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Featured Speakers
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Alphabetically Listed by First Name
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Anna Symonds, American Rugby Player & Director of Education, East Fork Cultivars
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Anna Symonds is a player in the USA Rugby Women's Premier League (WPL) and is the Director of Education for East Fork Cultivars. Her 20-year rugby career includes a USA Rugby Division I National Championship, selection to the USA National All-Star Competition, and a Sydney (Australia) Premiership Championship.
Anna serves on the Oregon Cannabis Commission's Research Leadership Subcommittee, and holds an MA in Communication. She speaks regularly about the therapeutic benefits of cannabis for elite athletes and everyday people, and spearheaded a petition to the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), signed by more than 150 former professional athletes, to remove THC from its Prohibited Substances list. She is also an Ambassador for the nonprofits Athletes for CARE, Last Prisoner Project, and the Concussion Legacy Foundation.
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Jim Baudino, Partner, Fiorello
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Jim Baudino is an advisor, investor and award-winning executive who has held leadership roles across industries ranging from cannabis to automotive with a focus and expertise in bringing consumer brands to market.
Jim is a partner at Fiorello Agency, a brand incubator and leading creative and strategic communications agency focused on supporting early-stage, high-growth businesses in emerging markets. He started his career in cannabis and hemp with MERRY JANE Media, the Snoop Dogg founded global media platform at the intersection of cannabis and culture, where he played a pivotal role in the launch of the company and bringing cannabis-related content to a mainstream audience. Jim has focused on raising awareness of the benefits of cannabis and its long history, while also dispelling stigmas and educating on the social and economic issues and injustices. Prior to the cannabis industry, Jim spent ten years with Toyota North America, where he held leadership roles in marketing and business development, with the latest overseeing national sponsorship and partnership strategies for the Toyota lineup, including 20+ celebrities and athletes. He spearheaded relationships with brands like NBC, GoPro, NBA, Pepsi and Live Nation to create fully integrated programs that engaged millions of consumers. Along with internal awards for innovation, Jim was the recipient of the auto industry’s prestigious Automotive News 40 Under 40 Award. Jim holds an MBA from UCLA Anderson and a BSE in Industrial and Operations Engineering from the University of Michigan. He is on the board of ThinkLA, the Media, Marketing, and Advertising Collective with a mission to connect, inspire and educate the Los Angeles marketing community, and has led the integration of cannabis and hemp into their programming. He has spoken about cannabis at numerous mainstream conferences and universities, and in his free time, Jim enjoys traveling to unique destinations with his wife and two children. |
Julie Lerner, Founder & CEO, PanXchange
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Julie Lerner is the Founder and CEO of PanXchange, Inc. the leading benchmark price provider and institutions-grade trading platform for physical hemp and other commodities. Lerner has deep experience in regional and international agricultural and energy markets. Lerner began her career with Cargill, International in Geneva, Switzerland, and later moved on to be Cargill, Inc's Sr Latin American sugar trader. She has also worked in electricity markets for Sempra Energy Trading and in agricultural weather derivatives with XL Financial. Geographically, her area of expertise covers the U.S., Europe, Latin America, and East Africa. As Managing Director of Golden Seeds, an angel group focused on early-stage investments in women-owned ventures, Lerner provided entrepreneurs with strategic business advice and access to funding. She advises several early-stage companies from the perspective of an entrepreneur to an angel investor, having worked with smallholder farmers to Fortune 100 executives.
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Kimberly Kovacs, CEO, The Arcview Group
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Kimberly has over 20 years of executive leadership and experience across technology services and investment companies. As the founder and CEO of MyJane, Kim built a cannabis wellness technology platform which was acquired in January of 2019 by ManifestSeven. Prior to MyJane, Kim founded or co-founded six additional companies, raised more than $100M in equity capital and has been an active angel investor for more than ten years. Most recently, she served as President of the Los Angeles Venture Association where she launched the CannaLAVA strategic group designed to bring cannabis industry leaders together in Los Angeles.
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Kim McCarthy, Founding Partner, The Pipeline Strategies
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A professional journey that started in human resources and evolved through training & development, organizational efficiency, business resumption & emergency preparedness, recruiting methodology & practice, and consulting.
