NVCCE Governing Board

Our organization is led by some of the great leaders in our local communities. Everyday they seek out new ways to give back and be civically engaged.  Leading this organization is one of the many ways they take action.

  • Board Co-President

    Sondra Cosgrove is a thirty+ year Las Vegas resident. She received a Ph.D. from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, with areas of specialization in the U.S. West, Native American History, and Latin America. Currently, Sondra is a full-time history professor at the College of Southern Nevada and is actively involved in college and community service. This includes chairing the CSN Native American Alliance, serving as a past chair of the CSN Women’s Alliance, and serving as the President of the League of Women Voters of Nevada. Sondra is Secretary on the Board of the Nevada Center for Civic Engagement. As the President of the nonpartisan League of Women Voters of Nevada, Sondra engages in community and civic empowerment and advocacy for important civil rights priorities. Education, health care, sustainable living, and the protection of all civil rights are foundational issues that form the basis of League’s work.

  • Board Governance Chair

    Ashley C. Nikkel is a Managing Shareholder at Parsons Behle & Latimer, and it on their team for litigation, trials, and appeals and environmental and natural resources practice groups.

    Prior to joining Parsons Behle & Latimer, Ms. Nikkel excelled at the William S. Boyd School of Law, graduating summa cum laude, serving as an articles editor for the Nevada Law Journal, participating in the appellate clinic, where she argued a direct criminal appeal on a drug trafficking case at the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, and competing on Boyd’s moot court team (Society of Advocates). Before law school, Ms. Nikkel attended the University of Nevada, Reno, where she received her bachelor’s degree in political science and history.

    Ms. Nikkel is passionate about supporting the Center for Civic Education’s “We the People: the Citizen and the Constitution” program, and has coached a number of nationally-qualified teams from Incline High School. She also serves on the Board of Directors for the local chapter of Dress for Success, which seeks to empower working women by providing resources and a professional network of support and expertise.

  • Board Co-President

    Shane is the manager of public policy for the Food Bank of Northern Nevada. Shane has prior professional experience working for former U.S. Senator Richard Bryan and is a former Democratic Party Chair. Shane’s involvement with the Nevada Center for Civic Engagement dates back to 1990 when Center for Civic Education programs were brought to Nevada. He is a former District Coordinator for Northern Nevada and has been a program coordinator for Project Citizen. Shane is a 4th generation Nevadan, is occasionally funny, has questionable photography skills, and has a passion for most snow-related sports.

  • Doreen Spears Hartwell formed Hartwell Thalacker, Ltd. in 2014 with Laura Thalacker, a friend and accomplished attorney with whom she worked for over 14 years at Nevada’s largest local law firm. Doreen has practiced in the area of business and commercial litigation in Nevada since 2000.



    Doreen is listed in the 2016 edition of The Best Lawyers in America for Commercial Litigation (Las Vegas). Doreen, who has an AV Preeminent rating by Martindale-Hubbell, has been recognized by her peers as one of Nevada’s Legal Elite every year since 2012. In December 2014, Doreen received the “Pro Bono Attorney of the Year” Award from the Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada.



    One of Doreen’s first appearances in court as a new attorney was representing an 18 month old child through the Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada’s (previously known as the Clark County Legal Aid Center) Children’s Attorney Project (“CAP”). This experience, which demonstrated to her the dire need for children to have a voice in the legal system, cemented her commitment to providing pro bono services. Since taking that first pro bono case in 2000, Doreen has continued to provide pro bono legal services to deserving individuals who otherwise would not have access to our legal system. It’s her policy to always be working on at least one active pro bono case at all times. She often exceeds this, and, in 2014, she had six active pro bono cases.


  • Board Treasurer

    Andrew “Andy” MacKay is a 4th generation Nevada native & University of Nevada alumnus. Executive Director, Nevada Franchised Auto Dealers Association. Andy has also served the State of Nevada as the Grants Coordinator for Congressman Jim Gibbon's office and as the Chairman for the Nevada Transportation Authority.

  • Leah Grinvald joined the William S. Boyd School of Law at UNLV as Dean in 2022.

    Dean Grinvald is an internationally recognized intellectual property law scholar, whose research focuses on the enforcement of intellectual property law, and the potential negative impacts of related laws on small businesses and entrepreneurs. Her work has appeared in some of the nation’s leading law journals. Dean Grinvald’s most recent work focuses on the intersection of the “right to repair” and intellectual property law.

    Dean Grinvald has previously taught courses in Contracts, Copyright, International Intellectual Property, Negotiation, Trademark Law, and Trademark Practice at her prior institutions, Suffolk Law and St. Louis University School of Law. 

    Before joining academia, Dean Grinvald began her career in the private sector after clerking for The Honorable Frank Sullivan, Jr. (ret) of the Indiana State Supreme Court. She served as the global corporate counsel at TaylorMade Golf Company, and as a corporate associate at two international law firms, Latham & Watkins LLP and at Clifford Chance US LLP in their San Diego offices.  Dean Grinvald received her JD from New York University Law School and a bachelor’s degree from The George Washington University. 

    In her spare time, Dean Grinvald enjoys cooking, watching home renovation shows, traveling, and exploring new destinations with her husband and two children. 

  • Board Secretary

    Jennifer was born and raised in Carson City, Nevada.  She graduated from Galena High School in 2006 and graduated from the University of Nevada, Reno, with a Bachelor’s in Political Science and English Literature in 2010.  She obtained her law degree from Western State College of Law in 2014.  Jennifer passed the California Bar in 2015 and the Nevada Bar in 2016.

    Jennifer has worked many sessions with the Nevada State Legislature in various capacities, including as Executive Assistant and Policy Analyst to the Speaker of the Nevada Assembly.  After passing the California Bar, Jennifer worked for an energy company in San Francisco as a lobbyist before returning home to practice law in her hometown in 2018 and to raise her growing family.  

    Jennifer is also passionate about helping the community, has served on various boards, and is actively engaged in volunteer organizations.