Meet Our Trusted Council
For the remainder of 2024, 24HourNation has assembled a panel of volunteers to help shape and navigate the next steps for this project.
It’s a deep bench.
Four of our Advisors have been nighttime economy managers for major U.S. cities. Three have launched non-profit organizations that help breath life and culture into cities at night. Two are successful entrepreneurs in the hospitality industry. Another brings a vast political network to our table.
Here are 24HourNation’s Advisors.
Stephen Brackett
Denver
Born and raised in Denver, Stephen has been passionately reinvesting in Colorado arts for over two decades.
Stephen founded Youth On Record, a nonprofit that has impacted more than 30,000 young Denver musicians over the last 15 years.
He served as the state’s Music Ambassador, Co-Chair of Mayor Johnston’s Arts and Culture Transition Committee, and currently serves as executive director of One Denver.
Stephen is also a member of Flobots, an alternative hip hop band from Denver that is on a mission to use its music as a tool to create community, conversation, and ignite the activist in all of us.
Howie Kaplan
New Orleans
The founding Director of the New Orleans Mayor’s Office of Nighttime Economy, Kaplan was a major force behind the creation of the position. As “night mayor,” he helped bars, nightclubs and other hospitality businesses interact with municipal government departments.
Since 2000 he has been the owner and operator of Howlin’ Wolf Music Venue in New Orleans’ Warehouse District. For more than 17 years Kaplan has also been the manager of the Grammy Award-winning Rebirth Brass Band.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Howie’s involvement with the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA) helped that organization secure the $16.25 billion Shuttered Venue Operators Grant. This funding was crucial in saving independent venues, movie theatres, Broadway, performing arts centers and non-profits that were devastated by closures.
Currently, Howie also serves as vice chair of advocacy for NIVA.
Angie Linder
Detroit
Angie co-founded the Detroit Techno Militia, a record label and DJ collective that began in 2002. She also served as a board member of the Detroit Sound Conservancy, a non-profit dedicated to preserving the “Detroit Sound” when they first became a non-profit organization.
Linder is a founding board member and former president of the Detroit-Berlin Connection, a non-profit Trans-Atlantic creative partnership focused on developing Detroit’s night economy and expanding 24-hour operations.
In 2023, she launched Detroit Nightlife United to further initiatives towards a vibrant 24-hour economy in Detroit, and they named Detroit’s first independent night ambassador, Adriel Thornton, with the support of over 200 stakeholders in the scene.
Angie also volunteers for various projects and businesses that bring art and music to the city and give back to the community, including the Tec-Troit Electronic Music Festival.
Khanh Nguyen
Dallas
Khanh Nguyen refers to himself as an accidental restaurateur. The founder and CEO of Zalat Pizza began his career nowhere near the restaurant industry. After a dozen years of practicing law and then starting and selling a tech start up, he took a break from work to focus on a new tech idea.
However, feeling uninspired, Nguyen put his energy into learning how to cook.
He opened his first restaurant, DaLat, in 2012, serving late-night Vietnamese food. DaLat became a local favorite, especially for the service industry crowd.
When the pizza place across the street from DaLat went out of business, he decided to give pizza a shot. The first Zalat Pizza was launched in 2015 and has since grown to thirty locations in Texas.
Ariel Palitz
New York City
Appointed as the Founding Director of the NYC Mayor’s Office of Nightlife, Ariel Palitz served under both Mayor Bill de Blasio and Mayor Eric Adams from 2018 to 2023.
Ariel used her experience as a former nightclub owner and community board member to create the infrastructure for a new government office, identify systemic challenges and develop non-enforcement solutions, while navigating the hospitality industry through the COVID-19 pandemic.
Palitz is a pioneer and ambassador of the global nighttime governance movement. She has created internationally adopted common sense solutions that address and resolve issues around enforcement, safety, harm reduction, quality of life, community and government relations, licensing and permitting, venue and crisis management, equity, and fairness.
