Board of Directors

John Black, Chairman

Mr. Black is a partner in West Wood Realty which is an independent commercial real estate brokerage and development company. Mr. Black has a Bachelors degree in Finance from the Anderson School of Business at UNM and a CSM degree from the International Council of Shopping Centers. During his career, he had developed over 750,000 square feet of commercial retail and office buildings and has master planned and zoned over 9,000 acres of mixed-use projects in Albuquerque and Rio Rancho.

Mr. Black worked for the State of New Mexico, Don Chalmers, numerous partnerships, and his family real estate holdings. He planned, zoned, and sold the 95-acre tract of land for the Simon Group who built the existing 1.2 million square foot Cottonwood Regional Mall as one of his featured developments.

Don Power, Vice-Chairman

Don Power served for 45 years, 1968 to 2013, with the Jaynes Corporation, a leading New Mexico construction and real estate company. During his tenure with Jaynes Corporation, Mr. Power was responsible for the daily operation of Jaynes Corporation and all its affiliates, and served as President and COO of Jaynes from 1988 to 2003, then as President and CEO of Jaynes from 2003 to 2013 when he retired. Mr. Power has also provided assistance to LDC on business projects, and served as contractor for the Route 66 Casino and Hotel. Mr. Power holds memberships on the boards of the Albuquerque Economic Development, the New Mexico Partnership, the Economic Forum, and the United Way, in addition to the boards of other organizations. He is also involved in several private real estate partnerships which own and manage New Mexico real estate properties. Mr. Power is also the sole owner of DP Construction and Consulting Services, LLC, which provides expert witness services in construction cases, as well as owner representation for construction projects. Mr. Power obtained a B.A. in history, with a minor in geology, from UNM in 1971, and completed an EMBA degree in 2003 from the UNM Anderson School of Management

Thomas Aro, Board Member

Tom Aro recently retired from an extensive career of more then forty years in the hospitality and gaming industry during which time he held executive positions in finance, development and operations. Positions included serving on the Finance Committee of the Del Webb Corporation, general management responsibilities for operations at several gaming and non-gaming properties, and senior operations director during the development of major gaming projects in Reno, Atlantic City, Mississippi and New York.

Since his retirement, Mr. Aro has remained active in his community serving on several boards including the alumni board of the Mesabi Range CC, Care Partners, a local non-profit organization assisting cancer victims and their families, president of a condominium board in Sanibel, Florida, and holding the elected position of Township Supervisor for his home community.

Mr. Aro holds a B.S. degree from the University of Arizona and is a Certified Public Accountant.

Shyla Sheppard, Board Member

Shyla Sheppard was raised on the Fort Berthold reservation in North Dakota and is an enrolled member of the Three Affiliated Tribes. She earned her economics degree from Stanford University and completed Oxford University’s Said School of Business Impact Investing Executive Program.  In 2005, she joined the founding team of New Mexico Community Capital (“NMCC”), an Albuquerque-based venture capital firm, where she was involved in all aspects of development and fund management, including fundraising, deal sourcing, due diligence, deal structuring, investing and post-investment oversight and governance. In that time, Shyla invested in early and expansion-stage companies across a variety of industries including energy, water, agriculture, safety/security, and aerospace.

Shyla also led NMCC’s investment effort in Indian Country to promote business development and expansion by Tribes and Native American entrepreneurs. Her investment in a reservation-based, Native American, woman-owned oilfield services company was nominated for the Native American Finance Officers Association’s Deal of the Year in 2012. In 2011, she was recognized by the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development as one of Indian Country’s 40 under Forty outstanding young leaders and in 2012 by the New Mexico Business Weekly as one of New Mexico’s 40 under Forty. Shyla’s community involvement includes serving on the boards of First Nations Development Institute, First Nations Oweesta Corporation and on the Three Affiliated Tribes Investment Committee.

After nearly a decade of venture capital experience and a great deal of thought, Shyla elected to leave her position with the investment fund to pursue her own entrepreneurial endeavor currently under development.

Ethel J. Abeita, Board Member

Ethel Abeita’s professional legal experience spans more than thirty years and includes service as follows: Government Affairs Attorney Director and In-House Attorney for the Pueblo of Laguna; Office of the Special Trustee Director of the Office of Trust Records, Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), Deputy Regional Director (Southwest Regional Office); Office of the Solicitor – Assistant Regional Solicitor (Southwest Region) for the Department of the Interior; Assistant Regional Attorney, Office of the General Counsel, Albuquerque, for the U.S. Department of Agriculture; Deputy Director, Native American Rights Fund; Realty Specialist for the BIA Statute of Limitations Program; and Managing and Staff Attorney for Indian Pueblo Legal Services, Laguna, NM.

Ethel’s professional experience has also included lobbying Congress on behalf of Indian tribes on a proposed settlement of water rights claims and working with congressional staff on legislation for Montana tribes and the Pueblo of Laguna.

Ethel holds a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Business Education from San Jose State University in San Jose, California and a Juris Doctorate from the University of New Mexico School of Law.

