Speakers
Professor David Nutt
Director of Neuropharmapsychology, Imperial College London & Former Chief Drugs Advisor to the UK Government
David Nutt is a leading Neuroscientist and drug policy reform advocate. Formerly the Chief Drug Advisor to the UK government he is currently the Edmond J. Safra Professor of Neuropsychopharmacology and director of the unit in the Division of Brain Sciences at Imperial College London. He has published over 400 original research papers, 8 government reports on Drugs and 28 books. He is currently the President of the European Brain Council and Founding Chair of DrugScience (formerly the Independent Scientific Committee on Drugs (ISCD).
Kim Rivers
CEO, Trulieve Cannabis Corp
Kim Rivers serves as chief executive officer of Trulieve Cannabis Corp., a vertically integrated "seed-to-sale" operation based in Florida. Rivers joined Trulieve at its inception and has been the key driver for the Company’s customer-centric vision, strong growth, strategic expansion, and industry-leading profitability. She presided over the creation of Trulieve’s Florida dispensary network and developed its marketing program. She led a successful effort to raise capital in coordinating the effort to sell Trulieve shares on the Canadian Securities Exchange.
João Castel-Branco Goulão
Portuguese National Drugs and Alcohol Coordinator, Director General, SICAD & former Chairman, EMCDDA
João is the Portuguese National Drugs and Alcohol Coordinator and Director General of the Intervention on Addictive Behaviours and Dependencies General Directorate (SICAD), the body within the Health Ministry responsible harm prevention and drugs policy. Previously, he was Chairman of the European Monitoring Centre on Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) from 2009 to 2015. A former medical doctor João was instrumental in developing "The drug strategy", which famously decriminalized drugs in 2000.
Founder, Think BIG
CJ Wallace is a social entrepreneur, actor, musician, and founder of Think BIG, a creative studio and health-and-wellness company that challenges humankind to discover how botanicals can be used as tools for creativity and healing. Think BIG started with CJ Wallace’s search to understand his responsibility to the legacy of his late father, Christopher George Latore Wallace, also known as The Notorious B.I.G.
Steve DeAngelo
'Father of the Cannabis Industry', Chairman & Co-Founder, Harborside Inc
Steve DeAngelo is a pioneering cannabis entrepreneur, activist, author, and on-screen personality. He co-founded several iconic cannabis businesses and organizations: Harborside, one of the first six dispensaries licensed in the US; Steep Hill Laboratory, the first dedicated cannabis lab; the ArcView Group, the first cannabis investment firm; and the National Cannabis Industry Association, the industry’s first trade association. He currently serves as Chairman Emeritus of Harborside Inc., a vertically integrated California cannabis company.
Amanda Feilding
Director, Beckley Foundation
Amanda Feilding is dubbed the ‘hidden hand' behind the renaissance of psychedelic science and drug policy reform globally. She is Director of the Beckley Foundation, a UK-based think tank and UN-accredited NGO, which she founded in 1998. Its chief objectives are studying the mechanisms underlying altered states of consciousness and reforming global drug policy.
Through the Scientific Programme, Amanda orchestrates collaborations with leading scientists worldwide, investigating cannabis, psilocybin, LSD, Ayahuasca, DMT and MDMA.
Founder & Former CEO, Canopy Growth
Founder & former Chairman, CEO and co-CEO of Canopy Growth Corporation (CGC) formerly Tweed Marijuana Incorporated, a cannabis company based in Smiths Falls, Ontario, Canada. Bruce founded Tweed in 2013 and renamed it Canopy Growth Corporation in 2015. Canopy Growth Corporation was the first cannabis company in North America to be listed on a major stock exchange (TSX-V in April 2014 and TSX in July 2016) and to be included on a major stock index.
Liz Shanahan
Director, UDG Healthcare
Liz Shanahan is recognised as a global leader in Healthcare and Lifesciences. An eminent speaker and serial entrepreneur, Liz sold her first business, a specialist healthcare & LifeScience communication consultancy, to the management consultancy, FTI, where she then became Global Head of Healthcare & Lifesciences for a number of years. As one of the sector’s most experienced counsels she continues to advise CEOs in many of the world’s leading organizations. Her clients have included the World Health Organisation, the World Economic Forum, the NHS, GSK, Boots, Pfizer and Novartis.
Professor Matthew W. Johnson
Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences, Johns Hopkins University
Professor Matthew W. Johnson, Ph.D, is Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences at Johns Hopkins. He is one of the world’s most published scientists on the effects of psychedelics, and has conducted seminal research in the behavioral economics of drug use, addiction, and risk behavior. Working with psychedelics since 2004, Dr. Johnson published psychedelic safety guidelines in 2008, helping to resurrect psychedelic research. As Principle Investigator he published the first research on psychedelic treatment of tobacco addiction in 2014.
