Entrepreneurship Task Force Members

Bill Botts has over 52 years of management experience having been President, CEO, Director and/or Chairman of the Board of more than 40 public and private companies since 1978. His early focus was in the high tech arena including nuclear power, environmental controls, software, computer systems, semiconductors and technical services. Over the last 15 years Bill has become a serial investor in a variety of early-stage companies, both high tech, manufacturing and consumer products. He serves on the Advisory Board of UNLV’s, Mendenhall Innovation Center, and the Rebel Venture Fund board, and served for a year on the Board of Trustees of the Desert Research Institute Foundation. Bill is an active angel investor and was a VVA Member Emeritus of the Vegas Valley Angels. Bill has BS degrees in Electrical Engineering and Mathematics from California Polytechnic University and did graduate work in Nuclear Engineering at UCLA. He spent the first 19 years of his career with Rockwell International where, in the early 70’s, where he became Vice President of the Environmental, Utility and Energy Systems Division.

Jimmy is an entrepreneur and software engineer who has worked at companies like Overstock.com and Zappos. After moving to Las Vegas in 2010 he got involved in the local developer community both participating in and helping to organize hackathons, Startup Weekends and developer Meet Ups like VegasJS. Most recently, Jimmy helped found the polling and survey startup Wedgies.com. Yes, you read that right. He is also a passionate Career Day speaker. Jimmy graduated Utah State University with a bachelors degree in Computer Science and a minor in Mathematics.

As Executive Director of the Center for Entrepreneurship at UNLV, Leith is responsible for leading the design, development and implementation of university-wide curriculum, programming, competitions and other entrepreneurial related activities. Leith has a rich background in entrepreneurship gained through experience as an investor, Co-Founder, CEO and President of EQUINET, a Las Vegas-based technology company which provides integrated voice and threat management services for businesses. Prior to relocating to Las Vegas to join EQUINET, Leith sold his ownership in Turnipseed International (TI), where he was President for eleven years. TI provided fabricated steel and other engineered construction components to large national hotel and restaurant chains in the United States. Under his leadership, TI’s sales grew and profitability improved by expanding its operations in India and opening offices in Bangalore. Leith earned an MBA and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Alabama, and completed the prestigious Owner/President Management (OPM) program at the Harvard Business School.

Camille is Director of Technology Innovations for the Adelson Educational Campus in Las Vegas. She collaborates with the school's technology team to develop and teach a progressive and comprehensive coding, maker, and design curriculum for K-12 students. She recently directed the development of a new, 5000 square foot, state-of-the-art Startup Incubator which opened in September 2016. She also serves as the Curriculum Director for Spark Skill, an education startup providing cutting-edge STEM summer camps for tweens and teens. She was recently awarded the Tech Exec 2016 Lifetime Achievement award.

Zach Miles serves as the Associate Vice President, the Director of the Nevada Small Business Development Center (SBDC) at UNLV and Executive Director for the UNLV Research Foundation. In these capacities, Miles manages the assessment, protection, and commercialization of intellectual property owned or controlled by UNLV and assists start-up companies in building a strong business foundation and seeking capital. Prior to joining UNLV, Miles served as the deputy executive director of Technology Venture and Commercialization at the University of Utah. Miles has also co-founded, advised, and served as general counsel for a number of Utah based start-up companies. Miles holds a bachelor of science degree from Weber State University, where he majored in microbiology and holds a Juris Doctorate from the University of New Hampshire School of Law.

Bill is an active angel investor, board member, and advisor to entrepreneurs. He assisted in founding four angel groups: the Frontier Angel Fund Vegas Valley Angels (2003), Tech Coast Angels and Aztec Venture Network. Over the past three decades, Bill has successfully founded or invested in over 60 start-up companies. In 1971, Bill founded Solid State Dielectrics, Inc., an advanced materials supplier to the electronic components industry. He sold the company to E. I. DuPont in 1982. From 1995 to 2007, in his role with as an Entrepreneur in Residence with the Kauffman Foundation, he worked on educational programs for entrepreneurs and their investors, including the development of the Power of Angel Investing seminar series. Since 2001, Bill has served as the lead instructor for over 100 of these angel investing seminars and workshops in ten countries. He was also active in the formation and startup of the Angel Research Institute and the Angel Capital Association (ACA). Bill was awarded ACA's prestigious 2009 Hans Severiens Memorial Award for Outstanding Contribution to Angel Investing. In one of his six visits to New Zealand, Bill served as the 2010 BNZ University of Auckland Entrepreneur-in-Residence from February through June 2010. In November 2010, Bill was named an Arch Angel of New Zealand for "remarkable contributions to angel investing." Bill graduated with BS and MS degrees in Ceramic Engineering from the University of Illinois, where he has served on the Dean's Board of Visitors of the College of Engineering. Bill has a cumulative 120 years of Board service for private companies and not-for-profit organizations.

As President and CEO of the Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance (LVGEA), Jonas leads a talented team focused on strengthening the regional economy and positioning LVGEA as a national leader in community and economic development. Prior to joining LVGEA, Peterson served as President/CEO of the Santa Clarita Valley Economic Development Corporation (SCVEDC). During his tenure, SCVEDC quickly emerged as one of the most productive economic development organizations in California. Jonas received a M.S. in Community and Economic Development from Pennsylvania State University and a M.B.A. from North Dakota State University. He is a Certified Economic Developer (CEcD), graduate of Oklahoma University’s Economic Development Institute (OUEDI), graduate of Stanford University’s Executive Program, Leadership Series graduate at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and a Certified Business Retention and Expansion Consultant. In 2010, Jonas was recognized as Arizona’s “Economic Developer of the Year” by the Arizona Association for Economic Development and as the “New Economic Developer of the Year” by the International Economic Development Council.

Heather Wilde is a four-time CTO, on the board of 6 companies in diverse sectors, multiple award-winning, 5x-certified Executive Coach and mentor, published Author and international Public Speaker and event organizer, as well as the director of a non-profit. Affiliated with 3 Entrepreneurial accelerators, and has worked with governments on Economic Development projects for over 20 years.

Heather was an early employee of Spirit Airlines, a founding member of Evernote, and one of the only women to have programmed, designed, produced and published a game at the company THQ. She is currently the CTO of ROCeteer, a company in Las Vegas, NV, where she oversees the development of two software platforms as well as work with ecosystems and teams around the world on their development and growth strategies. She has worked with the U.S. Navy, and NASA and state and local governments around the world.

Heather has received multiple commendations for her work from the United States Government (including from House Minority Leader Senator Harry Reid), is the recipient of 2015 and 2016 Awards for Mentor/Coach of the Year and Female Executive of the year and has been named Top Writer on Quora, as well as having the "Entrepreneurial Revolution" column for Inc where she influences millions of readers every week.

Eugene Wong has almost 4 decades experience as an investment banker, entrepreneur and angel investor both on the East and West Coasts. He has served as an advisor, director and investor to several companies. Eugene is a founder of The Aslan Group, a national group of angel investors to early-stage companies and co-founded the SF Bay Chinese Entrepreneurs Association Chapter. Currently, Eugene is on the Advisory Board of the UNLV College of Engineering, the Advisory Board of the UNLV Center for Entrepreneurship, and is a member of the Sierra Angels (Incline Village) and the NV Angels (Switch Comm.). Eugene is a graduate of the Columbia University Graduate School of Business with an M.B.A. in Finance, and of Cornell University with a B.S. in Engineering Physics.