Carmen Brace is an emerging trends expert with vast experience at the intersection of cannabis, wellness, and the consumer-packaged goods industry. She identified cannabis as a disruptor to consumer health and wellness behavior in 2016 and founded Aclara Research – a consulting firm serving clients across cannabis and consumer packaged goods.

Her futurist mindset and pioneer work ethic led to the first industry studies on cannabis, CBD, and wellness in 2017, identifying CBD as an emerging trend and functional food ingredient. She developed a survey panel of cannabis and CBD consumers and is a consultant to consumer packaged goods, cannabis, and data companies seeking to understand emerging wellness trends.

She is a member of the Illinois Governor’s Committee on Cannabis and Health, serves on the board of directors for Chicago NORML, is an expert witness for the Illinois legislature, and is a featured speaker across many of the industry’s top conferences.