Rick Doblin
Founder and Executive Director, MAPS
Rick Doblin, Ph.D., is the founder and executive director of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS). Founded in 1986, MAPS is a non-profit research and educational organization that has been revolutionary in supporting the development of medical, legal, and cultural frameworks for cannabis and psychedelics. He received his doctorate in Public Policy from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government and his undergraduate thesis at New College of Florida was a 25-year follow-up to the classic Good Friday Experiment.
Ben Quirin
MD, Canopy Growth APAC
Ben Quirin joined the Canopy Growth family in late 2017, tasked with establishing the Asia-Pacific headquarters of the company’s international medical brand, Spectrum Therapeutics, in Victoria, Australia. From his 18 years in the technology space, Quirin brings with him a wealth of experience opening and developing emerging markets. He has been responsible for establishing new markets across Europe, Middle East and Africa, South East Asia and Australia.
Codie Sanchez
Managing Director, Entourage Effect Capital
Codie Sanchez is a reformed journalist, turned institutional investor to now a Managing Director and Partner at Entourage Effect Capital, a private equity firm focused specifically on investing in the legalised cannabis industry. Since its inception in the summer of 2014, EEC has deployed $100+ million into over 40 companies out of its two dedicated funds and co-investments. She is a board member at The Arcview Group, Magma Partners Venture Fund, Texans for Veterans and a member of the free markets think tank, AEI's Enterprise Club. She also sits on the policy board of the Marijuana Policy Project.
David Champion
CEO, Maya Health
David Champion is CEO of Maya Health, a Colorado Public Benefit Corporation that believes the world of psychedelic medicine needs better data to surface best practices and help practitioners to offer safe and effective practices at scale. He recently served as a campaign lead in the Decriminalize Denver Initiative, helping Denver become the first US city to reform psilocybin policy and was a Co-founder and CPO at Baker Technologies, the leading CRM for the cannabis industry, helping dispensaries generate more revenue and build relationships with their customers in one easy-to-use platform.
Managing Director, European Industrial Hemp Association
Lorenza is the Managing Director of EIHA. Based in EIHA’s Brussels office, Lorenza is a veteran policy advisor and communication manager at the European level. She has led EIHA’s efforts in Brussels since February 2019, having worked with a number of MEPs to propose reforms affecting hemp in the EU’s Common Agriculture Policy. Lorenza previously advised interests in the oil and gas sector, and led the European Association of Independent Winegrowers.
JR Rahn
Founder, MindMed
JR is a former Silicon Valley tech executive & Founder of MindMed, the psychedelic medicine business he launched after realising that transformational solutions to mental illness and addiction might lie within psychedelics. He spent 2 years researching and began personally investing in psychedelic research through his investment company. JR partnered with drug development veteran Stephen Hurst to start MindMed in 2019, assembling a leading clinical drug discovery and development team with vast experience conducting clinical trials and research on drug candidates derived from psychedelics.
MDMA & Psilocybin Therapist, Imperial College London
Dr Ben Sessa is a consultant psychiatrist and senior research fellow at Bristol, Cardiff and Imperial College London Universities; where he is conducting the UK’s first clinical studies with MDMA-assisted therapy for the treatment of PTSD and alcohol dependence syndrome. He has worked on several UK-based human pharmacology trials as study doctor or as a healthy subject administering and receiving test doses of LSD, psilocybin, MDMA and other psychoactive substances.
Robert Galarza
CEO, TruTrace
Robert Galarza is CEO of TruTrace Technologies,Inc - who have developed the first integrated blockchain platform called StrainSecure that registers and tracks intellectual property for the cannabis industry. Strain protection and genetic identification are major issues for growers and breeders, and this new technology allows them to identify and secure rights to their valuable intellectual property (IP).
Fleta Solomon
Managing Director, Little Green Pharma
Fleta is the founder and Managing Director of Little Green Pharma, Australia’s first producer and exporter of EU-GMP cannabinoid medicines. With a background in health science, Fleta has spent her career changing people’s lives for the better. Previously, Fleta established and sold one of the largest providers of workplace health services positively transforming the health behaviours of thousands of Australian workers. Fleta’s vision now is to develop a precision dosing methodology, to optimise the delivery of cannabinoids into the body to help solve real patient problems.
Social Entrepreneur & Co-Founder, Think BIG
Willie is co-founder of Think BIG, where he serves as the company’s president and leads its executive management and strategic vision. He became involved with the company when CJ Wallace, founder of Think BIG, was his client at Flint Studio. Willie was drawn to the company because he shares CJ’s vision of removing the stigma associated with cannabis use, both for healing and to stimulate creativity. Willie has used cannabis to inspire his creativity for most of his adult life. He credits it with driving his photography and his work on creative campaigns for global brands.
