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Join The Urban Rez for an exciting journey that dives into the intersections of culture, sports, and lifestyle with a fresh, global, inclusive perspective. Each 30-minute episode brings a unique blend of conversations, stories, and interviews that explore the passions and experiences that define our lives.
Wesley Knight 0:00
This is a KU NV studios original program. The content of this program does not reflect the views or opinions of 91.5 jazz and more the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, or the Board of Regents of the Nevada System of Higher Education.
Marcus White 0:14
The urban RES is underwritten by Southwest gas. Since 1931 southwest gas has been committed to serving the communities we live in. Employees actively volunteer for and support organizations and initiatives that make our communities better places to live. For more information, SW, gas.com,
Dr. B 0:42
you urban race. Hello all. We are here with Jenna DiPaolo, Chief Brand and Communications Officer of Ocean Conservancy,
Marcus White 1:22
so thank you for being on the show with us. Your panel was was awesome. So for our our listeners who are not familiar with you or your work, can you please tell us a little bit about the work that
Jenna DiPaolo 1:33
you do, sure? Well, Ocean Conservancy is the world's leading ocean conservation nonprofit. We've been around for over five decades, were behind some of the groundbreaking bills, like stopping the plastic bag usage in the state of California, getting straws and cigarette butts off the beaches in Florida, but also the leading organization behind the international plastics treaty. So the clerks that are working on this both like state level, national us, and then more broadly, and we work on mitigating plastic pollution, ocean climate solutions like wave energy and tidal which is super cool, and then also protecting the biodiversity that we all know and love, that most people think about when they think about the ocean. But what I'm here doing today at the sports and entertainment innovation conference is our really groundbreaking new initiative called Protect where we play, where we unite the sports and entertainment industry behind a joint cause to understand the connection between a healthy ocean and a thriving future for sports and entertainment by leveraging athletes and entertainers this the team, hometown teams, leagues and venues, and then kind of bring all that together so that folks can learn more about this initiative through the people that they trust the most, the athletes and entertainers themselves.
Dr. B 2:55
That's awesome. That's amazing. How did you get into this line of work, and naturally, people wouldn't think saving the planet and biodiversity is automatically tied to sports entertainment innovation. So we're just really interested on how this was pieced together,
Jenna DiPaolo 3:15
sure, so I'm a data girl, and the things that we know is that the reasons most Americans don't take an action for their planet is that it's politically scary to do that, and no one that they know and trust has asked them to do something specific. We also know that people, Americans in particular, trust athletes and entertainers celebrities more than anyone besides their pediatrician. So like pediatricians number one, athletes and entertainers are number two, and who we trust. So by partnering with that those spokespeople, and really bringing the idea that, you know, the planet is something that allows us to have these things that we love, like sports and entertainment, and reaching people in those places and spaces where they come together in joy, just a really different tactic than many nonprofits go usually, it's like, you know, you're not doing good enough. We should be doing more, which is all true, and that's not how we reach people. And the vast majority of people, they don't want plastic on their beaches, right? They want to be able to have their kids play Pee Wee soccer without having heat stroke. So that's we are coming together in these places and spaces with these athletes and entertainers to take the least politically scary action A person can take, which is an action for our ocean.
Marcus White 4:32
That's awesome. So can you mention some of the athletes that that has partnered with with you and this initiative? And is it focused by region, or is it already spreading out across the US?
Jenna DiPaolo 4:45
So sports, sports is having a moment in the United States. The two biggest events in human history, the FIFA World Cup and the Olympics are all coming to the US in the next few years. So our focus right now is nationally in the United. States, but our ambition and our belief that this kind of partnership, this kind of smart partnership between like ocean conservation and the sports entertainment industry, it's global. Because those issues are global, the reach is global. But we've had a number of athletes and entertainers that have signed up with us already. So I'm fortunate enough to be here with Calvin Beecham, who is just an absolute icon from the NFL, Arizona Cardinals, 14 year veteran. I mean, he's just the greatest and has such a demonstrated history of caring about community. And when we had the chat with him about protect where we play, he saw this as a natural extension of the work that he's done for clean access to water. I'm sorry, access to clean water. Excuse me, to make that global by bringing that and connecting it to our oceans, which is like the most global thing that we have. Other athletes that have partnered with us is Nafisa Collier, who is a WNBA All Star she, next week, will be in Indianapolis for the WNBA All Star game. Will be there alongside her where we're piloting the switch from single use plastics to reusable plastics. A first for the WNBA, the full stadium will be Reusables, and with that's part of the protector replay tour. So it includes the WNBA, but also Coldplay Billy Eilish, The Lumineers, and we have a goal of keeping 100 cups out of the ocean and engaging over 100 fans with this tour, and we're gonna blow by that goal. But then there's a number of other athletes that have signed up with us as well.
