Facilitators

 

Cree Robinson | Cofounder, touCanna

Cree is a Detroit-based tech entrepreneur and social justice advocate within the cannabis industry. She co-founded touCanna, a full scale operations management software for dispensaries and consumption lounges with her co-founder Louie Masensi. She is passionate about social equity and ensuring that those harmed by the war on drugs achieve ownership within the industry. She is currently investing her time into building programs around supporting social equity applicants after they have been awarded licenses.

 

Louie Masensi | Cofounder, touCanna

Originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Louie is a passionate member of the legacy market. He co-founded touCanna, a full scale operations management software for dispensaries and consumption lounges with his co-founder, Cree Robinson. He has worked on a number of large-scale technology projects and is passionate about workforce development and employee training within the cannabis industry.

 

Jane West | Founder & CEO, Jane West

Jane is currently the Founder and CEO of Jane West, the largest female owned cannabis brand in the world. She is the voice of the brand, passionate about building a real company that changes the way the world sees cannabis. She has an eye for talented people, builds strong teams, and nurtures their success. In 2014 Jane founded Women Grow, the biggest professional network in cannabis.

 

Charleen Caabay | Cofounder, The People’s Dispensary

Charleen Caabay, aka “Chef Charleen,” a bay area local, culinary creative, and entrepreneur began her career in tech before she decided to follow her passion and become a self-taught chef. That leap of faith resulted in her becoming the first Filipino-American woman chef to win Food Network's Chopped in 2016. She has opened two successful restaurants in Oakland, as well as other businesses throughout the city. She has set aside her culinary career to focus on The People’s Dispensary and its success.


As one of the CoFounders of The People's Dispensary, Charleen believes in the medicine of the plant and its importance. She uses her cannabis extraction knowledge to assist TPD clients on how to use micro dosing to treat chronic pain as well as other more serious illnesses. Currently, she is working in the Portland dispensary to build the national TPD footprint to ensure fast scalability for newly acquired and upcoming openings of TPD dispensaries. Having created, developed and operated both restaurants and retail has uniquely prepared her to create the operations, processes and to source technology that will be used across all TPD retail stores.

 

James E. Jackson III | Global head of cannabis, Mark Edwards Insurance

Mr. Jackson is a NJ native and graduate of Howard University. James has built an industry presence with big picture vision, focused on enterprise change. James instinctively empowers results through strategic planning, insight and analytics. Trusted in leadership with a credible business acumen, James has built long term reputable relationships with executive and c-suite professionals to improve performance and ensure accelerated revenue growth with a focus on personal client service.

As a former Vice President AON, Mr. Jackson offered a broad range of Risk Consulting solutions to middle-market, private and publicly-traded companies. His substantial book spreads across a variety of industries including minority-owned businesses, large nonprofits, manufacturing, and real estate development verticals. Mr. Jackson’s expertise is in Directors and Officers, Property & Casualty Insurance, Product Liability Management, Mergers & Acquisitions, Health & Benefits. In 2018, James initiated the commercial risk sector for medical and recreational Cannabis, where he was responsible for establishing and expanding relationships with some of the largest U.S. Hemp and Cannabis companies.

Since joining Mark Edward Partners, James created and built a dedicated unit with exclusive focus in managing the underserved, by providing personal and commercial risk management needs for minority, women, and LQBTQ+ owned businesses as the firm’s Diversity & Inclusion Group Practice Leader. As a Senior Vice President at Mark Edwards Partners, James is the Global Cannabis Practice Leader, providing risk management oversight and offering resources, in order to manage cannabis clients’ growth and scalability in today’s complex everchanging environment. James has had over 10 years of hands-on experience with large scale cultivation, processing, manufacturing, distribution and retail Cannabis operations. James is considered and recognized as an industry leader in providing cannabis risk management and insurance brokerage services.

 

Cassondra Khadijah Adams | Founder, Girl Get That Money

Cassondra "Khadijah" Adams is originally from Sugar Land, Texas. She started her first business while raising four sons as a single mother. Khadijah Adams has been a full-time entrepreneur since 1997. Khadijah entered the cannabis industry in 2014 by way of the Colorado market. She began investing in cannabis-related companies shortly thereafter and formed MIPR Holdings where she served as the founder and senior managing partner for 3-1/2 years and was responsible for consulting and connecting accredited investors to viable investment opportunities in the space.

In June 2017, MIPR, LLC, and MIPR Holdings, LLC was later acquired by C. E. Hutton, LLC, a business development and management firm in Denver, Colorado where Ms. Adams currently sits on the Board of Managers as the Vice President. She is also the Founder of The GreenStreet Academy, an online educational platform that teaches the basics of investing in the marijuana industry, and the co-author of The Minority Report, annual marketing analysis of Minority-owned companies in the cannabis and hemp industries. On May 1, 2020, Ms. Adams launched Khadijah Adams, LLC dba Girl Get That Money, a business empowerment coaching, and consultancy movement focused on women in business and women aspiring to be in business.

