Board of Directors
Kyle Horvath has been in the tourism industry in one way or another since 1999 when he moved to Nevada with degrees in Marketing and Communication. Spending his early years in the recreation industry as a certified USPTA tennis teaching professional. He more recently was the marketing manager for Visit Carson City, and is currently the Director of Tourism for Ely and White Pine County. He has spent his career using the vehicle of tourism to build and inspire communities to rally together around their history, arts and culture, and outdoor recreation. In his positions, Kyle has worked with rural communities across the state to collaborate and cross market and finds that his greatest satisfaction comes when leaving something better than how he was introduced to it. Kyle also sits on the Travel Nevada Marketing Committee and is also a board member with Great Basin Trails Alliance and White Pine Main Street Association.
Denise is the new Administrator for the Nevada Division of Outdoor Recreations. She has lived in Douglas County, NV for over 30 years and prides herself on being an active volunteer for her community. She currently sits on the Douglas County Sheriff’s Advisory Council, has served on various Douglas County School District committees, and has volunteered with the Nevada Department of Wildlife and local hunting organizations. At the age of 8, Denise began a riding career in Eventing and Hunter/Jumpers. She has a passion for horses, instructing kids to ride, and teaching them to love horse management. That passion evolved from being just a youth rider to a path as a “career volunteer” with the United States Pony Club for 45+ years and she is keen on their emphasis for conservation. USPC is the largest youth equestrian organization in the world and Denise has enjoyed being a National Examiner for USPC since 1995!
Denise is passionate about promoting health and wellness through Nevada’s vast outdoor recreational opportunities. Her focus is on conservation and sustainability, while continuing to promote economic vitality through state and local partnerships, and a pathway for communities to attract new outdoor recreation business and thoughtful planning for their residents.
Recently, Denise worked in the fields of mortgage and finance for 32 years, spending the last 7 as a Senior Loan Officer for PrimeLending. Denise holds a B.S. in Business Management from the University of Nevada, Reno with a minor in Marketing.
Greg Gavrilets has worked in the ski industry since 2004, bringing experience from both family-owned mountains as well as larger ski corporations such as Peak Resorts and Vail Resorts. Prior to becoming the General Manager at Mt. Rose – Ski Tahoe in 2022, he served as the General Manager of Attitash Mountain in northern New Hampshire from 2020 to 2022. Before transitioning to Attitash, he was the General Manager of Hidden Valley Ski Area from 2017 to 2020, and Paoli Peaks Ski Area from 2016 to 2017. He also guided Hidden Valley’s transition to a year-round resort operation, overseeing the permitting and construction process of the resort's ZipTour experience. Gavrilets earned his Bachelor of Arts in Economics and his Master of Business Administration from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and was named among the “Top 10 under 30” by Ski Area Management Magazine in 2015.
Connect with Greg on LinkedIn.
Originally from New Zealand, Dan grew up surfing and mountain biking. Dan found his passion for the mountains and snowsports in college and started his career in the outdoor industry as a ski instructor.
Over the last twenty years, Dan has held leadership roles at ski areas around the United States. Landing in Las Vegas a decade ago, today Dan serves as Lee Canyon’s general manager, overseeing operations, future development, and Lee Canyon’s Play Forever environmental initiatives. Lee Canyon is a part of Powdr, an adventure lifestyle company.
In 2021, Dan was recognized as one of Las Vegas’ 40 Under 40 for his accomplishments in evolving Lee Canyon into an inclusive, year-round outdoor recreation area with an emphasis on conservation. Connect with Dan on LinkedIn.
Chad Taylor is the Director of Marketing and Guest Experience and six-year veteran of Lake Mead Mohave Adventures (LMMA). In his current role Chad oversees and coordinates upwards of 100 marketing channels for data aggregation and decision making.
In addition to being a board member, Chad is founder and operator of Mentor Empire, a multi-faceted sales for social impact company, whose philanthropic mission is teaching financial literacy and getting youth outdoors.
Essentially growing up on Lake Mead, Chad developed a deep love for the outdoors and was able to develop this love into a career. The goal being to expose people to all the outdoor recreation Nevada has to offer while protecting and preserving the beauty of his home state. His focus remains connecting community, business and government, while developing and accelerating projects.
Advisory Board
Meghan is Patagonia’s Environmental Activism Manager based in Reno, overseeing the company’s campaigns to protect our lands and waters. She started with Patagonia in a retail store in 1999 and was hooked on working with a business that had a triple bottom line, giving equal weight to people and the environment as much as profits.
Shortly after moving to Nevada in ’05, she began volunteering with Friends of NV Wilderness and discovered the wonders of the state’s public lands. She went on to serve on the Board of Directors for 13 years. Knowing firsthand the benefits of the outdoor recreation economy coupled with the basic need for people to have access to nature, Meghan co-founded the Nevada Outdoor Business Coalition. She loves most outdoor recreation activities, including trail running, mountain biking, xc skiing, all of which were reasons for moving to Nevada – for its endless outdoor treasures.
Connect with Meghan on LinkedIn.
Louis Bubala advises clients in bankruptcy and financial disputes as an attorney with Kaempfer Crowell. He also is on the executive committee for the American Bankruptcy Institute’s Southwest Bankruptcy Conference held in Las Vegas most years. Lou volunteers as secretary and director for Friends of Nevada Wilderness, dedicated to preserving all qualified Nevada public lands as wilderness. He mixes the law and outdoors as a volunteer attorney for The Nature Conservancy. He and his family live in East Washoe Valley, minutes from BLM, the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, Washoe Lake State Park, and Scripps Wildlife Management Area.
Connect with Louis on LinkedIn.
As the owner of Tom Clark Solutions, Tom provides a full spectrum of services to assist clients in achieving their business and political goals. He also provides expert public relations services for clients and strategic consulting for community education campaigns, as well as state and local political campaigns. Aside from Nevada politics, Tom is an outdoor enthusiast and serves as the Immediate Past President and Board Member of Friends of Black Rock High Rock.
Roz founded Blacks in Nature in 2022, a 501c3 organization that creates accessible outdoor experiences for people of color in kayaks, lakes, hiking trails, snow, a garden, fishing, and just about anywhere there are open skies above. BIN believes that nature belongs to everybody. Everybody should see themselves represented in nature and be comfortable participating in outdoor activities.
Staff
Mandi Elliott
Executive Director
Mandi was hired by the NVOBC Board of Directors in June 2023 to serve as the Executive Director. She is passionate about the outdoors and moved to Las Vegas with her husband and three dogs for the amazing outdoor recreation opportunities. She works as a business advisor for the Small Business Development Center at UNLV, owns her own virtual assistant business and is an avid rock climber. Mandi will work at the direction of the Board and alongside the Coalition’s Administrator to support the outdoor business economy by developing programs, resources, and events for members and the local community.
Zoë Houghton
Administrator & Board Secretary
Zoë grew up in Sparks, Nevada and enjoys snowboarding, golfing, hiking, and rock climbing. She is a full-time associate with Tom Clark Solutions and has served as the Administrator and Board Secretary for the NVOBC since 2021. Alongside the Executive Director, Zoë assists with implementing the organization’s strategic plan, membership administration, organizing events and representing the Coalition at the state and local level.