Stephen Szapor, Jr., Board Member

Stephen Szapor has over thirty-eight years of operational, financial management and consulting and advisory experience in the gaming, leisure and hospitality industries.  He is currently Managing Partner of Prospect Growth Partners for which he provides advisory and consulting services to primarily Native American tribes in the areas of Economic Diversification Strategies, Executive Leadership Training and Project Development.

Stephen’s professional experience includes his work as founder, President and Senior Partner of the Innovation Group, leading hospitality, tourism, racing and gaming industry consulting company.  His professional experience also includes sixteen years of work as President, Chief Executive Officer, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer for several public companies engaged in leisure, hospitality and casino operations.  His professional affiliations include service on the Board of Directors of the Colorado Gaming & Entertainment Company, the Board of Directors of the Sahara Gaming Corporation, and the Hollywood Casino Corporation.

Stephen holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Villanova University.  His certifications include a Certified Public Account licensure (now inactive), a Key Gaming License/Finding of Suitability from the States of New Jersey, Mississippi, Nevada and Colorado, and service as a former Chairman of the Colorado Tourism Office Board.

Management

Kevin Greer, Interim President, and Chief Executive Office, LDC

Mr. Greer became Chief Financial Officer of the Business Operations in 2004. Mr. Greer has over 20 years of accounting and finance experience in the hospitality industry. Prior to his tenure at the Casino, Mr. Greer was Senior Director of Finance at the Belterra Casino Resort in Florence, Indiana. Mr. Greer also served as Chief Financial Officer for ten years at the Cypress Bayou Casino in Charenton, Louisiana, a tribal casino. Mr. Greer holds a B.A. in Business Administration from Youngstown State University in Youngstown, Ohio.

Howard Funchess, Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer, LDC

Mr. Funchess has over eleven years of accounting and finance experience related to the gaming industry. Mr. Funchess worked for the national public accounting firm Grant Thornton LLP, where he specialized in gaming industry audits, prior to joining LDC. Mr. Funchess holds a Bachelor of Accountancy from New Mexico State University.

Maxine Velasquez, Chief Counsel & Chief Government Relations Officer, LDC

Ms. Maxine Velasquez is a member of the Pueblo of Laguna. She possesses 20 years of general counsel experience representing tribal governments, tribal gaming businesses, and tribal gaming regulatory authorities.  She serves or has served as a Chair, Co-Chair, or Member on the Board of Directors for the following organizations: Laguna Gaming Control Board/Tribal Gaming Regulatory Authority, Laguna Construction Company, UNM Sandoval County Regional Medical Center, Albuquerque Indian School District Commission, and the All Pueblo Council of Governors-Legislative Committee. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice, a Master’s in Public Administration and a Juris Doctorate, all from the University of New Mexico.

Skip Sayre, Chief of Sales and Marketing, LDC

Mr. Sayre has over twenty-five years of senior executive level management experience in sales and marketing in casino, resort and entertainment industries. Mr. Sayre majored in journalism at California State University at Long Beach and completed the executive education program in marketing management at Stanford University.
 

Jorge Brasil, Chief of Food & Beverage Operations, LDC

Mr. Brasil has over twenty-five years of management experience. Prior to working at LDC, Mr. Brasil worked at Grand Casino Mille Lacs where he was Vice President of Food & Beverage Operations. Jorge’s passion for working in the hospitality industry began with the start of his own catering company Bon Vivant in 1986.

Abel Cardenas, Chief of Risk Management, LDC

Mr. Cardenas graduated from Cooper High School and attended college at Texas Tech University. He worked twenty-three years at Furr’s Supermarkets starting at the line level and worked himself up to the Risk Manager position. During this time he gained extensive experience investigating, interviewing and interrogating employee theft and other risk management issues. Mr. Cardenas has been with LDC for over ten years as the Director of Risk Management.

Steve  Chovanec, Chief of Human Resources, LDC

Mr. Chovanec received a Bachelor of Arts from Albion College, majoring in Economics/Accounting. He earned his J.D. from Wake Forest School of Law in 1987. He has worked in Senior Human Resources management for the better part of two decades, including the last four years in Indian Gaming. In addition, Steve has also held his S.P.H.R. designation since 1993.

Edward Khader, Chief Information Officer, LDC

Mr. Khader has been an employee of Laguna Development Corporation since 2002 and is currently the Chief Information Officer. He has over 20 years of experience and has overseen the growth of the technology environment at LDC from just a single server to over 250 servers and 300 virtual desktops. Under Mr. Khader’s leadership, LDC has been among the first and largest deployments in New Mexico of VoIP, synchronous multi-site storage redundancy, network micro-segmentation, large-scale server, and desktop virtualization, IP-based hotel TV system, cross-site Bingo simulcast, and network security spanning layer 2 through layer 7. LDC’s regulatory agency recently engaged an expert security firm to perform an internal penetration test. Their conclusion remarked, “The network security at the Route 66 and Dancing Eagle Casinos is amongst the best of the 150+ casinos GLI has visited.”

GT Mason, Chief of Facilities, LDC

Mr. Mason has over thirty-four years of diverse experience in the construction of new structures, remodels and maintenance of existing projects of all sizes. This includes the management of design, development, construction, and maintenance of buildings and grounds. Mr. Mason holds three Associates Degrees in Computer Science, Accounting, and Architectural Drafting.