwest.

Catherine Wines

Catherine, the owner and principal architect of R6Studio, is a native of Elko County and proud member of one of the region's oldest families. Catherine earned a Bachelor of Science in Architecture from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in 1998 and went on to earn a post-graduate degree in architecture from the University of Arizona in 2002. In 2015 Catherine purchased the historic Taber Building and operates her firm from one of its second-floor offices. She plans a complete historic restoration of the building. Besides being a full-time architect, Catherine is a strong advocate for the arts and is active in development in the Elko community.