Board of Directors

NACET’s Board of Directors » Executive Members

Board members are selected from the northern Arizona community for varying terms on a rotating basis. Their decisions are driven by two core principles:

• To positively impact the community’s economic health by maximizing the success of emerging companies
• To lead the organization as a dynamic model of a sustainable, efficient business enterprise

Marc Chopin, Ph.D. Chairman

The Associate Dean of NAU’s College of Business, Dr. Chopin’s career has been distinguished. He was the Associate Director of an interdisciplinary Center for Entrepreneurship and Information Technology at Louisiana Tech University, as well as a past member of the Louisiana Tech University Research Foundation board, which oversees the licensing and commercialization of intellectual property. He also served on Louisiana Tech University’s Intellectual Property Committee.

LaVelle McCoy, Past Chair

The President and CEO of McCoy Motors, Mr. McCoy has worked in the automotive industry for over 40 years. He has served on the Boards of Directors of the Greater Flagstaff Economic Council (GFEC), the Flagstaff Chamber of Commerce, and the United Way of Northern Arizona. In addition, he was Chairman of the Governor’s Small Business Advisory Council.

Lucinda Andreani, Secretary

Ms. Andreani is a senior advisor at Coconino County with a background in a variety of energy-related services — energy assessments, feasibility studies, energy master planning, utilities procurement, and utility cost accounting — to cities and universities. She has held senior positions at Enron Energy Services, Inc., and Pacific Gas and Electric Company in San Francisco.’s core consulting team.

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Representatives

Craig Snyder

The Senior Business Relationship Manager at Wells Fargo Bank, Mr. Snyder has spent over 25 years in the banking industry. He has a BS in Mathematics from U.C. Davis and an MBA from Colorado State University. This 2002 member of the National Business School Honors Society has served on the Board of Cedar City’s Music Arts and Treasurer of the Southern Utah chapter of the National Risk Management Association.

Rick Gibson
is an investor, advisor, resource and deal-guy, with a 34-year career building businesses. He founded and co-founded several successful technology companies and has advised over (75) others.  Co-founded ‘Knowledge Adventure’ which became the world’s largest CD-ROM edutainment company, was run by Vivendi-Universal and reached $400 million in revenues. Since 2000, Rick has served as Managing Director of HOTventures, a “mentor capital fund” for the Southwest U.S., which invests in and advises fast-growth companies, in Information Technology, BioSciences “light”, GreenTech and Media. Rick’s on the Executive Board and Screening Committee of the Desert Angels, the board of UA’s Arizona Center for Innovation (AZCI), the board of ASU Technopolis and an Entrepreneur in Residence, an instructor for ASU LaunchPad and LaunchPrep entrepreneurship programs, and a mentor for ASU TechBA. He’s on the Executive Committee and Screening Committee for the Invest Southwest Capital Conference, the board of the NACET incubator (Northern Arizona Center for Emerging Technologies), the management committee of the Northern Arizona Angels, a judge for Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year Awards, and on the Angel Capital Association’s National Collaboration Committee.

John Kalinich
is the Vice President of Consumer Direct for Deckers Outdoor Corporation and leads its worldwide eCommerce operations. Deckers builds niche products into global lifestyle brands by designing and marketing innovative, functional and fashion-oriented footwear, developed for both high performance outdoor activities and everyday casual lifestyle use. Deckers markets its products under the Teva, UGG, Tsubo and Simple brand names.  Prior to joining Deckers, John held various positions with Coopers & Lybrand an international accounting and consultancy firm.  In 1995, he was appointed COO of Teva Sport Sandals, and in 2002 led the successful sale of Teva Sport Sandals to Deckers Outdoor Corporation.  Following the sale, John has held several positions with Deckers including Vice President of Intellectual Property and Licensing and served for a period of time on the company’s board of directors. John and his family currently reside in Flagstaff Arizona.

Warren A. Carsey
is the founder of Veritas Holdings, a private investment and corporate finance advisory firm.  Through Veritas, Mr. Carsey structures corporate M&A transactions, finances intellectual property and new technologies and has founded or participated in several early-stage technology ventures.  Prior to founding Veritas, Warren worked as a corporate finance banker at Chase Securities (now JPMorgan Chase) and CIBC World Markets in New York, specializing in leveraged and structured finance transactions.  Mr. Carsey received a B.S. degree from Northern Arizona University in 1989 and an MBA from the University of Michigan in 1995.  Mr. Carsey currently serves as pastor of Sovereign Grace Bible Church in Flagstaff, AZ.

Levi Esquerra
is a member of the Chemehuevi  Indian Tribe and is currently Program Director for Northern Arizona University’s Center for American Indian Economic Development. Prior to joining CAIED, Mr. Esquerra served as the Business Development Representative for the Arizona Commission of Indian Affairs. In the past, Mr. Esquerra has served as Tribal Chairman, Tribal Council and Planner for his Tribe.

Kevin Burke

In January 2008, Kevin Burke began calling Flagstaff home and took on the duties as Flagstaff’s City Manager.  Kevin’s road to Flagstaff started back at the University of Colorado in Boulder where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and Political Science and graduated magna cum laude. He went on to earn a Master of Public Administration from the University of Kansas in Lawrence where he graduated with a 4.0 GPA.