Lutheran Social Services of Nevada

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OUR EXPERIENCED PROFESSIONALS

LSSN Management Staff

Armena Mnatsakanyan, MPA
Executive Director

Lutheran Social Services of Nevada Board of Directors appointed in 2008 a new executive director to manage the work of the agency. Armena Mnatsakanyan, former Workforce Development Coordinator for the United States Veteran's Initiative, recently took the helm of the agency. Ms. Mnatsakanyan is a graduate of Yerevan State University in her country of origin, Armenia. She received her Masters of Public Administration from the University of Delaware in 2000. Her extensive experience as Director of Operations and Development with Mission Armenia, a 15-million dollar public agency with international branches and 28 regional offices, prepared her for the challenges and opportunities of expanding the social services currently offered by Lutheran Social Services of Nevada. Search team chair, Pastor Marta Poling-Goldenne of New Song Church in Henderson, comments: "Armena brings to LSSN a unique combination of social service administration knowledge, passion and hands-on experience working with people who have been marginalized through the struggles and tragedies of life. Her life experiences, coming of age in her native nation during the aftermath of a deadly earthquake and in the shadow of the demise of the former Soviet Union, shaped her character to be a woman of compassion, vision and action. The Board of Directors is pleased to welcome a leader with such tremendous gifts and stature to the vital work of this important Las Vegas area agency." Ms. Mnatsakanyan began her work with Lutheran Social Services of Nevada in mid-August.

Patrick Montejano
Social Services Director

Patrick Montejano received his Bachelor of Arts Degree in Government with an emphasis in public administration from Eastern Washington University in 2001. At EWU, Patrick was employed by the Chicano Education Program and EWU Freshman Orientation Program. During this time, Patrick traveled to rural high schools to promote post secondary education to first generation students. He also assisted incoming freshman with resident hall living and accessing campus services. In 2002, Patrick was employed with the American Cancer Society promoting cancer awareness and raising funds for cancer research. Patrick raised over $300,000 to help the fight against cancer and served on planning committees to promote early detection. In addition, he provided support to cancer patients that were facing breast and prostate cancer. In 2004, Patrick moved to Ft. Mohave, AZ and joined Arizona's Children Association as a Program Supervisor for the Healthy Families of Arizona program. In this capacity he provided individual and family service plans for their clients. Patrick recently moved to Las Vegas and joined Lutheran Social Services of Nevada as their Emergency Food & Services Program Manager in June of 2007. Patrick oversees all programmatic services of the agency as our Social Services Director.

Rev. Thomas M. Maatta, M.B.A.
Development and Marketing Director

Thomas Maatta comes to LSSN with a diverse combination of business and service experience. After graduating from the University of Notre Dame with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology, he attended the University of Pittsburgh's Katz Graduate School of Business, where he earned his Master of Business Administration degree in 2000. He has served as a business broker with Maatta Consulting Services, a waste management mergers and acquisitions consulting firm, and as the Vice-President of Sales for Mobot, Inc., a start-up robotics company affiliated with Carnegie Mellon University. Following his ordination into the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America in 2006, Tom served as the Pastor of a Central Pennsylvania congregation and as an Adjunct Professor of Business Ethics at Penn State Altoona until September of 2009. His contributions to the community include service on the Board of Directors of the Altoona Symphony Orchestra and the Blair County Advisory Board of the American Cancer Society. Tom began his current position as Development and Marketing Director in October of 2009.

Shawna Parker Brody
Special Projects Manager

Shawna Parker Brody, MSW is the newest member to LSSN's management team, joining the organization in March 2011. She has over 22 years of experience working in the nonprofit sector, 19 of them specifically dealing with the varied needs of people experiencing housing insecurity and homelessness. Additionally, Ms. Brody worked in local government for 12 years, gaining valuable experience in using federal and local funding to improve the community. Ms. Brody is responsible for many "firsts" in Southern Nevada: the first Stand Down for Homeless people that served all homeless individuals, not just homeless veterans; the first community-wide shared computer database tracking homeless individuals and the services they receive; the first training workshops to introduce front-line workers on the eligibility criteria of mainstream programs, thus facilitating enrollment of homeless and low-income persons into these supportive services; the first several multi-agency, comprehensive applications for federal Continuum of Care grant competitions; and she was instrumental in designing the community's response for emergency rental assistance to persons laid off after the 9-11 terrorist attacks, as well as the unique multi-agency consortium model of providing rental assistance to persons negatively affected by the downturn in the economy in the second decade of the 21st Century. Ms. Brody is a graduate of Scripps College in Claremont, California, and received her Masters in Social Work from UNLV in 1995.