Meet the Executive Advisory Committee
The Executive Advisory Committee of REAL AZ is comprised of powerful and dynamic business leaders from throughout the community. These business leaders help spearhead powerful network connections to link prospective industries to the resources they are in need of.
Jason Whiting
Navajo County
Jason E. Whiting has served on the Navajo County Board of Supervisors since 2014. Supervisor Whiting represents District III, which includes the communities of Holbrook, Snowflake, Taylor, Woodruff, Shumway, Silver Lake Estates, White Mountain Lakes, Clay Springs, and a portion of Heber-Overgaard.
Supervisor Whiting has served in the past on the Snowflake Town Council for six years, including as Vice-Mayor. He currently serves on the boards of several local and state organizations, including the Chairman of the Eastern Arizona Counties Association (ECO), the Chairman of the Natural Resource Working Group (NRWG), Arizona County Supervisors Association Legislative Policy Committee, President of the Arizona County Supervisors Association, 4-FRI Stakeholders, and the National Association of Counties Organization Public Lands Steering Committee.
Community involvement and service is very important to Supervisor Whiting. Since moving home, Supervisor Whiting has served on the Northland Pioneer College (NPC) Foundation, the Snowflake/Taylor Chamber of Commerce, the Snowflake/Taylor Economic Development Committee, the Snowflake/Taylor Tourism Committee, and the Snowflake/Taylor Youth Football Board.
Supervisor Whiting is a partner with The Mahoney Group, one of Arizona’s largest privately owned independent insurance agencies. He is active in his church and enjoys working with youth in our area as a football coach at Snowflake High School. Supervisor Whiting and his wife, Shanda, were both raised in northeastern Arizona and love raising their four children in District III. His family has been in this region for multiple generations and have served and partnered with its communities in many capacities over the years.
Preston Raban
Apache County
Neil Traver
Division Manager
Neil Traver is the APS Northeast Division Manager. A certified public accountant by training, Neil started with APS in financial operations in 2006. In 2011, he joined APS’ Fossil Division and moved to the Cholla Power Plant in Joseph City, where he oversaw the financial operations for Cholla and the Four Corners Power Plant near Farmington New Mexico. He transitioned to the Transmission and Delivery organization within APS in 2018 to manage the energy delivery for communities throughout Northeastern Arizona including Winslow, Holbrook, Snowflake, Taylor, Show Low, Payson and Star Valley. In 2021, his role expanded to include APS’ entire Northeast Division which added Flagstaff, Ash Fork, Seligman, Williams, Grand Canyon and Hopi to his area of responsibility.
Having grown up in St. John’s, Neil is grateful that APS afforded him the opportunity to return to Northern Arizona. He is committed to the communities he serves and is active on a number of boards. He is a member of the Summit Healthcare Board of Directors, the Summit Healthcare Foundation, the Show Low Chamber of Commerce board of directors, and a graduate of the 2018-19 White Mountain Leadership program. He has also participated as a Boy Scout troop leader and as a youth sports coach. He is looking forward to extending his service to organizations in the Flagstaff region now that his APS duties have expanded.
Neil enjoys anything outdoors and is an avid hunter, fisher, camper and skier. He and his wife, Beth, have three children and are splitting their time between Flagstaff and Snowflake.
Hunter Moore
Owner
Meet the REAL AZ Organizers
Chris Pasterz
Chris Vasquez Pasterz, a citizen of both the United States and New Zealand, currently serves REAL AZ partners utilizing his executive level leadership experience from multi-national business operations, business development and commercial and residential community lending. Chris believes that “creating economic opportunity in rural areas takes equal parts knowledge, access to capital and simply doing”. Delivering knowledge and financing with thousands of people and hundreds of businesses as the Director of a Community Development Financial Institution in eastern Washington, shaped his approach to economic development. “Respecting people, understanding their perspectives first and honestly contributing when the opportunities present themselves brings about economic stability for the residents of Navajo and Apache Counties and beyond”.
Having successfully navigated senior roles in multi-national corporations, partnerships in owning small-businesses and expanding the capacity of a non-profits have developed his diverse work background. In serving the partners of REAL AZ, Chris seamlessly draws from multiple and contrasting work experiences and cultures to creatively and collaboratively solve problems. Examples include pioneering Economic Development work in a neighboring rural Northern Arizona county, to develop Forest Industry to attach major energy and infrastructure businesses to Northern Arizona. His ability to bring people, programs and resources together across multiple disciplines, multiple organizations and regional areas has created inter-connected network of development solutions available to residents of Navajo and Apache counties.
Creative problem solving can only be as effective as the human connections that are built amongst those involved. Chris’ leadership and involvement with community includes Economic Development Committee Member of NACOG (Northern Arizona Council of Governments), Chair of the NACOG Broadband Working Group, member of Navajo County’s Leadership Team, and regular contributor for multiple economic task teams, including the NACO (National Association of Counties) Building Resilient Economies in Coal Communities – Northern Arizona Team, and alumni of the NACO Economic Mobility Network. Chris’s outgoing, affable, driven and kind personality quickly enables him to make friends and positive impacts for people and businesses across diverse cultures and backgrounds. Chris is a ‘need to know’ professional for business owners seeking to start or expand operations in Northeastern Arizona. He is willing and able to answer your questions and quickly help you find the right fit for your business in the REAL AZ.
Jack Callahan
Jack Callahan is a public servant with a Master of Public Service and Administration from the Bush School of Government and Public Service. Before joining REAL AZ, Jack was at the National Association of Counties, he supported major economic development initiatives—including the Economic Recovery Corps Program, Building Resilient Economic Coal Communities, and the Counties for Economic Mobility Initiative—by elevating best practices and promoting equitable, locally driven economic growth.
He worked closely with county governments, nonprofits, and private-sector partners to identify shared challenges and develop practical, collaborative solutions. His background included research on housing policy, auditing federal Community Development Block Grants related to disaster recovery, and producing training materials for local program monitoring. He began his career supporting students in Jackson, Mississippi as a Teach For America Ignite Fellow.