Dr. B 6:31
Wow. I I'm a big advocate for the environment. As a Native American person, you know our I think the statistic was, indigenous communities safeguard 80% of the world's biodiversity in so many efforts. So can you talk a little bit about, I know you mentioned it just a little of your past work with indigenous communities, because a lot of our listeners are Native American andor indigenous so I think they'd be interested in the work you used to do as well. Yeah,
Jenna DiPaolo 7:05
I'm happy to and part of what has brought me into this work in particular is that history. So I studied human rights in school, actually, and I came to my understanding and appreciation for the environment through that human rights perspective. So my career right out of college started with at the rights and resources initiative, which is the global Secretariat of the indigenous networks that self organize in the world's tropical forests. And I spent 10 years working with them and then working with the UN Special Rapporteur at the time. Her name was Victoria Tully corpus. She is just absolute standout woman, but I actually spent a great deal of time with her and our other indigenous board members and leaders and colleagues to really understand how important it is for us to listen first. So that work is that was, that is my grounding, that like trust based relationships, I need to listen and understand. I bring that with me to Ocean Conservancy, who has part of why Ocean Conservancy is the place that I'm at is they run this thing called the International Coastal Cleanup, which is the largest beach cleanup effort in the world. It's been running for 40 years. And what's so special about it is it's a network of local organizations and peoples that know what their communities need best. So it really has those principles that grounded me from early in my career. That's why I'm so happy to be here now.
Dr. B 8:25
Well, thank you for all the work in your allyship to supporting our efforts at the level that you did. So truly appreciated. Know our listeners would be really happy to know that. So thank you for people who
Marcus White 8:38
wanted to find out more information on work. Where can they go? Www,
Jenna DiPaolo 8:42
dot protect where we play.com. You can do that, and you can do something really simple. If what I've talked about sounds scary, then you can just learn more, find out who the new team ocean captains are. We have a couple of really big ones being announced over the summer months. So state, you can stay tuned and learn, but you can also take action right away on climate initiatives, on mitigating plastic pollution and on protecting biodiversity right from that protect where replay.com.
Marcus White 9:08
Awesome. Thank you again for joining us, and we greatly appreciate it and much success to you and the initiative and anything that we can, we can do, we would love to participate. Thank you, new allies. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you everybody for listening to us today. So today, we have just started on the second show. So tune in every second Sunday from 830 to nine and then again from nine to 930 you all have an awesome Sunday, and we look forward to y'all listening again next month, the urban RES is underwritten by the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Nevada's premier sports venue, hosting two NASCAR and NHRA race weekends and the largest annual electronic music festival in North America, the Electric Daisy Carnival. NASCAR will be in Las Vegas October 10 through 12th for tickets and more information. LV. Ems.com so today we have Miss Shawnee Coleman. She is the Director of the Office of Community and Economic Development for Clark County,
Shani Coleman 10:08
Nevada. Thank you for having me excited to be here,
Marcus White 10:11
absolutely. So we're here at the sports entertainment innovation conference. Share with us how Clark County, and in your position, plays a an integral part for for this conference,
Shani Coleman 10:25
yeah, so, I mean, my job with economic development is about diversifying our economy, trying to find opportunities outside of hospitality and tourism and so conferences like this, where in industries like this, where we see great opportunity, we want to lean in and see where we can be supportive and helpful. And so one of the things that Clark County is working on right now is an innovation district. It's around the southwest area up by UNLV, Harry Reid Research Park, and switch that corridor. We call that the innovation corridor. And what we're doing is trying to develop a ecosystem, trying to develop a physical location where technology and innovation can thrive. And very specifically, we're looking at sports innovation. Because of the boom of sports in our community, we think there's a good deal of opportunity there. We have a lot of people who were thinking about and doing very ingenious things, and we want to support that entrepreneurship.