Rhys Cohen
Former Senior Project Officer, Lambert Initiative for Cannabinoid Therapeutics
Rhys is a recognized thought leader in the Australian medicinal cannabis industry. Rhys was Director of Cannabis Consulting Australia and was previously the Senior Project Officer at the University of Sydney’s Lambert Initiative for Cannabinoid Therapeutics. His industry analysis has been cited by Deloitte Access Economics and the Office of Drug Control as well as ABC News, The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald, and MJBiz Daily.
Todd Shapiro
CEO, Red Light Holland
Todd is a vastly experienced Radio Show host with the likes of SiriusXM & a brilliant marketing entrepreneur - with over 20 years of experience. Todd has recently entered the cannabis business as founder of Red Light Truffles. He is also currently a consultant, helping with brand strategy and IR for Halo Labs, Namaste Technologies, Enthusiast Gaming, Health Space, Drafters.com, Mogul, and 3Sixty Secure Corp. He is one of North America's most professional & effective Brand Ambassadors having worked with Canopy Growth (Tweed’s first ever Canadian Brand Ambassador), Samsung, Canada Goose, Canadian Tire & Boveda Inc.
Peter Comerford
CEO, Anspec & Managing Director for Australia & APAC, The Flowr Corporation
Peter is CEO of Anspec, a specialised pharmaceutical and medical wholesaler supplying to 35+ countries and one of the largest distributors of medicinal cannabis in Australia, supporting government contracts and acting as an industry advisor to government at both the state and federal levels, Peter is also Managing Director for Australia and the Asia-Pacific region for The Flowr Corporation, a medicinal cannabis manufacturer and distributor with operations across Australia, Europe and Canada.
Austin Stevenson
VP, Product x Innovation, Vertosa
Austin leads the business development team at Vertosa, an innovative infusion technology start-up based in Oakland, California. He creates partnerships with inventive brands to produce top quality cannabinoid-infused cold brew coffee, beer, wine, fresh juice, topicals and more. Prior to joining Vertosa, Austin leveraged his bio-tech experience building the regulatory Hemp/CBD testing program for Eurofins Scientific - a world leader in food, environment, and product testing services – where he worked with CVS and other retailers to test and verify the quality of their retail CBD topicals.
Clinical Lead, Imperial Psychedelic Research Centre
Dr Rosalind Watts is the clinical lead of the Imperial College London Psilocybin for Depression study. She trained as a clinical psychologist and practised psychotherapy for 6 years before joining the Imperial Psychedelic Research Centre (run by Dr Robin Carhart Harris and Professor David Nutt) as a therapist ‘trip sitter’. She has developed a psychedelic therapy model ‘Accept, Connect, Embody’, and a psychometric measure of ‘connectedness’- which her qualitative research identified as a potential mechanism of therapeutic change in psychedelic approaches.
Dr Andy Yates
Pharmaceutical Lead, The Centre for Medicinal Cannabis
Dr Andy Yates is the Pharmaceutical Lead at the Centre for Medical Cannabis. Andy holds a PhD in cannabinoid medicinal chemistry and has over 15 years’ pharma experience working in the medical, commercial, business development and strategy functions. He has extensive experience in all aspects of medicine development programmes and was responsible for multiple collaborative agreements with academia, biotechnology and peer pharma. He runs an independent pharmaceutical consultancy and holds an Honorary Lectureship at Keele University.
Alex Halperin
Founder, WeedWeek
Alex Halperin is the founder, editor and publisher of WeedWeek. Before he started covering marijuana legalization in 2014 he reported on topics such as fracking, health care, technology and finance. His work has appeared in the Guardian, Slate, Fast Company, Quartz, the Washington Post, Mother Jones, the New Yorker, and many other publications. His first book, the Cannabis Dictionary was published in March. He lives in Los Angeles.
Kacey Culliney
Editor, Cosmetics Design Europe
Kacey Culliney is a leading media voice in the European beauty & personal care sector. An experienced journalist and editor with 8+ years in the B2B world, Kacey kickstarted her career in food and nutrition, chairing roundtables and leading video coverage for the industry's most influential events. Kacey brings with her a wealth of knowledge around all-things-consumer, a deep interest in scientific research and development and a solid understanding on how the fast-paced consumer products industry operates.
Founder & CEO, MAZAKALI
Sumit is an investment banker and the founder of MAZAKALI, a digital platform for cannabis investing supported by a licensed broker/dealer. A globally recognized cannabis strategist, Sumit authors the MAZAKALI GreenPaper® - a leading narrative that has gained authority on deep trends in the industry. In addition to his role at MAZAKALI, Sumit serves on the Banking and Financial Services Committee for the National Cannabis Industry Association.
