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We are proud to congratulate Jessica Kartzinel and all of the honorees at this year's Woman to Watch 2013 program. Ronna Timpa Founder/Chief Motivator Workplace ESL Solutions Michael J. Mimick, CIMA® Complex Director 10801 West Charleston Boulevard Suite 400 Las Vegas, NV 89135 702-792-3119 ubs.com/branch/lasvegaskv We will not rest CIMA® is a registered certification mark of the Investment Management Consultants Association, Inc. in the United States of America and worldwide. ©UBS 2013. All rights reserved. UBS Financial Services Inc. is a subsidiary of UBS AG. Member SIPC. 7.00_Ad_4.67x6_NV0114_MimM 7.00_Ad_4.67x6_NV0114_MimM.indd 1 1/22/13 2:39 PM I n the early 1990s, Ronna Timpa was an enthusiastic business major looking to launch a career in human resources at a local resort. But she wasn't on the job long before she was made an offer to teach English classes to housekeeping staff. No, she doesn't speak Spanish, although she's taking classes now; but she's outgoing, knows how to laugh at herself and can lighten a situation on a dime. Timpa took the offer and then started her company, Workplace ESL Solutions, shortly thereafter. The subject of workplace ESL was in its infancy. She didn't have textbooks (she wrote one later), only herself, her sense of humor, a drive to teach and classes full of students who wanted to learn. That simple formula helped her business prosper. Through the years, Workplace Spanish was added to her business, a business writing class and other offerings too. This year, she hopes to double the size of her company. "My dad taught me to do something that when you wake up makes you excited to do the rest of the day. When I walk into the class- room I think 'this is it!'" she said. This year Timpa is launching workplace ESL classes in Mexico that help resort employees learn to better communicate with English-speaking guests. She also recently launched, in partnership with Vegas PBS, Hotel English Online. She hopes to expand the online offering into the healthcare, manufacturing and construction industries in the future. Adding credibility to her resume, in 1993 she completed a Masters in TESOL (Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages), and this year has been tapped by the international TESOL organization as a go-to for all matters workplace ESL. Timpa is proud of the fact that her programs are not the traditional grammar-based academic classes, but instead contextual courses that help students learn the necessary English to help them better function in their jobs. "If guests need to go to the bathroom they don't care if you know the present perfect tense," she said. — Brian Sodoma Angel Williams Director of Community Relations and Business Development Miracle Mile Shops I Presented by LINKS FORE LEUKEMIA® GOLF TOURNAMENT Dominic, Honored Hero March 11, 2013 & Golfer 12:30 Tee Time www.lls.org/snvlinks Join us for a fun day of golf to support The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. RED ROCK Country Club Register to play and become a sponsor today: Kristina.Crawford@lls.org, (702) 436-4220 x106 20130128_VI01_I.indd 10 n 2012, Angel Williams directed Miracle Mile Shops' Caring, Giving, Changing community campaign, which raised more than $150,000 for a variety of local and national nonprofit organizations through fountain fundraisers, community partnerships and cash and in-kind donations. In fact, during her first full year in her current position she has increased the center's charitable donations and sponsorships by 50 percent. Due to her efforts, Miracle Mile Shops is becoming regarded as a socially responsible local entity. And she has only just begun. "Typically in shopping centers, community involvement is handled through the marketing department," Williams, who from 2003 to the summer of 2011 served as Miracle Mile Shops' Director of Marketing and Tourism, points out. "But we saw an opportunity to really differentiate ourselves within our competitive marketplace by making it a bigger focus. So I created this program to partner the shopping center with different nonprofits just to continue to build our community profile." In 2013, Williams will lead the Caring, Giv- ing, Changing campaign, which focuses its support on organizations and causes that serve to advance education or support children's and women's issues and veterans, through its second full year. She will continue to build awareness and raise funds for important local programs, organizations and causes. In addition, she will work with many new nonprofits to expand the Miracle Mile Shops' community service efforts. The campaign will include a series of giving campaigns and events to strengthen Miracle Mile Shops' relationships with multiple nonprofit partners. "In the previous year we weren't really as focused," Williams recounts. "We looked at our community and felt like education was a big need. And that led us to children, even children's health issues, which we found to be near and dear to us." Even though the center's demographic is splits evenly between men and women, she adds, "we know women enjoy shopping with us, and we know that women's causes and issues would be a good thing to align ourselves with." — Howard Riell 1/24/13 2:31:05 PM