Today Ariel works as a global government and hospitality consultant.
Michael Paul
Atlanta
Michael has held both management and consulting responsibilities in the hospitality and entertainment industries of Atlanta, New York City, and Washington, DC.
As the former Manager of Nightlife and Culture for the Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Film, Entertainment and Nightlife, Paul specifically collaborated with club and restaurant owners to reduce violence, as detailed in this article.
As a resident, he has been active in neighborhood organizations, advocating for the nightlife industry while also listening to the concerns of residents regarding nighttime activities. This has led to improvements that create a safer experience. Michael also provided community leadership during the planning stages for the Super Bowl which was held near his neighborhood.
Dr. Lonzo “Cheeky” Sasso
Washington, DC
In addition to having Cheeky Sasso Entertainment and Marketing Group, Dr. Sasso also moves in political and entertainment circles as Tony Salano.
Cheeky has cemented more than twenty years of experience as a scene creator, vibe initiator, event empresario, and brand evangelist for the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute, Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, Presidential Inaugurations, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Homecomings, HBCU Classics, and multi-city events.
Sasso is also Chief Visionary Officer of Tony Salano and the FREESpirits, founder of Afro Latin Groove, founding member of the HBCU Influencer Collective, and a former brand evangelist and Regional Account Director for Uptown and VIBE Magazine.
Richard Tang
Atlanta
Since the 1990s, Richard Tang has held a variety of roles in the restaurant industry. He has stated, “What started as a means to an end is now a passion.”
Tang’s first restaurant venture, Char Korean Bar & Grill, opened in Atlanta’s Inman Park neighborhood in 2016. Char’s contemporary space, great service, and great beverage program revolutionized traditional Korean barbecue in intown Atlanta.
As president of Tang Hospitality, Richard has added to his portfolio of restaurants with the Asian-fusion experience of Girl Diver and his highly social lounge, Bar Diver.
Solana Vander Nat
Washington, DC
Solana is CEO of Sol Support, which offers administrative, event planning, concierge services, and project management solutions for businesses.
In that capacity she has worked nightlife clients to help them navigate the processes of obtaining business licenses, securing operational certificates, and applying for various relief grants during the coronavirus pandemic.
Toward the end of the pandemic, Vander Nat also served as Director of the Washington DC Mayor’s Office of Nightlife and Culture. Among her responsibilities was creating and managing career development and job placement opportunities for the hospitality industry.
Here is an article from Solana’s first days as “night mayor” of Washington, DC.
Randall White
Dallas
With degrees in communications and theater, Randall White began his career in acting and directing, with notable roles in regional theater, a McDonald’s commercial, and a coast-to-coast tour of his one-man show, “Normal.”
Later, he transitioned to nonprofit leadership, holding executive roles at organizations like the Arts Council of Oklahoma City, the Dallas Theater Center, and the American Diabetes Association.
In 1998, he acquired a small Dallas-based consulting firm, Elettore, where he and his team provided community relations, corporate communications, and public affairs services for 22 years. Elettore managed digital and online strategies for numerous political clients, including campaigns and elected officials.
Randall also produced large-scale public events, including:
• Bridge-o-Rama, a multi-event celebration for the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge opening, which earned him the Business Council for the Arts’ Obelisk Award.
• All Out Trinity, a fitness festival featuring a massive yoga class on the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge.
• Trinity River Revel, marking the grand reopening of the Continental Avenue Bridge and other Trinity River amenities.
• Food in Fashion, a charity fashion show, which won the Texas Restaurant Association’s Presidents Award.
As a volunteer, Randall founded 24HourDallas in 2020 to enhance Dallas’ nighttime economy, securing $250,000 in funding and bringing together 100 stakeholders. He launched initiatives such as the Copper Star accreditation program, Women U-Night, and Dallas’ first Nightwork Expo. In 2022, he expanded his mission with 24HourNation, a resource hub for nighttime advocates and enthusiasts, managing its website, social media, webinars, and podcast.