Albert Tio
President, Federation of Self-Regulated Cannabis Associations of Catalonia
Albert is the Founder of Airam (Associació Independent Recreativa d'Autoconsum i Medicinal); one of the first cannabis clubs in Barcelona, and President of Fedcac, one of two Catalan federations of consumer associations. Persecuted and intervened on six occasions, intervention resulted in six trials, three of which ended with prison terms and million dollar fines for those involved. Albert has started a model of social and cultural activities pushing towards political changes such as the Catalan law, approved by Catalan Parliament in 2017.
Debra Borchardt
Co-Founder & CEO, Green Market Report
Debra Borchardt is the Co-Founder and CEO of the cannabis financial news website Green Market Report. She began her career in the securities industry where she was a Vice President at Bear Stearns holding three securities licenses. She left Wall Street to earn her Masters Degree in Business and Economic Reporting from New York University. At that point, she embarked on a career as a financial journalist and spent eight years at TheStreet.com working daily with Jim Cramer.
CEO, Compass Pathways
George Goldsmith is a co-founder and director of COMPASS – a non-profit medical research organisation dedicated to accelerating access to evidence-led innovation in mental health and wellbeing. A serial entrepreneur, he has developed pioneering businesses in collaboration software and professional services. He has served as the Managing Director of the Lotus Institute and as CEO of TomorrowLab at McKinsey & Company.
Board Advisor, MAPS & International Lawyer, Ad Lucem Law
Robert is an international lawyer, qualified in England and called to the British Columbia Bar. Robert founded AD LUCEM LAW CORPORATION in Vancouver in 2013 and his legal practice focuses on commercial business and regulatory issues surrounding cannabis and psychedelic plant medicines.
Robert serves as a Board Advisor to the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) Canada and Steve DeAngelo’s Last Prisoner Project, as well as a Board Member to Rex Weyler's Ecuador Amazon Restoration Project.
Founding Partner, New Cannabis Ventures
Based in Houston, Alan leverages his experience as founder of online community 420 Investor, the first and still largest due diligence platform focused on the publicly-traded stocks in the cannabis industry. With his extensive network in the cannabis community, Alan continues to find new ways to connect the industry and facilitate its sustainable growth. At New Cannabis Ventures, he is responsible for content development and strategic alliances. Before shifting his focus to the cannabis industry in early 2013, Alan worked as an independent research analyst following over two decades in research and portfolio management.
Ronan Levy
Co-Founder & Exec Chairman, Field Trip Psychedelics Inc
An entrepreneur and a visionary, Ronan is Co-founder and Executive Chairman of Field Trip Psychedelics Inc. Concurrent with his work at Field Trip, he is a partner at Grassfed Ventures, a venture capital and advisory firm focused on the cannabis and biotech industries and a Member of the Board of Directors for Trait Biosciences Inc., a leading biotech company in the hemp and cannabis industries. Prior to his current roles, Ronan co-founded Canadian Cannabis Clinics and CanvasRx Inc., the latter of which was acquired by Aurora Cannabis Inc. (NYSE: ACB) in 2016, after which he served as Senior Vice President, Business and Corporate Affairs for Aurora.
Oisin Lunny
TedX Speaker & SXSW Board Advisor
Oisin Lunny is an award-winning marketer, public speaker, remote event consultant, editor and journalist. A senior contributor to Forbes.com he has also written for The Guardian and is the music editor of London fashion and lifestyle magazine PHOENIX. Oisin has hosted, moderated and given keynote presentations at over 200 conferences in every corner of the world, including TEDx, MWC and six times at SXSW, where he is now a member of the advisory board. He has worked in a series of leading global technology firms over the past 20 years as Global Product Manager, UK & Ireland Country Manager, Technical VP and Chief Evangelist.
Insights & Reports Director, Prohibition Partners
Alexandra is Head of Insights at Prohibition Partners, the world¹s leading provider of market insights and strategic consultancy for the emerging cannabis industry. Alexandra's market research experience was gained in Euromonitor and Mintel and she also acted as a consultant to clients across varied industries. Alexandra leads the insights and analytics team and is responsible for the research, writing and publication of Prohibition Partners' industry-first reports across a range of newly emerging cannabis markets.
Bill Wirtz
Senior Policy Analyst, Consumer Choice
Bill Wirtz is the senior policy analyst for the Consumer Choice Center, based in Brussels, Belgium. Originally from Luxembourg, he publishes in German, French, and English. His work has appeared major news outlets, including Newsweek, Washington Examiner, Die Welt, Le Monde, Le Figaro, Le Soir, Les Echos or City AM.
Narbé Alexandrian
President and CEO, Canopy Rivers
Narbe Alexandrian is the President and CEO of Canopy Rivers, the venture capital arm of Canopy Growth, the largest cannabis producer worldwide. The fund has a diversified portfolio of cannabis industry investments that includes licensed producers, cultivation & sale applicants, pharmaceutical formulators, branded developers & distributors, and technology & media platforms. With a typical cheque size of $500K to $40M, Canopy Rivers is a lifecycle investor, with the ability to lead and write a cheque in both early stage and late stage cannabis companies.
