Elevate Your Grind

As the Founder/CEO of Minorities for Medical Marijuana, Inc., Roz McCarthy was named High Times 100 Most Influential People in the Cannabis Industry 2018. She is responsible for the day to day operation and is the chief strategist involved in developing advocacy, education, and marketing campaigns to promote awareness, information, and education about the efficacy of medical marijuana. It is a varied role that includes planning, marketing, advertising, public relations, event organization, fund development, sponsorship, and research. The work is often challenging and fast-paced.

Minorities for Medical Marijuana, Inc. (M4MM) is a 501c3 nonprofit organization focused on advocacy, education, and outreach as it relates to the social, medical, business, and public policy aspects of the cannabis industry. M4MM is a membership based organization working hard to make sure people of color have a true quantifiable opportunity to participate in this marketplace and are afforded adequate access to care despite their economic situation. M4MM currently has presence in 15 states throughout the country.

Mr. Schenk is a Canadian born entrepreneur and investor with a proven track record of success within the transportation technology sector. He has previously developed and sold two telematics companies; Telkar based in Canada and Elcon based in Europe. In 2010 Schenk joined XATA following the acquisition of Turnpike Global and Geologic. