About NPHY – NPHY

OUR MISSION

To end youth homelessness and its wide-ranging, devastating impact – for each youth we encounter and our community as a whole.

NPHY Leadership Team

Arash Ghafoori

Chief Executive Officer

Arash Ghafoori is the CEO of the Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth (NPHY), Southern Nevada’s most comprehensive service provider for homeless youth. Leveraging his diverse background in policy, academia, and the start-up and corporate worlds, Arash has transformed NPHY into a community leader on issues affecting Southern Nevada’s homeless youth. Arash is a passionate advocate for disadvantaged populations and is an active leader in the national and local movements to end youth homelessness, serving on the Board of Directors of the National Network for Youth, the Advisory Board of National Safe Place, and the Southern Nevada Homelessness Continuum of Care Board. A firm believer in leveraging the intersections between the public, private, and nonprofit sectors to create visionary solutions for social problems, Arash speaks locally and nationally on best practices in serving homeless youth and how to incorporate sound business practices into non-profit management.
Arash holds a multidisciplinary B.A. in International Relations and Political Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and an M.A. in Economics from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He was honored in 2014 as a “40 Under 40” business trailblazer by Vegas Inc. and received the 2016 Executive Leadership Award from National Safe Place, the 2017 Sustainable Leadership Award from Impact NV, and the 2019 HOME Award for outstanding individual member of the Southern Nevada Homelessness Continuum of Care.

Melissa Jacobowitz

Chief of Development and Strategy

Melissa (MJ) Jacobowitz is a dedicated leader and advocate in the fight to end youth homelessness. With over 15 years of nonprofit experience, Melissa brings deep expertise and passion for transforming systems to uplift and empower young people experiencing homelessness.

In their 14 years at NPHY, Melissa has lead efforts spanning development, program creation and evaluation, grants management, impact measurement, strategic partnerships, policy advocacy, and systems change. During their time leading NPHY’s development work, Melissa secured millions of dollars in new federal funding for Nevada, and helped grow NPHY from a small nonprofit into the state’s preeminent organization addressing youth homelessness.

In 2017, Melissa co-founded the Movement to End Youth Homelessness in Nevada, spearheading regional and statewide efforts to reshape policies and systems for vulnerable youth. They are part of the leadership team behind the annual Nevada Youth Homelessness Summit, and have played key roles in developing statewide strategic plans, conducting assessments, and advancing legislation to remove systemic barriers facing young people. Melissa’s work is grounded in intersectionality, data-driven strategies, and authentic collaboration with young people with lived expertise to design innovative, justice-centered solutions.

Melissa holds an MPA in Nonprofit Management from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and a BA from New College of Florida. Before joining NPHY, they completed an AmeriCorps year of service at an out-of-school arts education program for underserved youth in Tampa, Florida, and spent a year in Odessa, Ukraine as a U.S. Department of State Fulbright Fellow. Outside of their professional work, Melissa is a passionate advocate for public lands and an active volunteer at Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area.

Michelle LaBonney

Director of Finance and Operations

Michelle LaBonney, MAcc, Director of Finance and Operations: Michelle received her Master of Accountancy from the University of Nevada, Reno and her B.S. in Business Management/Accounting from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. She joined the team at NPHY in 2021, and she has over 17 years of experience in business strategy and project management, accounting, payroll, grant administration, financial reporting, and inventory and asset management. She has managed the finances of several multimillion-dollar businesses in the for-profit and nonprofit fields in Southern Nevada and serves as a Nevada notary public.

Richard Espinoza

Director of Programs

Richard Espinoza, M.S., Director of Programs: As Director of Programs, Richard leads and oversees NPHY’s wraparound programs for young people experiencing homelessness. Richard holds an M.S. with a concentration in Forensic Psychology from Argosy University and a B.A. from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Prior to joining NPHY in September of 2020, Richard worked in various occupations serving at-risk youth as a therapist, substance abuse counselor, case manager, and psycho-social rehabilitation/basic skills trainer provider. Richard has extensive experience working with vulnerable young people, previously working with populations including foster youth, youth involved in the juvenile justice system, children with disabilities, and homeless young people. Before becoming NPHY’s Director of Programs, Richard served as NPHY’s Housing Programs Manager, supervising NPHY’s Independent Living transitional housing and rapid re-housing programs.

Lanette Rivera

Director of Engagement and Communications

Lanette brings nearly 15 years of communications experience and over a decade of nonprofit service dedicated to supporting under-resourced communities. With a foundation in corporate communications, Lanette transitioned to the nonprofit sector driven by her passion for social impact and informed by her own lived experience, fueling her commitment to supporting under-resourced communities.

For over a decade, Lanette has focused her career on addressing youth homelessness. At NPHY, her work spans corporate and community engagement, marketing and communications, event production, youth leadership development, policy communication, and strategic partnerships. She played a pivotal role in establishing The Movement to End Youth Homelessness in Nevada and the annual Nevada Youth Homelessness Summit, uniting cross-sector leaders to advance systemic solutions for youth experiencing homelessness.

Lanette’s commitment to community extends beyond her professional role. She serves on the TEDxLasVegas Leadership and Curation team, working closely with speakers to prepare and finalize compelling talks, and she also served as an MC for TEDxLasVegas in 2022 and 2025. Additionally, she is active in climate action efforts as a member of the Climate Reality Las Vegas chapter.

Her volunteer service includes leadership roles on local and national boards, including the Nonprofit Technology Enterprise Network (NTEN) National Membership Committee and Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity Committee. A graduate of Arizona State University with a degree in Mass Communications and Media Studies, Lanette is a 2025 Jameson Fellow and was honored as one of Las Vegas Weekly’s 2022 Top 40 Under 40 Most Influential Young Professionals. She has also been recognized by the NBA Summer League’s Noche Latina celebration for her work supporting the Latino community.

NPHY Board of Directors

Marita Schifalacqua, RN

NPHY Board Chair
Principal at M. Schifalacqua, LLC

Marita is a nurse executive with experience in system-wide roll out of evidence-based practices and care coordination for high risk populations. Marita has a BSN & MSN from Marquette University and is the 2021 Distinguished Alumna from the College of Nursing and is a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing. Marita has been on the NPHY board since 2018 and is currently Board Chairperson. Marita has lived in Las Vegas area since 2005 with her husband and has three children and three grandchildren.

Randy Hyzak

NPHY Treasurer
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at Las Vegas Sands

Mr. Hyzak was named Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Las Vegas Sands in January 2021. He joined the company in 2016 and previously served as our senior vice-president and chief accounting officer. With more than 30 years of financial experience, he has developed and led teams responsible for financial reporting and internal control, financial planning and analysis, accounting, tax, treasury, capital raising and M&A activity. Randy has a proven track record of developing and leading global finance and human resource teams that have successfully executed operational and strategic objectives. Before joining LVS, Mr. Hyzak worked at Freescale Semiconductor, Ltd. In Austin as vice-president and chief accounting officer. Prior to Freescale, he worked for Ernst & Young’s Dallas office in their assurance and advisory practice supporting global Fortune 500 clients. Mr Hyzak earned his Bachelor and Master of Science in Accounting from the University of North Texas.

Allan Shutt

NPHY Secretary
Senior Vice President, Risk Operations at Credit One Bank

Allan J. Shutt is a veteran of executive legal and compliance positions in the Banking, Financial Services, and FinTech industries. Allan leads strategic initiatives while providing executive management with effective advice on legal, risk management, and compliance matters. Allan currently works for Credit One Bank. While at the Bank, he previously served as the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) Officer. Allan has worked with NPHY for over 10 years. He has also worked with 25 other non-profits in the community (e.g., Las Vegas Rescue Mission, U.S. Vets, Shade Tree, Help of Southern Nevada, Family Promise, and several others). In doing so, Allan was able to unify the non-profit charities to work more closely together to help eliminate homelessness and meet other community needs. Allan has served as a Board Member for (1) Neighborhood Housing Services of Southern Nevada, (2) Opportunity Village, and (3) Ed W. Clark High School Academy of Finance.

Daniel Wathen

Vice President, Partner Services at Vegas.com

Daniel Wathen is the Vice President of Partner Services where he leads all of the account management, advertising and operations teams for partner services. Wathen oversees a dynamic team dedicated to providing the best end to end relationship management and responsible for providing market knowledge and support to Vegas.com’s partners in Las Vegas – the entertainment capital of the world. In his role, Wathen and his team provide impactful revenue management strategies and critical market insights, in addition to the marketing and distribution of show, tour, attraction and hotel partners in Las Vegas. Prior to joining Vegas.com, Wathen was with Expedia Inc. for just over 20 years and played a key role in establishing and managing relationships with lodging supply partners throughout Las Vegas, Phoenix, Chicago, Washington D.C., and New York City; and was instrumental in promoting demand for travel to these destinations through targeted marketing and merchandising campaigns. Wathen is a graduate of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He currently resides in Las Vegas with his son, Oliver, and faithful pups Lily and Coco.

Tommy Burns

Licensed Security Consultant & Principal at Burns & Associates
Former Chief of Police of the City of Henderson

Tommy Burns, President of Burns & Associates, has more than 47 years of law enforcement and security experience. Mr. Burns was previously Chief of Police for the Henderson Police Department, and then served as Security Director for various properties of Station Casinos and Harrah's (now Caesars) Entertainment. Mr. Burns is an independent consultant who provides security and police management consulting/training services. Mr. Burns is a recognized expert on police and security matters and regularly testifies in court cases related to security and law enforcement. He also previously served as a contractor-consultant to the Southern Nevada Counter-Terrorism Center (SNCTC) as the Privacy Officer. Mr. Burns also previously served as a Faculty Instructor in Criminal Justice and Security for University of Phoenix and is a member of the International Association of Professional Security Consultants (IAPSC). Mr. Burns is very familiar with the security in a variety of environments, and has previously trained security officers at various venues. Mr. Burns has an established track record of working with city, county, state, and federal law enforcement agencies in the greater Las Vegas area. It should be noted that Mr. Burns has presented Active Shooter seminars at the ASIS International Convention in Anaheim, CA, Global Gaming Expo (G2E) in Las Vegas, and also conducted an Active Shooter Webinar for American Insurance Corporation (AIG) that was attended by security and risk management clients from around the world.

Hassan Chaudhry

Managing Partner at Foresight Companies, Ltd.

Mr. Chaudhry, is an entrepreneur at heart and is most passionate about and seasoned in Real Estate Development and Affordable Housing projects involving Wrap Around Services. Mr. Chaudhry has over 15 years of professional experience in real estate and private equity sector, his expertise include underwriting, asset management and development of real estate assets. He also specializes in funding acquisitions and development projects through conventional financing, HUD programs, Tax Exempt Bonds, LIHTC, GRANTs and by structuring Public Private Partnerships. Mr. Chaudhry moved to Nevada in 2005 and transitioned from Private Equity sector to Real Estate Development in 2011. Since then, he has been instrumental in procurement, planning, designing and acquisition of over 153 acres of targeted development sites in Southern Nevada. Since 2005, he have served as a AmeriCorps Vista "Youth Advocate" with the Salt Lake City School District and as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) for Clark County District Court. Currently, he serves on the board for Nevada Partnership For Homeless Youth (NPHY) and HUD - SNH Clark County Continuum of Care Board which is the official board acting on behalf of the HUD-Continuum of Care (CoC) Program designed to promote community wide commitment to the goal of "Ending Homelessness". Proud father of a daughter; he loves to travel and spend time with his family. He holds a Degree in Computer Science from the Information Technology and is certified in Multifamily Development and Design project management from NeighborWorks America.

Alan Livengood

Director, Field Operations at Cox Communications

Alan Livengood currently serves as the Director of Field Operations for Cox Communications, Las Vegas. He leads a team of 300+ technicians and leaders who install and service Cox’s coax and fiber infrastructure which provides broadband service to residential and business customers in Southern Nevada. A graduate of Chaparral High School in Las Vegas, NV, Alan started his career in the telecommunications industry with Prime Cable in 1992 working as a Customer Service representative and remained with the company when it was purchased by Cox Communications in 1998. Alan’s hard work and dedication enabled him to quickly move from a frontline employee into the leadership ranks of several departments for the past 30+ years. During his tenure with the company, he has held various leadership roles in the departments of Customer Care, Field Operations, Supply Chain and Business Operations. Alan donates his time and money in support of Cox Charities and its partnership with Nevada Community Foundation. For over 15 years, he’s been part of the Cox Charities Advisory Board and the Golf Tournament Committee that has raised more than $2 million for local organizations with missions to improve the quality of life for Southern Nevada’s children and families. Alan has also served on the board of directors for Create a Change Now, an organization focused on improving the health and nutritional behaviors of local youth. Alan is also a graduate of the Vegas Chamber’s Leadership Las Vegas class of 2017. Alan enjoys spending time outdoors playing golf and softball. He is an avid sports fan and a HUGE Golden Knights fan He’s also a big MLB fan. Alan and his wife, Kim, have been to baseball games in 25 of the 30 MLB ballparks and plan to finish the rest in the coming years.

Jeff Mochal

Sr. Vice President, Corporate Communication at MGM Resorts International

Jeff Mochal is Senior Vice President of Global Corporate Communication at MGM Resorts International (NYSE: MGM), an S&P 500® global entertainment company featuring iconic hotels and casinos, meeting and conference spaces, live and theatrical entertainment experiences and an array of restaurant, nightlife and retail offerings across the globe. MGM Resorts’ portfolio includes some of the most recognizable resort brands in the industry, such as Bellagio, MGM Grand, ARIA, Mandalay Bay, The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, Beau Rivage, and Borgata. As head of Corporate Communication, Mochal leads the company’s proactive, strategic positioning of MGM Resorts in the marketplace, as well as the company’s issues management strategy, crisis and litigation communications, internal communications, corporate social responsibility communications, media relations, global development media strategy, and corporate regional communications. He also partners with Government Affairs on public affairs strategies as well as Investor Relations on investor communications. Mochal joined MGM Resorts from LPL Financial, where, as Senior Vice President of Marketing and Communication, he led the company’s public and media relations strategy, employee and advisor communication, corporate social responsibility, research marketing, and crisis and issues management. Prior to LPL Financial, Mochal held senior communications positions at McDonald's, ConAgra Foods, and Hardee's. At McDonald's, he helped create and lead U.S. and global public relations strategies for the Olympics, FIFA World Cup, Ronald McDonald, Happy Meals, and the "I'm Lovin' It!" campaign. Mochal holds a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Northern Iowa and a M.B.A. from the University of Notre Dame. He lives in Las Vegas with his wife, Erika, and his two kids, Emmy and Sam.

Join Our Team

Be The Solution!

Join our talented team dedicated to combating youth homelessness in Southern Nevada. NPHY is always seeking qualified applicants with a passion for providing empowering, holistic services to young people.

At NPHY, we don’t just accept diversity – we celebrate it, support, and thrive on it for the benefit of board members, employees, and clients, our programs, and our community. NPHY acknowledges and actively works to dismantle prejudice, bias, and inequity within our policies, procedures, and programming, and strives to serve as a leader in the community to challenge systems of oppression that disproportionately push young people into homelessness.

NPHY offers competitive paid personal leave, medical, vision, dental coverage, retirement benefits, a positive work environment, and other benefits. Click here to read more about our benefits!

Click here to see current employment opportunities.

Questions about your application or employment at NPHY? Email us at HR@nphy.org

Financials

NPHY takes immense pride in our unwavering commitment to responsible stewardship of your generous donations. We consistently maintain a strong focus on efficiency, financial stability, and dependability, ensuring that your support creates a lasting impact.

To further emphasize our dedication to financial accountability, we invite you to explore our financial records, which are readily available on our Guidestar profile.

You can also view our most recent financials below.

NPHY’s Federal Tax ID Number: 88-0476452

NPHY’s Most Recent Audit

NPHY’s Most Recent 990