Co-Founder & CEO, ATAI Life Sciences
Florian is the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of ATAI Life Sciences, a global biotech company builder with the vision of ultimately ending mental health disorders. Prior to joining ATAI, Florian was the co-founder and Managing Director of Springlane, Germany’s leading online kitchen appliance retailer.
Although Florian suffered from anxiety in his youth, he was able to achieve remission through a combination of cognitive behavioral therapy and a robust meditation practice.
Tom Zuber
Founder and Managing Partner, Zuber Lawler
Tom Zuber is Founder and Managing Partner of Zuber Lawler, a leading law firm that specialises in helping cannabis companies navigate legal waters as the industry continues to grow. He has advised some of the most iconic companies in the world on their patent and trademark portfolios and is at the cutting edge of cannabis patent and trademark law. Tom holds a law degree from Columbia Law School, a master’s degree in public policy from Harvard Government School, and a biomedical engineering degree from Rutgers University.
Co-Founder and Former CEO, The Cronos Group
Paul Rosen was a co-founder of PharmaCan Capital Corp (now The Cronos Group) and served as President and CEO for three and a half years. He is the founder and Managing Director of BreakWater Venture Capital, a private venture capital fund and advisory based in Toronto. Paul is also the founder, CEO and Chairman of Tidal Royalty Corporation, a financing business focused exclusively on the emerging regulated US cannabis industry.
Founder, Audiobooks.com
Sanjay Singhal is a Canadian Tech Entrepreneur and author, is best known for founding and selling Audiobooks.com. Sanjay has recently launched the Singhal Health Foundation, funding research trials in Canada, the UK, and US that use novel compounds such as MDMA and psilocybin to treat mental disorders, including anorexia, depression, and PTSD. His Memoir “Zero to Tesla,” published in 2018 chronicles his entire journey and shines light on how failure doesn’t prevent success, it only delays it.
Ashleigh Murphy-Beiner
Assistant Psychologist for Psychedelic Research, Imperial College London
Ashleigh Murphy-Beiner is an assistant psychologist at the centre for Psychedelic Research at the Imperial College in London, who examines the therapeutic potential of ayahuasca for treating depression and anxiety and the mechanisms of action involved in ayahuasca’s therapeutic effects. Ashleigh has been conducting psychopharmacological research with ayahuasca as part of her MSc Psychology degree at the University of East London and is also a member of the Psychedelic Research Group at Imperial College London.
Jeremy Berke
Senior Reporter, Business Insider
Jeremy is a senior reporter at Business Insider where he focuses on the emerging cannabis industry. At BI, Jeremy has covered the bumpy roll-out of Canada's cannabis legalisation, the boom in cannabis companies going public in 2018 (and the resulting fallout), multi billion-dollar mergers between cannabis companies and corporations from other industries, the ongoing health effects from vaporisers, the mislabelling of CBD products, and how the world's largest financial, legal, and political institutions are reacting to and planning for legalisation.
Tania de Jong AM
Co-Founder and Executive Director, Mind Medicine Australia
Tania de Jong AM is a trail-blazing Australian soprano, global speaker, award-winning social entrepreneur, creative innovation catalyst, spiritual journey woman and storyteller. As Co-Founders of Mind Medicine Australia, Tania and her husband Peter Hunt AM are focused on alleviating the increasing mental illness epidemic through developing an ecosystem for psychedelic-assisted therapies to become accessible and available as treatment options for doctors and their patients.
Jonathan Nadler
Group Managing Director, LYPHE GROUP
Since founding his first £1m+ revenue business aged 24, Jon has gone on to successfully exit a strategic consultancy, and a CBD oils company. Co-founding a market leading online education platform, The Academy of Medical Cannabis, was the catalyst to securing a Partner role at European Cannabis Fund, ECH. Currently Jon is Group Managing Director at LYPHE GROUP with a portfolio of 6 cannabis companies including the UK’s largest chain of private clinics.
Michael Sassano
Chairman, SOMAI Pharma
Michael Sassano, serves as Chairman of the Board at Somai Pharmaceuticals, an Ireland-based company with wholly owned subsidiaries around the EU for the distribution of cannabis products and has started cannabis cultivation in Greece. Sassano is also founder and CEO of Solaris Farms, a Nevada-based cannabis cultivation company. Today, Solaris is one of a handful of maximum state-approved canopy mega-greenhouses and currently the most technologically-advanced hybrid greenhouse operating in Nevada.
Bob Hoban
President and Founder, Hoban Law Group
Bob Hoban is the Managing Partner at Hoban Law Group, the nation’s premier cannabusiness law firm, with attorneys in over a dozen states and abroad. Bob is recognised as one of the leading commercial cannabis practitioners nationwide; representing private and publicly-held clients in numerous states and abroad. He has litigated nearly every aspect of Colorado’s Marijuana Code and has closed over 300 marijuana-related business transactions. Marijuana and hemp-based business operations, related litigation and regulatory counsel are his specialty.