Ms. Adams is a motivational and public speaker. She sits on the Advisory Board of The Color of Cannabis (TCC) 2020-2021, and is the Chair of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee (DEIC) of the National Cannabis Industry Association (NCIA) 2020- 2021, Board Member of Gratitude Blossom (San Diego), Advisory Board Member of Calyxeum (MI) and Board Member of CannaCan (Ohio).

Khadijah is the founder of Khadijah Adams, LLC dba “Girl, Get That Money” a business empowerment and coaching movement. Her goal is to empower women in business by providing them with the resources and tools needed to help them become successful.

Ms. Adams is the author of “Rewriting Your Mental Script – 8 Mindsets That Defeat Self Sabotage” published by Sisterhood Publishing, released on February 1, 2021, and can be found on Amazon with an autographed copy found on her Girl Get That Money website.

 

MacCalvin Romain | Founder, NEMA Ventures

MacCalvin is a Boston based tech and cannabis investor and social equity advocate. He founded Nema Ventures, a seed and venture stage cannabis fund established to provide equitable capital, mentorship, and advisory services to social equity entrepreneurs. He also currently serves as Head of Product at Lantern, an e-commerce cannabis home-delivery platform and brings 10+ years of business and product strategy experience to the cannabis industry. He graduated with a BS from Boston College and an MBA from the University of Michigan.

 

JEHAN CRUMP-GIBSON, ESQ. | Managing Partner, Great Lakes Legal

Attorney Jehan Crump-Gibson is the Managing Partner at Great Lakes Legal Group PLLC, where she concentrates her practice in probate and estate planning, business and commercial matters and government affairs. Prior to joining Great Lakes, Jehan served as Managing Member of C&G Solutions PLC (dba C&G Law). Founded in 2009, C&G operated as a specialized firm providing legal and consulting services.

Jehan has successfully represented clients through judgment in a variety of civil matters. She has also assisted a multitude of entities- both for-profit and nonprofit- with employment, compliance and operational issues, as well as performed legal and policy analysis on local municipal matters; including zoning approvals, government-sponsored tax incentives programs and contracts. Jehan regularly works with families on the preparation of important estate planning documents and legal issues concerning estate administration. She has served as Faculty for the National Business Institute and the Institute of Continuing Legal Education concerning business, nonprofit, probate and estate planning matters.

Jehan served as President for the Wolverine Bar Association (WBA) and Wolverine Bar Foundation (WBF) during the 2016-17 Bar Year. She currently serves as a Board Member of the WBA/ WBF, Board Member for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metropolitan Detroit, Member of the Institute of Continuing Legal Education Probate and Estate Planning Advisory Board, Member of the State Bar of Michigan Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Committee, Hearing Panelist for the Michigan Attorney Discipline Board, Chairperson of the Board of Directors of CitizenDetroit Action Group, Board Member for Pretty Brown Girl Foundation and a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated, Detroit Alumnae Chapter. Formerly, she chaired the Special Events Committee for the Wayne State Law Alumni Association Board of Directors, served as Secretary of the Rising Achievers Advisory Board for Junior Achievement of Southeastern Michigan and mentored with Women of Tomorrow Mentor & Scholarship Program (WOT).

After earning dual bachelor degrees in Political Science and English from Michigan State University, Jehan obtained her Juris Doctorate from Wayne State University Law School. Strongly committed to ethics and professionalism in practice, Jehan has been recognized five times by the Michigan Super Lawyers Magazine as a Rising Star. She received the 2015 and 2016 Martindale Hubbell ® Client Distinction Award and the 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020 Martindale Hubbell ® Client Champion Award. She was also recognized as one of Michigan Chronicle’s ’40 under 40’ and as a Woman of Excellence. In 2017, she was appointed by United States Senator Gary Peters to serve on the Michigan Senate Judicial Advisory Committee, formed to assist in making recommendations to the President to fill vacancies on the federal bench. Jehan is admitted to practice law in Michigan and before the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.

 

John Mackewich | Business & Cannabis Attorney, Marshall & Melhorn

John Mackewich is an experienced cannabis attorney with years of experience assisting licensed operators, investors and suppliers within the cannabis space. As a member of Marshall & Melhorn’s cannabis practice group, John helps new operators enter the cannabis industry and existing operators grow and expand their business. As legal counsel, he guides them through the evolving complexities within the cannabis space to ensure compliance across all legal aspects of their businesses. John has drafted and obtained cultivation, processing and dispensary licenses around the country for licensed operators since 2012.

 

Christine De la rosa | Cofounder & CEO, The People’s Dispensary

Christine spent 20 years as a systems and database architect in tech before coming to cannabis. She is a social entrepreneur who has spent most of her adult life building businesses that creatively engage and employ the local communities that surround them. A history in technology, business consulting and entrepreneurship were part of the trajectory that led to co-owning cannabis businesses in both California and Oregon. She is a well-respected business leader, advocate and activist.

