Vegas Magazine - Niche Media - There is a place beyond the crowds, beyond the ropes, where dreams are realized and success is celebrated. You are invited.
Issue link: http://digital.greengale.com/i/303789
S ome people may be surprised to learn that in the famously testosterone- fueled city of Las Vegas, many of the most important decision-makers today are women. But while our most celebrated (and notorious) pioneers were men, women have been playing a vital role in the city since its founding. The Pair-O-Dice Club—predecessor to the casinos of the Vegas Strip—was owned by former Los Angeles police commander Guy McAfee, but the first person to be issued a gaming license was a woman: Mayme Stocker, in 1931. Fast-forward more than 80 years: According to the Center for American Progress Action Fund, Nevada ranks a respect- able sixth among the states in female leadership, with half of its elected executive offices held by women. Of the 52 judges of the 8th Judicial District Court of Clark County (the largest general-jurisdiction court in Nevada), 26 are women, including our chief justice. Testosterone-fueled? Perhaps not so much. At Vintner Grill, a favorite among the city's power brokers, we sat down with six of Las Vegas's most inf luential women to get a deeper look at not only women's roles here, but also the issues they're intimately involved with—which happen to be the biggest issues facing the city. At our power table: Mayor Carolyn Goodman; City Manager Betsy Fretwell; Susie Lee of Communities in Schools Nevada; Jenna Morton of the Morton Group; social activist Punam Mathur; and Camille Ruvo of Keep Memory Alive. XX SOME OF THE MOST POWERFUL POSITIONS IN VEGAS ARE HELD BY WOMEN. SO WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THEY SIT DOWN TOGETHER TO TALK ABOUT THE CITY'S ISSUES? BY ANDREA BENNETT PHOTOGR APHY BY JEFF GALE FACTOR THE 126 VEGASMAGAZINE.COM 126-131_V_F_Roundtable_MAYJUNE_14.indd 126 4/21/14 5:14 PM