Jeanne M. Sullivan
General Partner, Arcview
Jeanne Sullivan is General Partner at The Arcview Group, the leading cannabis investment and market research network. She is passionate about delivering ideas, connections and inspiration to entrepreneurs and is a fierce advocate for legalization and regulation of the cannabis industry. Jeanne is a co-founder of StarVest Partners, a venture capital firm in NYC and long-time tech investor, now a special advisor to her firm. Prior to her investing experience, Jeanne served in operating roles at AT&T and Bell Labs as part of an entrepreneurial team building innovative products in image processing and high end computing.
Paul Gurney
Managing Director, BMO Capital Markets
Paul Gurney is a Managing Director at BMO Capital Markets in London, UK, leading BMO’s coverage of large institutional equity clients in Europe and Asia Pacific. Paul has been closely involved in the sector in Europe ever since, helping raise US$153m for Tilray, the first ever NASDAQ listed cannabis company, and the third best performing IPO in the US in 2018. Paul spearheads BMO’s investment efforts for cannabis companies in Europe, and Australia, introducing investors to sector heavyweights like Aphria, Aurora, Canopy Growth and Tilray, while actively developing the next generation of pre-IPO cannabis companies.
Myles Katz
Co-Founder & Director of Business Development, Synthesis Retreats
Myles has spent his career across three different continents helping to launch and lead five VC-funded startups with technological, socially responsible, and/or green focuses. During this time, he’s developed a specialty in early-stage strategy and capital raising for pioneering business models. As Co-founder and the Director of Business Development at Synthesis, Myles has been instrumental in developing infrastructure and financing for one of the world’s first legal psychedelic experience service models. In doing so, Myles is at the forefront of a worldwide movement to transform the way people approach emotional, cognitive, and spiritual well-being through safe and legal psilocybin experiences.
Iris Hardewig
Director of Scientific Affairs, Sanity Group
Iris is Director of Scientific Affairs at the Sanity Group. Founded in 2018, Sanity Group has become one of Europe's leading medical cannabis firms, raising €20.1 million at the beginning of 2020. Iris has been instrumental to that growth. After receiving her PhD in animal physiology at the Heinrich-Heine University, Duesseldorf, she spent several years in academic science. For more than 10 years, Iris has supported the natural health industry in product development and market access as Head of Consulting and Strategic Innovation at analyze & realize in Berlin.
Steph Sherer
President and Director of Innovations, ICCI
Steph Sherer is ICCI’s President and Director of Innovations, Founder and Executive Director of Americans for Safe Access, and founding member of International Medical Cannabis Patients Coalition (IMCPC). Steph has become the foremost international leader and expert on medical cannabis patient advocacy and, alongside the American Herbal Products Association (AHPA), has created the first industry standards in the areas of distribution, cultivation, analytics, manufacturing, packaging, and labelling.
Michael Gruber
Managing Partner, Salveo Capital
Michael Gruber is Managing Partner of Salveo Capital, a private investment firm that uses its own first-hand experience in cannabis to provide funding and development to companies with the will and vision to be the future faces of legal marijuana. Michael has become active in the cannabis business as both an advisor, mentor, investor, and speaker, and leverages his experience across technology, financial services, agriculture, and energy, all which are crucial within the cannabis industry. Michael has also advised capital providers and families in allocating capital to the sector and in the acquisition and sale of assets as well as cannabis companies raising growth capital.
Matthew Karnes
Founder & CEO, GreenWave Advisors
Matt Karnes is Founder & CEO of GreenWave Advisors, a cannabis-centric advisory firm that provides independent financial research & analysis, due diligence, and other consulting services. Prior to founding GreenWave Advisors, Matt worked in equity research focusing on the radio broadcasting and cable television industries for First Union Securities. Matt also covered Satellite Communication at SG Cowen and in addition, worked with the top-ranked consumer internet analyst at Bear Stearns & Co – this team was consistently recognized by the Institutional Investor’s “All America Research Team”.
Jameson Berkow
Editor In Chief, The Rise
Jameson Berkow joined cannabis venture capital firm Canopy Rivers in early 2020 and holds the post of the founding editor-in-chief of The Rise, a new media outlet covering entrepreneurship in legal cannabis markets globally. Prior to this, Jameson was a reporter for The Globe and Mail, covering the economic implications of cannabis legalization. With more than a decade of experience in financial journalism, Jameson was most recently the senior reporter for BNN Bloomberg (formerly the Business News Network), where he led live daily coverage of major business news from the television station’s Toronto headquarters.