Dr. B 11:37
That sounds amazing. I'm such a sports person? Yeah, sports is a big center of my life for someone who's entrepreneur and thinking about engaging in sports from a different element. Can you please give some examples of what that means and looks like?
Shani Coleman 11:56
Yeah, one of the things I think people think about sports is like, well, if I'm not an athlete, or if I don't work directly for the team, then I can't be involved in sports. And sports is just like any other business. There are a number of elements that go along with that. You have accountants, you have people who do marketing and PR. You have people who provide food and beverage. You have people who take care of the buildings you have people who deal with transportation. There are so many elements to a business, sports business, just like with any other business. But I think there's an opportunity with sports in our climate, because we have sports betting right, and I think that opens the door to a number of things. And one of the big things that we see are the emphasis of data and how people utilize data, not just to interact with sports betting, but how they use data to improve the things that the athletes do, or to improve how the organization works. So I think there's a really big opportunity around sports, sports data, one of the companies, one of the founders of in venue, we work very closely with Quentin singleton and his other partner, Matt. I did a panel with yesterday. You know, their whole focus is providing real time data in sports, which for me, is, like, very interesting, because, like, I play fantasy basketball, right? So having that data, being able to update your your rosters and make changes to your teams is cool, but for those who like to elevate their their betting and gaming and actually put money down. It's an opportunity to bet in a in a way that not traditionally seen in Las Vegas. You know, most people bet before a game, and then, you know, every now and then you'll see some some bet apps allow during game bets. You know, somebody going to do X, Y or Z. And I think data like this helps amp up that type of activity, which means that there are opportunities for revenue and jobs outside of traditional sports.
Dr. B 14:15
So I'm also a data nerd, but I have to ask Who are your top two players in your fantasy
Shani Coleman 14:20
basketball. Oh, right now, I got Asia, yeah, she's hurt right now. But I have Asia. I'm trying to think, who do I have? And I have Alicia gray. That's my card. Okay, yeah, very cool.
Dr. B 14:31
Yes. I just had to ask that.
Shani Coleman 14:35
Yeah, I was looking at it this morning. Someone like, Asia got hurt the other day. She hurt her wrist, and so I'm all like, okay, so I had to put her on injured reserve and find somebody else. But yes, those are my two top Asia. I got Skyler Diggins too. So I got Skylar Diggins, Alicia Gray, Asia, Wilson. So yeah, I got a pretty solid team, all great players. Yeah.
Marcus White 14:58
So with how this. Clark County work with like a Las Vegas visitors convention authority. How does that
Shani Coleman 15:08
relationship? Kind of work? Well, we, we well, what we try to do is stay in our lane, right? So they handle most of the hospitality and tourism, and because we have an organization that's dedicated to doing that. What we do is try to focus on everything else, right? And so we try to focus on, you know, manufacturing companies, sports innovation. So traditionally, you would see LBC, VA, we're like the Final Four, right? They just sign contracts to bring the Final Four. They're making a capital investment to make that happen. So that's their lane, that's what we do, but what then, that's what they do. But then what we try to do is say, Okay, where are the one small business opportunities around big events like that, and then two, where are there opportunities to attract new business. So one of the things we did during the Super Bowl, we worked very closely as a region with lbgea, the Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance, and we did this Economic Development Development push because we understood that the Super Bowl draws a distinct crowd of wealthy people who have either owned their own businesses or they have extreme decision making power in businesses. And so as we look to diversify our economy, we want to touch those individuals to let them know that there's more going on in Las Vegas besides this trip. And so our tagline at Clark County is, we're bright beyond the light, right? Like Clark County in the strip is great. It's wonderful as a local right? It's one of those things where you have access to it if you want to, but like, there's so much beyond the strip that our community has to offer. And so we want to make sure that those industries outside of hospitality and tourism understand what those opportunities are.