Having consulted for 20 years, Kim entered the financial services arena with [FINRA licensing] S6, S26, and S63 to champion the role of AVP Recruiting & Marketing, leading Forester’s independent BD/RIA (FESCO) through a three year record growth period, for both recruiting and resulting BD revenue (2013 - 2016). Kim became a solopreneur (2016) with The Pipeline: Recruiting, offering talent advisory & recruiting services, along with recruitment marketing and creative campaigns. In 2019, Kim entered the cannabis and digital marketing arena by launching Harvest & Plume (hemp) and The Cannabis Sessions (serving both sides of the plant). After receiving accolades for the presentation of information in digital format (aka “the experience”), her unique digital formatting became highly sought after by many brands to share company information - shareholders, business presentations, pitch decks, training, company newsletters, etc. Her services expanded, offering people strategies to guide organizations towards opportunities in branding themselves as an Employer of Choice. The Pipeline: Strategies was born. Kim advises brands on opportunities in identifying, developing, retaining, and marketing to their ideal employees. Resuming growth activities (since COVID-19), Kim is in pre-launch for franchising The Pipeline: Recruiting which will offer even more opportunities for building people pipelines and strategies. Or as Kim calls it - “growth for growth.” Kim holds a dual Master’s degree in Public Administration and Training & Development from the University of Southern California, and a Bachelor’s degree in Behavioral & Social Sciences from [THE] Ohio State University. Residing in Boulder, CO, Kim enjoys the trails and open space with her rescue Husky-Mute, Pixie Blue, while planning an intentional hemp community with modern technology, yet, designed for alternative and sustainable living. Always a work in progress, Kim continues to learn, grow, and learn again, while presenting information so that others can grow, as well. |
Mandy Lile , Founder, Potency No. 710
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Potency No. 710 CEO Mandy Lile’s got that Southern charm bluntness down to a science – in fact, the first thing you’ll notice upon meeting her is her Kentucky accent.
Growing up, her father spent 13 years of his life in prison for marijuana and although it carries a stigma, Mandy took it as inspiration to show everyone the beauty in this potent plant. She opened her first skincare clinic at the ripe age of 20, quickly developing a knack for plant-based, non-toxic products. And when she moved to LA and met and fell in love with her now-fiancé Harry, she found herself walking through clouds of smoke as the two ventured into the cannabis business. The two applied their combined knowledge of both the skincare and cannabis industry to create Potency No. 710, a line of balanced beauty products fueled by non-toxic, plant-powered ingredients. One of their favorite ingredients is CBD from full spectrum hemp. This ingredient is one that has gained much interest and elevated support throughout the beauty industry. That is why we utilize it in our Gold Serum and we recently reformulated our Modern Mist spray to include all that this hempsational plant has to offer! |
Nic Easley , CEO & Managing Director, Multiverse Capital
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Nic is the CEO & Managing Director for Multiverse Capital™ and a globally recognized Cannabis Industry Expert. He is also the founder and CEO of 3C Consulting, LLC™, the nation’s leading strategic cannabis consulting firm. Nic and his team have worked in 16 countries, 34 U.S. States, and two territories assisting nearly 500 cannabis companies across all sectors of the industry.
He is known for his passionate commitment to introducing demonstrated best practices from other industries into the cannabis space. His industry-leading track record of building strong cannabis businesses and guiding others towards their own victories has established him as a trusted and proven resource for anyone considering investing in the cannabis industry. Nic serves on numerous state regulatory boards ranging from agriculture, public health and human safety, pesticides, and compliant business practices. He is also a committee or board member for multiple cannabis industry organizations, including as a Board Member for Americans for Safe Access (ASA). Nic recently educated delegates on medical cannabis at the UN Intergovernmental Expert Group Meeting on International Challenges Posed by the Non-Medical use of Synthetic Opioids. Nic received a High Times Trail Blazer award in 2015 and was named one of the rising stars in cannabis investment by Business Insider in 2018. Nic is a Veteran of the United States Air Force and fluent in numerous languages holding degrees in both Environmental Studies and Biology. Nic’s scientific background combined with over 15 years of agricultural field and biological experience provides Multiverse Capital™ portfolio companies with new possibilities of productivity, profitability, and professionalism. |
Riley Cote, Former NHL Hockey Player & Partner, BodyChek Wellness
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Riley Cote played 8 years of professional hockey including 4 with the Philadelphia Flyers. His hard style of play eventually took its toll and he decided to retire from playing in 2010 at the ripe age of 28 and committed to a life of healing, mental fitness and to the integration of different plant medicines in his recovery of post-concussion syndrome, PTSD and substance abuse issues. Riley embarked on a quest to use the sports platform to normalize and legitimize the use of all plant medicines and share his discoveries with the world.