Roei Zerahia
Co-Founder and Former CEO, Canndoc-Pharma
Roei is one of the Israeli veterans in the cannabis space, and has been serving in senior management positions since 2010. During 2018, as the CEO of CANNDOC (one of the first Israeli license producers), Roei led the company to an acquisition by Intercure (INCR.TA) a pharmaceutical public company, and which became the first and biggest pharma grade cannabis company in Israel. With a global understanding of the evolving cannabis arena, and as a faculty member and a senior lecturer in the Israeli academy, Roei lectures on different aspects of the cannabis industry around the globe.
Nick Kovacevich
CEO, Co-Founder & Chairman, KushCo
Nick Kovacevich is the Co-Founder, Chairman, and CEO of KushCo Holdings, Inc. (OTCQB:KSHB), the leading provider of ancillary products and services to legal cannabis and CBD industries. Nick became CEO of KushCo in 2014 when the company was primarily a packaging provider, doing less than $2m in annual sales and employing less than a dozen team members. Today, KushCo is one of the most exciting public companies in the US, exceeding $145m in annual sales in fiscal 2019, with operations across the U.S. and globally.
Max Nardulli
Founder & Managing Partner, Superba Holdings
Max is the Founder and Managing Partner of Superba Holdings, a pioneer pan-European medical platform focussed on extraction, R&D and formulation to provide innovative health solutions to complement the ones of the traditional medical channels. Max has been active in the space for 8 years first as an investor and later leading international organizations both In Europe and North America. Prior to that he spent 18 years in the global financial markets working for primary international organizations in the asset management and investment banking sector.
Tom Adams
Managing Director, BDS Analytics
Tom Adams serves as the Managing Director & Principal Analyst of BDS Analytics, a company that offers a full understanding of the cannabinoids market through Retail Sales Tracking, Consumer Insights, and Industry Intelligence. Tom is also the Editor in Chief of the Arcview Market Research Group, one of the leading cannabis investment and market research networks. Tom brings to the cannabis industry the Wall St. credibility he earned in spotting the growth potential of start-ups ranging from Blockbuster and AOL to Amazon and Netflix.
Mario Pinzon
Founder and CSO, SIACOMEX Cannabis Division
Mario Pinzon, along with his sister Laura Pinzon, helps run SIACOMEX, a family-owned leading logistics company of some 25 years based in Bogotá, Colombia. Mario founded the SIACOMEX Cannabis Division in 2019, and occupies the position of Chief Strategic Officer, seeking to advance cannabis logistics and its ancillary international opportunities across the Colombia border. The clientele of SIACOMEX Cannabis Division includes most of the major Colombian companies in the legalized cannabis industry. SIACOMEX was the first company in Colombia to trade legal cannabis across borders.
Jeffrey Howard
Managing Partner, Salveo Capital
Jeffrey Howard is Managing Partner of Salveo Capital, a private investment firm that uses its own first-hand experience in cannabis to provide funding and development to companies with the will and vision to be the future faces of legal marijuana. Jeffrey has become active in the cannabis space as both an investor & advisor to early stage growth companies within the industry. Mr. Howard leverages his 20+ years of senior-level capital markets experience to source deals and perform due diligence on emerging cannabis focused companies, while providing financial & operational risk management guidance.
Alexej Pikovsky
CEO, Alphagreen Group
Alexej is the Co-Founder and CEO of Alphagreen Group. Alphagreen operates a data-driven marketplace for CBD and other innovative health products with global reach. Alphagreen also offers tech-enabled services such as SEO and Analytics, as well as a B2B marketplace for shops and restaurants. Prior to Alphagreen, Alexej has been working as an investor for a large-cap private equity fund and a family office where he ran the venture capital operations. He gained operational and board-level experience with several of the portfolio companies.
Roderick Stephan
Partner, Altitude Investment Management
Roderick Stephan is a founding partner of Altitude Investment Management LLC, a cannabis investment management company overseeing investments in more than 20 cannabis companies. Altitude manages two global cannabis funds and recently opened a London office and European platform to focus on European CBD/wellness and medical cannabis investment opportunities. As a mentor and advisor to early-stage and growth cannabis companies, he sits on a number of corporate boards.
Kenzi Riboulet-Zemouli
Founder, FAAAT
Based in Barcelona, Kenzi is an interdisciplinary researcher and advocate for sustainable drug policy reforms. He co-founded the NGOs NORML France and the think-tank FAAAT. Focused on Action research (matching scholars and citizens) as a catalyzer for legal and social changes, Kenzi has been particularly involved in studying alternative pathways for Cannabis policy reform, linking international law with local initiatives.
Mark Lucas
CEO and Co-Founder, Cannasouth Limited
Mark heads up New Zealand’s only NZX listed medicinal cannabis company, Cannasouth. Based in the Waikato, Mark and the Cannasouth team have established state-of-the-art research laboratories and cannabis cultivation facilities. Cannasouth was one of the first companies in New Zealand to receive medicinal cannabis research licences for both the cultivation and extraction of cannabinoids. The company’s goal is to develop next-generation cannabinoid therapeutics to support patient health outcomes and improve their quality of life.