Dr. B 17:10
So I'm going to go a little bit off topic, because we have a lot of Native American followers, and we have a huge conference here called the res Conference, which is really targeted towards tribal economic development and empowerment. We know that tribes are really interested in different enterprises beyond casino and gaming, and just out of curiosity, does do you by any chance work with any native communities, and if so, in what capacity? And if not, would that be a consideration moving
Shani Coleman 17:49
forward? So I will say, I will say, sometimes or maybe so, we are part of a federal program called the rural partnership network, and in that network, when we're working with our rural communities, some of the Native American communities are included in that and so one in particular is near Moapa in that area. I specifically haven't worked with them directly, but I know they're a part of that network, and so there's always opportunity for us to collaborate if there's an interest there.
Dr. B 18:29
Perfect. Thank you for that. I just had
Shani Coleman 18:32
to ask, yeah, advocate for your community, right? Absolutely right.
Marcus White 18:37
All right. So Las Vegas is growing tremendously. Oh yes, Raiders, man, the aces, the A's are coming. And just really excited with that. So are you guys looking to look at maybe a professional soccer team in the future? Because I know we have more of a minor league team
Shani Coleman 19:00
the lights, yeah, the Las Vegas lights. You know, there's been some talk about NLS sniffing around. There was a really big push several years ago when they selected, was it Seattle? They selected to put a team in Seattle. We were in the running. I think it was San Diego, Seattle and Las Vegas were in the running, and Seattle was chosen. So I think there's always opportunity. You know, soccer, or football, as it's called, around the rest of the world, you know, is a very popular sport. Has not been as popular at the professional level in the United States as I think that it could be, but with the addition of players, like, what's that guy's name down in Miami? Lionel Messi, yeah. Messi, you know, coming to the United States, Beckham is, I mean, he lives here now. I think there's real opportunity. So I think there could be possibility for MLS team. I think we're going to get an NBA team first. That's. What I think, but I think eventually we will have both. It's just a matter of, it's just a matter of when, right, there's too much, I think, excitement around sports in Clark County and sports in our community for those leagues to not look at us as a serious market.
Dr. B 20:20
And so as we're looking at expanding within sports industry, is there anything else that you think my line with sports that will also have other viable interest we talked about, you know, how small, smaller based companies, like different vendors? Yeah, would be needed. So A, is there? Would you see an increase in other entities, alongside with sports and B, how does one typically become a vendor? Because I know a lot of us out there don't really know where to go, how to become a vendor, especially if you're a small owned business,
Shani Coleman 21:02
yeah, so I'm going to take those things separately. So do I think there are other industries that are tangential to sports that could thrive absolutely just like our resorts and tourism industry, right? There are tons of small businesses that provide services or provide product to to the larger resorts, and so some of the things, which is why we're at this conference, right? Some really, to me, key things are technology and innovation. When we talk about technology and innovation, we're not just talking about like an app on your phone, right? I had the privilege of sitting in on zero labs cohort their accelerator, and it was specifically tailored, tailored to sports innovation. And you heard proposals from people who had like a new cleat right for soccer to reduce injury. You had somebody talk about new technology related to how someone rents a facility, right? You had someone talking about mental health. So I think the innovation and technology space, there is a lot of room, especially with AI, there's a lot of room for growth in that area now, related to how do small businesses become vendors? One of the things that Clark County offers is what we call our Small Business Opportunity Program, and that program is a virtual program. It's 12 modules, but it does a couple of things. It provides small business owners with an understanding of basic business information, but it helps them also understand how they can become a vendor to a public agency. So that could be a state agency, it could be airport, it could be city, or can be County. And so it's an online tool. People can go to our website business in Clark county.com, and they can search for Small Business Opportunity Program or svop, but and they can take that class online. It's available in English and it is also available in Spanish. They can do it at their leisure, but once they finish that, one of the things to your point that we do is we created a small a small business, a small, diverse, minority business database. So it's like a Google search. Everybody who goes through that program and finishes that program, they have the ability to add their business information into that database. So for anyone who's interested in working with small and diverse businesses, they can go to that database. It's public, and they can type in, it's like a Google search. You can type in what you're looking for, you're looking for T shirts, or you're looking for a certain type of service, and any business that has that information related to their profile will come up. And you can choose, and you can even select, I want to work with a woman owned business, or I want to work with a veteran owned business. I want to work with LBG, LBGTQ businesses, so you have those filters there that you can go through and you can search. So we try to support small businesses in that way. And then once you start working, maybe with public agencies that opens the door for you to work with larger companies. I know MGM has a similar plat, a similar system, where they try to support and work with diverse small businesses.
