Associate Board

Associate Board President

Amy Chong

Malek Sadri

Mercedes Sanchez

Ivana Cvejic

Co-Founder & Recruiter, Renhead

Ivana Cvejic is Co-Founder of Renhead, an end to end vendor and workforce management technology provider headquartered in Las Vegas, NV. An expert in the recruiting and staffing industry, Ivana has built her decades-long career building sales strategy while focusing on talent development for major companies like Wells Fargo and Morgan Stanley. Her natural ability to uncover efficiencies in businesses of all types has allowed her to follow her passion for people and business which carries into the culture that Renhead was built on.

Ivana is most passionate about joining ECF because of the people, leadership development, and being part of a great cause that gives back and helps a community flourish. She is excited to help build the program in terms of donors and help with branding within the expansion effort. Ivana believes that with proper education and employment opportunities for Nevada’s students we can help better our community overall.

Ivana is a graduate from the University of California - Riverside, with a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature. She lives with her husband primarily in Las Vegas, NV and works from their cattle ranch in NY State during the summer.

Sandra Hinklebein

President / Owner, Market Right Wines Inc.

Sandra is the Founder and President of Market Right, a sales and marketing firm in the Wine and Spirits industry. Market Right represents some of the most prestigious wine and spirit brands globally to ensure they establish great business relationships with Hotels, Restaurants, Distributors and Retailers. Sandra started her career in the Wine and Spirits Industry in 1981, starting as a junior sales representative and earning her way to becoming General Manager of the On Premise wine division at Southern Wine and Spirits. Throughout her career she’s developed a deep knowledge and passion for the wine industry and has used that experience to share with others. Sandra is a trailblazer as one of the first females in the liquor industry and is therefore passionate about paving the path for other women in business through board work with charitable foundations such as The American Cancer Society. Also serving on boards such as NAWBO (National Associate of Women Business Owners) and currently the ECF Associate board (Epicurean Charitable Foundation). She has raised funds and done mentorship with several other foundations.

Sandra has been a Nevada resident for 44 years, is a graduate of Chaparral High School and attended UNLV. She has traveled the world throughout her career and continues to enjoy traveling, fly fishing and horseback riding. She is happiest when sharing food and wine with friends and family.

AJ Song

Ben Sison

Supervisor for the Premium Clubs, Allegiant Stadium

Class of 2019

Ben Sison is an ECF alumni who graduated from UNLV with a degree in Hospitality Management in 2019. Benjamin is currently working as a Supervisor for the Premium Clubs at Allegiant Stadium.

Ben joined the ECF board because of their mentorship and impact they have in all aspects of college student’s lives, whether it be personal, professional or educational. “I want to help contribute to the life change ECF promotes and executes year after year. I have felt from first-hand experience how big of a role ECF plays in aspiring student’s lives, and I want to do anything I can to help progress and continue their amazing work.”

When not working at Allegiant Stadium or volunteering in the community, Ben loves being involved with sports, his family and people!

Emily Hewitt

Class of 2014

Emily graduated from Johnson & Wales University in Charlotte, North Carolina in 2014 with her Bachelor of Science in Food Service Management. While attending Johnson & Wales University, she was a Culinary Teaching Assistant, Private Caterer, and had the opportunity to work at the Master’s Golf Tournament in Augusta.

While Chobani is based in NYC, Emily lives in Charlotte, NC and works remotely, traveling frequently to Chobani’s multiple offices, cafés, yogurt plants, and widespread events. In addition to traveling the country representing Chobani at culinary events and trade shows, she also works closely with the Chobani cafes. She has represented Chobani as a USA sponsor at the Rio Olympics developing recipes for athletes and sponsors; worked at large tradeshows such as National Restaurant Association; and works closely with Chobani’s digital platforms to develop recipes for their social media accounts, website, and brand partnerships.

Emily joined ECF to be able to donate her time in the form of mentorship, culinary demonstrations, and other sort of support for upcoming culinarians. She offers her experiences as an example of the non-traditional path of a chef and what it can offer.

In her free time, Emily enjoys reading, cooking, outdoor activities, dancing, and volunteering.

Candace Kozell

Front Desk, Rooms Coordinator, The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas

Class of 2018

Meet our newest Associate Board Member, Candace Kozell, Front Desk Rooms Coordinator at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. As a former ECF student, Candace completed her undergraduate degree at UNLV’s William F. Harrah College of Hospitality. During this time, she received valuable hospitality experience through a semester internship with ECF and summer internship at a small boutique hotel in Western New York.

