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.
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SPIRIT OF GENEROSITY "Shopping" in Three Square's food warehouse food fighter ROSE MCKINNEY-JAMES CELEBRATES HUNGER ACTION MONTH WITH THREE SQUARE, HONORING THREE GENERATIONS OF HER FAMILY WHOSE MISSION IT WAS TO FEED THE HUNGRY. AS TOLD TO LISA ARCELLA R aised in Detroit by her grandparents while her mother, noted jazz singer Teri Thornton, was on the road, Rose McKinney-James was taught that those fortunate enough to find success have an obliga- tion to help their community. Her great-grandmother Reverend Elizabeth Crews made it part of her mission to feed the hungry. Now McKinney- James, the founder of Energy Works Consulting and McKinney-James & Associates in Las Vegas, is con- tinuing that legacy with her work as a board member of Three Square, an organization that comes to the aid of Nevada's food-insecure families. McKinney-James entered adulthood believing she would become a singer like her mother, but 66 VEGASMAGAZINE.COM ultimately she went to law school and made her professional mark almost immediately, serving a five-year tenure with the Nevada Public Service Commission and becoming the state's first director of the Department of Business and Industry. An expert on solar technology, she has helped Nevada become a leader in the clean energy movement. Here, she shares her motivations: "Three Square is an extraordinarily sophisticated organization. " There is an obligation to give back. It's become almost a cliché, but what John F. Kennedy said is true: "To those whom much is given, much is expected." That's how I grew up, and it's one of the principles I share with my two sons (Avery, 16, and Erick, 22), and continued on page 68 PHOTOGRAPHY BY LEILA NAVIDI