She leads operations and strategic direction with responsibility for bottom-line factors, including long range planning, product management and retail development. She provides cross-functional management of COO. CFO, CMO and general oversight of employees. She directs all operations and infrastructure systems for TPD's current and future cannabis retail stores.

Christine is passionate about the industry that saved her life. At the top of her tech career she almost died from complications of undiagnosed Lupus. In 2015, she found cannabis as an alternative medicine to treat her lupus. No longer bound to 11 pills a day or monthly infusions, she was inspired by her experience to open Benefit Health Collective in 2016, along with her co-founders to help those who most need access to cannabis. Together they continue to grow their multi-state dispensary footprint and build a fiercely sought after national social equity model and enterprise now known as The People’s Dispensary.

She is currently the CEO and National Co-Founder of The People's Dispensary, The People’s Holdings and Founding Partner of CBxShield She is the Founder & Fund Manager of The People Group. She is an advisory board member of the Access + Innovation Project, Regennabis and Cannabis Doing Good. Additionally, she serves as part of the New York Cannabis Industry Association Special Advisor Group - Social and Economic Equity and Social Justice.

 

Diana Morris | Clarity Coach at dianaramorris.com

Diana Morris is a clarity coach, speaker and author who empowers individuals to make decisions and take action with clarity and intention. Through her coaching and signature Define, Align, Decide framework, she gracefully guides her clients and students through the journey of self-discovery so that they can confidently answer the question of “what now?” without being stuck in the “how” and “why” of things outside of their control. Diana’s coaching style has been described as Oprah meets Iyanla Vanzant, which she finds most flattering. For more information on Diana and her work, visit www.dianaramorris.com.

 

Koral Fritz | Professor of cannabis business, Lake Superior State University

Koral C. Fritz is a licensed attorney in Michigan and a professor at Lake Superior State University, where she instructs students majoring in cannabis business. In addition to cannabis business courses, Koral teaches business law, collective bargaining, and labor law. She also serves as an advisor for the student-run Cannabis Studies Club on campus.

She holds a Bachelor's degree in Political Science and Spanish from the University of Michigan and both a Juris Doctor and a master's degree in Food and Agriculture Law and Policy from Vermont Law School.

Koral grew up in Muskegon, and she has spent time living in Kalamazoo, Grand Rapids, Ann Arbor, and Sault Sainte Marie. She is deeply invested in helping cannabis businesses find success in the Michigan market.

 

Darrell Clay | Sales, Weedmaps

Darrell Clay is a plant advocate who has been working in the canna-tech space, as a Client Partner at Weedmaps, for the last 5 years. 

Over the years, Darrell has had the privilege of consulting with 100’s of cannabis brands and retailers across the country on launch strategies, strengthening customer acquisition, creating general brand awareness, generating overall consumer awareness and providing best tips and practices for Marketing on WeedMaps. Darrell has managed $10M + in sales and marketing budgets from Cannabis companies across the country. 

Darrell currently works with both MLO and MSO cannabis operators, mostly based out of California, on go to market strategies and techniques to differentiate themselves from competing businesses in the space.

 

Cam Carter | Advisor, Calyxeum

Cam was born and raised on the southside of Chicago. He graduated from the Air Force Academy in 2011 with a pilot's license and B.S. in Latin American Studies. He served as a Diversity Admissions Advisor and Congressional Liaison, followed by four years as a Contracting Officer in Italy, Colorado, and Kyrgyzstan.

Cam separated as a Captain in 2016 and received a Graduate Certificate in Finance from Harvard in 2017. As a civilian, Cam has negotiated over $10B in combat aircraft and robotic combat vehicle contracts and helped his family business secure three airport concessions in Reagan Airport, Washington DC.

Cam is currently an MBA Candidate at Yale and serves on the advisory board of Calyxeum.

 

Rebecca Colett | CEO, Calyxeum

Rebecca is an Experienced Entrepreneur, Technology Professional, Cannabis Advocate and Native Detroiter. She is the CEO of the first African American women owned and operated Cannabis Cultivation Brand in the midwest. She also leads a Cannabis consulting firm and community Nonprofit based in Detroit.

Rebecca has over 5 years of experience in the Medical Cannabis Industry. She has worked alongside the Bureau of Cannabis Control in California, The Michigan Regulatory Agency and the City of Detroit during the development of their Social Equity and Detroit Legacy Program. She has served on the State Board of NORML, National Board for the NCIA and has written community plans for applicants in Los Angeles and Maryland.

Rebecca is an Experienced Entrepreneur and has launched a successful gym franchise, thriving technology consulting firm, and an End to End Cannabis incubator platform. Rebecca has also been featured at countless National Cannabis Conferences and has lobbied on Capitol Hill in DC, and the State Capitols for Michigan, Georgia, California and Maryland for Equity in Cannabis as well as Veteran Access to Medical Cannabis.

Rebecca hold a B.S in Business from Florida A&M University, a MBA from Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago as well as a Masters in Supply Chain from Georgia Tech.