After completing her bachelor’s degree, Candace began a position with The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas as a Front Desk Agent and has worked her way to become a Rooms Coordinator.

Candace currently resides in Las Vegas with her husband Derrick. She enjoys cooking, dancing, spending time with family, and travelling, especially cruising in the Caribbean. She loves being able to give back to her community and can’t wait to be a part of ECF’s Associate Board.

Ciro Fodera

Chef de Cuisine, Capo Restaurant & Supper Club

Class of 2014

Ciro attended Culinary Institute of America with the help of the ECF scholarship. He graduated as Valedictorian with his Bachelor’s in Culinary Arts Management in 2014. His mentor, ECF President Sean DiCicco he learned the importance of empathy and self-reflection.

Upon graduation from CIA, he went to work as a cook for the Taj Hotel of Boston as well as the Four Seasons. Ciro now works for Capo Restaurant and Supper Club in South Boston and was promoted at just 25 to Chef de Cuisine. Here he oversees a staff of 35 cooks. Ciro’s favorite thing to make is any pasta by hand.

Ciro joined ECF’s Associate Board in 2020 because he is passionate about mentorship and giving back to the next generation of culinary students. In his spare time, he is also an avid Dungeon and Dragons player.

Maria Miranda

Assistant General Manager, The Signature MGM

Class of 2019

Maria is an Epicurean Charitable Foundation alumnus who graduated in 3 years from the University of Nevada Las Vegas in 2019 with her bachelor’s degree in Hospitality Management. While completing her degree Maria completed a culinary internship with the former Caesars Entertainment. Her love for the hospitality industry has always been around, but it flourished when she completed an internship in high school for the Golden Nugget Las Vegas.

Maria is extremely passionate about the hospitality industry and is always eager to learn and grow, she is excited to see where her career will take her. In her down time Maria enjoys exploring new coffee shops and loves to paint.

Corinne Burton

Employee and Labor Relations, City of North Las Vegas

Class of 2019

Corinne's journey in the hospitality industry started with The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas as a high school Hotel Operations Intern, which she was selected for through Valley High School’s Academy of Hospitality and Tourism program. Eager to find her passion, she has since then gained experience in: Pool Operations, Human Resources, Talent Acquisitions, and Sales and Catering Conference Services. Corinne also completed a Human Resources Internship and Mentorship Program under Casino Operations all with The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. After working four years with the five star hotel, this Las Vegas native now works in Human Resources for The City of North Las Vegas, and is considering applying to law school. She is passionate about diversity, inclusion, talent management, employment law, and community engagement.

Corrine joined ECF in August of 2020 because she is passion about the mentorship opportunities for students. She recognizes the effect her amazing mentors have had on her and believes each student deserves someone to be an advocate for them. As an Associate Member, she hopes to gain a stronger network, influence others, and grow as an individual on a personal and professional level.

When not working or mentoring others, Corrine love doing Pilates, and is also a huge foodie!

Jordan Moore

Assistant to the Director, City of Las Vegas Department of Youth Development and Social Innovation

Class of 2014

Jordan Moore is an alumna graduate of the Epicurean Charitable Foundation. After spending her undergraduate years in the hospitality industry and graduating from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) in 2014, she received an offer to work for the city of Las Vegas which has allowed her to fulfill her passion to serve her community. In this capacity Ms. Moore would be able to coordinate events for the City while fulfilling her passion to serve the community.

Jordan serves as the Assistant to the Director of the City of Las Vegas Department of Youth Development and Social Innovation established in January 2016 to formalize efforts around educational supports and community based problem solving.  Some of her more notable efforts accomplishments include leading efforts for winning the All- America City Award- a first for the State of Nevada, coordinating the October 1 Prayer Vigil with Vice President Mike Pence, serving as a founding board member for Mission High School (one of the nation’s only public recovery high schools) and working with many companies businesses on their corporate social responsibility efforts.

Jordan holds a Bachelor’s of Science in Hospitality Administration and is currently pursuing her Master’s Degree in Public Administration.

Sebastian Mitchell

Chief Operating Officer, PureStar

Sebastian Mitchell is Chief Operating Officer of PureStar. Headquartered in Las Vegas, PureStar is the leading provider of outsourced laundry services to the hospitality sector and owns leading regional brands including Brady Linen.