Glenn Davies
Founder & Group CEO, CannAcubed
Glenn is a seasoned CEO & Board Director with 25 years of experience leading private & public organizations. Glenn is looking to revolutionize the Industrial Cannabis market and solve some of the world's most pressing issues around Disease, Waste, Poverty, Energy & Environmental. Glenn is currently the Founder & Group CEO of CannAcubed Private Limited, a global diversified Cannabis Company with headquarters in Singapore, and operations in China, Hong Kong, Thailand & Israel.
Ean Alexander
CEO, Altum International
Ean has a Bachelor of Science, an MBA, and over 20 years corporate finance, investment, and asset management experience across the Asia-Pacific region. Ean has developed advanced skills whilst at Macquarie Capital in M&A, deal structuring, valuation, capital raisings, asset management, and business operations. Most recently Ean was leading Little Green Pharma’s business development function – being the only cannabis company in Australia cultivating, manufacturing, and supplying products to patients.
Robin Dey
Director, Hempcorp
Robin is a Director and Co-Founder of Hempcorp Private Limited (India), with a focus on cannabis cultivation, processing and refinement for medicinal applications. Robin has always had a thirst for entrepreneurial activities, consequently starting several business ventures. More recently working in blockchain technology, financial services and real estate related industries. He graduated with an MBA from the University of Southern Queensland and completed several professional certifications including securities, managed investments and real estate development.
Aaron Smith
Co-Founder & CEO, National Cannabis Industry Association
Aaron Smith is co-founder and chief executive officer of the National Cannabis Industry Association. Prior to launching NCIA in 2010, Aaron distinguished himself as a public advocate for marijuana policy reform — first under the auspices of a California-based medical cannabis advocacy group, Safe Access Now, and more recently as the California state policy director for the Washington, D.C.-based Marijuana Policy Project. Aaron has successfully built coalitions with elected officials on both sides of the aisle in order to advance marijuana law reform legislation in the state capitol and among the voting public.
Jakob Sons
Co-Founder & Managing Director, Cansativa GmbH
Jakob Sons is Co-Founder, Managing Director and General Counsel of Cansativa GmbH. From its headquarter in Moerfelden-Walldorf, Germany, Cansativa and its subsidiaries work to professionalize the medical cannabis market, eliminate stigmatization and to permanently reduce prices for patients. In 2019, Cansativa GmbH became the first European company to import medical cannabis from Australia. Jakob is a member of the German bar association and practices corporate and commercial litigation law. He was trained in international law firms for several years and is responsible for regulatory and general legal affairs.
Dr. Roger McIntyre
CEO, Champignon Brands
Dr. Roger McIntyre is currently CEO of Champignon Brands, a human optimization sciences Company with an emphasis on ketamine and psychedelic medicine. Dr. McIntyre is a Professor of Psychiatry and Pharmacology at the University of Toronto and Head of the Mood Disorders Psychopharmacology Unit at the University Health Network, Toronto, Canada. Dr. McIntyre is also Executive Director of the Brain and Cognition Discovery Foundation in Toronto; Director and Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA) in Chicago, Illinois.
Steve Rolles
Senior Policy Analyst, Transform Drugs
Steve Rolles acts as Senior Policy Analyst for Transform Drugs and has been instrumental in their development since joining in 1998. He has published widely on drug policy, and was lead author for many of Transform’s publications, including 2009’s ‘Blueprint for Regulation’. He is a regular contributor to the public debate on drug policy, and has advised Governments across the world of policy reform. Before joining Transform, Steve worked for the Medical Research Council and Oxfam.
Ross Bell
Executive Director, NZ Drug Foundation
Ross Bell is Executive Director of the New Zealand Drug Foundation, a position he’s held since 2004. The Drug Foundation is New Zealand’s leading alcohol and other drug policy advocacy charity, which was a founding member of IDPC. Ross has held advisory and governance roles with IDPC since its formation. Prior to his role at the Drug Foundation, Ross was involved in social policy advocacy and worked for New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Ross holds degrees in international aid and development.
Nick Davies
CEO, Memery Crystal
Nick Davis is Chief Executive of Memery Crystal and a senior corporate partner. Nick recently led the Memery Crystal team on the NEX listing of medicinal cannabis investment vehicle, Ananda Developments which was the second ever public listing of a cannabis vehicle. He has a personal interest in medicinal cannabis as a Trustee of the charity ‘Olivia’s Vision’, the UK’s leading Uveitis charity raising awareness of the condition from which his daughter, Olivia, suffers. Uveitis like many auto immune diseases is being targeted for medicinal cannabis research.
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