Marcus White 24:27
And speaking of diverse small businesses with the climate that's going on within the country, is Clark County kind of shifting a little bit when it comes to working with diverse businesses.
Shani Coleman 24:39
We're not shifting. We always did this. I will tell you. You know, I started this department in 2019 I was first hired right before COVID hit, like the end of 2019 right before COVID hit. And just by nature of what was happening with COVID, my immediate focus was to support small businesses. So during COVID time, we had grants and different things like that. But even after COVID, we've continued to provide support for small business, and we're actually ramping that up, not just because we're out of COVID, but just because, what about a third of all businesses in Clark County are small businesses, right? They provide a job for somebody, they provide income. They're part of our ecosystem, so it's important that we support them. A project that we just launched on Monday, in conjunction with Commissioner McCurdy, is a small business grant program. We worked in partnership with the Urban chamber and the Latin chamber, where there are grants for $5,000 for home and online businesses and up to $10,000 grants for businesses that have a traditional storefront. And so we're still leaning into supporting small businesses. And you know the work we do, we've hired Kathleen Taylor. If anyone is familiar with small business support programs, Kathleen Taylor used to work with the Nevada Women's Business Center, and so we hired her with the sole purpose of focusing on small business. We've added some additional resources. We have a foot traffic locator, of foot traffic location tool that will allow us to help small businesses understand what their foot traffic is and where that foot traffic traffic is coming from. So they can do a couple of things. They can understand who their market is. They can create marketing and advertising materials that are specific that are tied to their target audience, and they can offer services and products that are tied to their offices. And we office that service for free. We just launched it this week as well. And so 30 small businesses out there again, they can go to our website business in Clark county.com, and they can look for the foot traffic tool on our website, and they can connect with us and get that that's
Marcus White 27:10
great. All right, so one last question, NFL season is coming up? NFL seasons coming up? All right, so, I mean, we're in July. Who do you think is going to come out of the AFC, and who you think is going to come out of the NFC to throw each other in the Super
Shani Coleman 27:29
Bowl? I don't know. Okay, you know, I have to root for the hometown. So I got to root for the
Marcus White 27:36
Raiders. We'll make the playoffs this year. Okay?
Shani Coleman 27:40
We got a new coach, right? You know, we got some new talent. You know, that came from the draft, absolutely. So I'm gonna put my, I'm gonna put my, my, my hat in the ring for the Raiders. Ooh, on the other side,
Shani Coleman 27:59
maybe, maybe Baltimore. What about you? Dr B, who you got?
Dr. B 28:05
Well, I mean, so my adopted nephew is what I call him, Dorian Thompson Robinson, who is a Vegas local, went to Bishop, played for UCLA. His mom is actually faculty at UNLV, and he just got traded to the Eagles as a backup quarterback. So of course, I have to root for for him,
Shani Coleman 28:31
yeah, so whether and all agree, yes, Don Staley could be buddies right
Dr. B 28:39
now fighting for the Eagles. All right, beyond that, I mean, there's a lot, a lot of good plays in motion. I'm not exactly sure. On the other
Marcus White 28:53
I'm thinking probably the Eagles begin between the Eagles in Baltimore. I think Kansas City will probably make it back back into the championship again, okay, but I if they're playing the Eagles, I think the Eagles have the number really, yeah, but I think it's going to be between Baltimore and and Philly, but definitely Raiders playoffs. I'm
Shani Coleman 29:17
excited back into the playoffs. Yes, everybody will be excited about that. Oh, absolutely
Marcus White 29:21
so well, thank you again for chatting with us and keep up the awesome work that you're doing for our state and our county and city, yeah, and thanks again. Love to have you on
Shani Coleman 29:34
again. All right. All right. Thank you. No Win
Marcus White 29:37
Well, Duke the urban Rez is underwritten by global wave consulting international specializing in IT solutions from network penetration testing and vulnerability management to SAP basis support and web application security. Global wave helps businesses stay secure and efficient in a digital world. For more information, global wave ci.com you.
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