Sebastian is responsible for all aspects of PureStar’s mainland operations as well as global Environment, Health & Safety and Engineering.

Prior to joining PureStar, Sebastian served as Regional Vice President at Aramark. In this role he delivered cross-functional excellence in operations, sales, finance, and human resources to distributed client locations for 12 years. He served in senior leadership roles in Aramark’s Healthcare, Sports and Entertainment and Facility Management sectors.

Sebastian previously held senior consultant positions at Grant Thornton and KPMG. He holds a BA from Emory University and an MBA from University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Sebastian enjoys traveling with his family, gardening, and playing tennis with his daughter.

Mia Salomon

Assistant Front Office Manager, Encore Tower Suites

Class of 2019

Mia Salomon was born and raised in Las Vegas. She is an ECF graduate who graduated in 3 years from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in 2019 with her bachelors in Hospitality Management.

During her time with Epicurean and being a full time student at UNLV, Mia held a position as a Front Desk Agent at Caesars Palace. She then went on to complete an internship at Nobu Hotel. She then held a position at Encore Resort as a Front Desk Agent, Rooms Coordinator, and Head Cashier until she was promoted to the Front Office Supervisor. Mia is the first Front Office Supervisor to supervise all 4 front desks at Wynn & Encore. This includes Wynn Resort, Encore Resort, Wynn Tower Suites, and Encore Tower Suites, all of which are 4 & 5 star Forbes rated. During her career in hospitality, Mia has also completed internships with Texas Station & Cirque du Soleil.

Mia is extremely passionate about ensuring that every guest she encounters has a 5 star experience & she is excited to see where the growing hospitality industry in Las Vegas takes her. Mia is passionate about ECF because she understands how life changing being a member of the foundation is. Her mentors played an integral role in her successful college career, and she one day hopes to do the same for future ECF students. In her free time, Mia enjoys traveling to new places and dining all around Las Vegas.

Joanne Barnes

Regional VP Finance for Desert Region, Sysco

Joanne has been with the Sysco family for over 13 years. She is currently the Regional VP Finance for the Desert Region. Previous to that she has been the CFO at Sysco Las Vegas, Regional VP Finance SW Region for FreshPoint and Controller for FreshPoint Denver. During that time, she has served on the FAB (Financial Advisory Board) and completed both the Sysco Leadership Essentials training and the FreshPoint Executive Leadership Program. She was also a participant in the WFF and local WIN committee.

Before Sysco Joanne was in the accounting field with Shamrock Foods, Knight Piesold and Pricewaterhouse Coopers with a total of 22 plus years of experience (including Sysco). Joanne is a graduate of The University of Texas at Austin PPA program.

Joanne joined Epicurean Charitable Foundation’s Associate Board in October of 2020 to help further ECF’s mission and support its students.

Personally, Joanne lives in Las Vegas with her husband Zac and their fur babies Gumbo, Beignet and Hampton (2 dogs and a cat).

Maya Komadina

Marketing & Communications Consultant

Director of Marketing, Virbela

Founder, Novo Communications

Maya Komadina is a marketing and communications professional with 20+ years experience working with B2B and B2C companies from startup through IPO. In previous roles, she’s led global communications strategy, messaging and media relations for Motorola, Pinterest, and Yahoo, to name a few. She is currently the head of marketing at Virbela, an enterprise software company that builds virtual worlds for remote work, learning and events. Maya has always enjoyed working with organizations to help them identify and share their unique stories with the world.

After moving to Las Vegas in 2019 she began her own consulting firm, Novo Communications, where she advises early-stage companies and their founders on how best to position themselves in the market to build awareness and drive long-term brand value / ROI. Her work includes partnering with VCs and their portfolio companies to build integrated programs that advance business and marketing objectives, resulting in top-tier press coverage, from Bloomberg to CNN, and successful exit strategies. Maya is excited to join ECF because of its commitment to education and the local community, and looks forward to bringing her expertise in the art of storytelling to help drive awareness for the organization and its scholars.

Maya is a graduate from Pepperdine University, where she holds a Bachelor of Arts in International Business. She enjoys spending time with family and friends, exploring the Las Vegas restaurant and art scenes, local hiking and outdoor activities, as well as using her passport to explore new cultures whenever she has the chance.