Cote is a co-founder of Athletes For Care, a 501(c)(3) non-profit that allows him to continue pursuing his passion using his past experiences to help others find safe, nontoxic ways to manage physical and emotional pain, as well as other mental health issues while guiding them to understand the world of self-healing. Riley is an advisor and psychedelic integration coach for a psilocybin-assisted clinical immersion company called Wake Clinics. His focus is to connect athletes, first responders and military veterans to these psilocybin-assisted clinical immersions, while having a large focus on integration. Riley is also a partner in a hemp-derived CBD and functional mushroom recovery product line called BodyChek Wellness and is currently in the process of building out a hemp processing facility and soil to oil curriculum with a PA state university called Advanced Alchemy Labs. Article - Article Link |
Robert Hoban, Founder & President. Hoban Law
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Bob Hoban sits at the center of the world’s largest commercial cannabis industry network; a cannabis industry ecosystem that he has painstakingly cultivated since 2008. Since the cannabis industry became commercialized, he has been widely credited for creating the class of lawyers now known as “cannabis attorneys.” He is known for the tremendous value that he places in his relationships and is not satisfied unless he can help his business clients thrive in this burgeoning global industry; an industry he has played a significant role in establishing. Bob has earned a reputation as a cannabis industry dealmaker representing start-ups, entrepreneurs, and companies in all stages of development. Mr. Hoban has truly transcended the practice of law and is regularly involved in assembling and structuring large scale cannabis industry M&A transactions. Above all else, Bob is a cannabis industry expert.
Beginning in 2008, he deliberately constructed the Hoban Law Group (HLG) to become the world’s leading full-service commercial cannabis industry law firm; the first of its kind. Since that time, HLG has indeed become the world’s leading cannabis industry law firm, with offices in seventeen states and ten nations abroad, and over fifty attorneys who specialize in all aspects of the commercial practice surrounding the cannabis industry. For nearly ten years, HLG has represented the cannabis industry’s titans in every aspect of the commercial cannabis industry around the world. And he is largely responsible for the establishment and growth of the CBD industry due to his legal strategies, litigation matters, and policy efforts executed on behalf of HLG clients. From 2010-2016, Bob served as one of the Nation’s first cannabis policy instructors at the University of Denver, where he regularly lectured regarding cannabis topics (government regulations, public policy, and research-based policy courses). Bob has been asked to work with dozens of governments across the U.S., Asia, the E.U., and Latin America (over thirty different countries) on crafting their commercial cannabis public policy solutions (legislation and regulations). He has consistently been recognized as one of the most influential people in the global cannabis industry by a variety of organizations and publications over the course of the past ten-plus years. He was recently named a “Cannabis Law Trailblazer” by the National Law Journal, and he has been consistently recognized as one of “Denver’s Top Cannabis Lawyers” for nearly a decade. |
Tracy Ryan, Founder, CannaKids & CKSoul
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Tracy Ryan is the founder Saving Sophie, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization focused on providing unlimited online educational resources to families who have been stricken by cancer, autism or epilepsy. With a mission to raise funds for groundbreaking cancer research, it is our goal to support scientists who are working towards bringing less toxic therapies to market.
Tracy Ryan is the Founder and lead consultant for CannaKids and CKSoul, a California-based cooperative with a focus on supplying medical cannabis oil to adults and children looking for holistic relief for serious health conditions, specializing in pediatric cancer. Since her infant daughter’s brain tumor diagnosis in June of 2013, Tracy has dedicated a huge part of her life to educating herself on the medicinal powers of medical marijuana in treating her own daughter’s disease, as well as all other pediatric and adult cancers, epilepsy, autism, and beyond. Tracy has worked on a global scale with families who are seeking education and treatment options for their loved ones, and has guided many patients to unheard of success. CannaKids is now on a trajectory to be one of the world’s leaders for cannabinoid therapies based on scientific research and is in collaboration with some of the top researchers, doctors and hospitals in the world. With a true passion for clinical research Tracy has partnered with, and is on the Advisory Board of, CURE Pharmaceutical, (OTCQB:CURR), (“CURE”), a leading disruptive drug delivery technology and pharmaceutical cannabinoid molecule development company, and the Technion Institute in Israel who is leading the way in cannabis research for cancer. CannaKids has been sharing their meticulously tracked patient data with Technion in order to help further assist in their research. Furthermore, CannaKids & CURE are funding the next four years of this research where both pediatric and adult cancers will be studied for cannabinoid sensitivity. In addition to the research in Israel, CannaKids is in the planning phase with a major hospital in California and is expected to start in-hospital clinical trials on pediatric patients in the next year. As a public speaker, Tracy can be found speaking at medical cannabis and pediatric cancer events all over the world in her quest to educate the mass public on the power of this incredible plant. Tracy and her family have been featured in many national and international news pieces including National Geographic, Vice News, Entertainment Tonight, Fox Business, The Huffington Post, CNN, Telemundo, and many more. They are also the key focus of the Ricki Lake and Abby Epstein documentary, “Weed The People”, set to release this year. |
