Board of Directors

Candace Maddin

As the Co-Founder and President of Create a Change Now, Candace Maddin brings nearly 30 years of highly successful business development and management experience to this non-profit organization. After 15 years of experience in the airline industry, Candace took her career to another level when she co-founded one of Nevada’s largest Health Insurance Brokerages, Custom Benefit Consultants (CBC). With her company’s strong emphasis on customer service, CBC was voted two years in a row as “Best Places to Work” by the Southern Nevada Association of Human Resources.

Her love of cooking inspired her to attend the Cordon Blue Cooking School in England and throughout the years she studied cooking with Jaques Pepin, Martha Stewart, Flo Braker and many other renowned chefs.

Her experience as a successful executive, business owner, wife and mom added with her caring heart and loving soul results in a perfect combination to run a non-profit that will provide awareness, education and empowerment.

Ken Langdon

Ken Langdon is the co-founder of Langdon Flynn Communications, a Las Vegas-based agency that specializes in the food & beverage and entertainment industries.  Langdon originally moved to Las Vegas as the PR Director for Caesars Palace where his department championed external publicity efforts for the iconic resort and casino; with an emphasis on its non-gaming amenities including the Augustus Tower room product, Qua Baths & Spa, Color – A Salon by Michael Boychuck, and fine dining establishments Restaurant Guy Savoy (AAA Five-Diamond / Michelin 2-star), Rao’s, Payard Pâtisserie & Bistro, Bradley Ogden (Michelin 1-star) and Bobby Flay’s Mesa Grill.  Under Langdon’s direction, the Caesars Palace PR team was named the small corporate communications team of the year (2007) by PRWeek magazine.  Langdon’s PR career began with The Walt Disney Company where he spent time at both Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida and Disneyland in Anaheim, California; while gaining international experience as a member of Hong Kong Disneyland’s opening PR team.  While living in Boston, Langdon served as the Media Relations Director for Best Buddies International, a non-profit organization dedicated to enhancing the lives of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.  Langdon holds a B.A. in Journalism from Michigan State University and currently lives in Las Vegas with his family.

John McDermott

Johnny Mac grew up in New York City. Led by an insatiable curiosity and inspired by the scents that flowed from the Grandma’s kitchens and the “Mom and Pop joints” around the neighborhood, when he was three years old he told his parents he wanted to be a Chef when he grew up. At 14 years-old he began working in a Chinese Restaurant cleaning shrimp and cooking rice. At 20, he graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park. At 25, he became the owner-operator of Johnny’s Pizza in New York’s Hudson Valley.

Johnny likes to say that he “has served every population imaginable”. For more than 30 years, his career has enabled him opportunities ranging from 5-star dining establishments to Healthcare. He has three children and he will tell you the best meals are prepared with love in a home kitchen and shared at the dining-room table with family and friends.

He moved to Las Vegas in 2004, where he resides with his teen-age daughter. He works today as a Certified Executive Chef and Manager of Nutritional Services of St. Rose Dominican Hospitals in Las Vegas and is now serving on the Board of Directors of Create A Change Now

Chef Thomas Trevethan

Certified Executive Pastry Chef Thomas Trevethan began his pastry career at the age of 16 with a four year apprenticeship as a Pastry Cook in Sydney, Australia under the instruction of World Champion M.O.F. Pastry Chef, Herve Boutin. After receiving his Tradesman’s Papers, Thomas continued his education in the best pastry schools in Paris, France, where he studied under World Champion M.O.F. Pastry Chefs. While in Paris Thomas undertook the DGF Culinary School Course in Advance Sugar Showpiece production.

Chef Thomas was employed by Harrods of Knightsbridge London, and by hotels in Cannes, Nice and Monte Carlo in France. He then spent several years at The Sheraton Hotel as Pastry chef in Stockholm Sweden. He then spent three years traveling the world in the luxury cruise liner industry, working first for the six star 1000 passenger ship Crystal Cruise Lines. He then joined the Silver Seas Cruise Lines, the foremost small cruise line in the world. Chef Thomas was the Executive Pastry Chef for The Ritz Carlton Hotel, Cancun, Mexico for 4 years. He was a member for the pastry Advisory board and assisted in the Openings of the Ritz Carlton South Beach Miami, Grand Cayman Island and Cancun Mexico.

In 2008 Chef Thomas attained Certification from the American Culinary Association of Certified Executive Pastry Chef (CEPC), and he holds the western chair for the National American Culinary Federation pastry advisory board and is an active member.

Tiffany Twohig – Executive Director

Tiffany Twohig is the Executive Director of Create A Change Now and is a graduate of the University of San Diego with a degree in Liberal Studies, concentration in Multicultural Studies and a minor in Psychology. She has an unmatched passion for working with children and making a difference in their lives, particularly those who have very special and individualized needs.  She has worked at Vanderbilt University Summer TRIAD, Vanderbilt University Summer Program MY LIFE, MY CHOICE MY PLAN, Special Olympics and Opportunity Village in Las Vegas, worked at a school specifically for children with Down Syndrome in Texas called Kinderfrogs, mentored a child with Williams Syndrome, volunteered with Head Start and Camp-I-Can and most recently worked with The Autism Group in San Diego, working with autistic children doing RDI (relationship development intervention).

She recognizes that building healthy communities starts by empowering the youngest members of the family to take charge and make a difference. As the daughter of two working parents who made dinners a family priority, she is living proof that food has the power to bring people together.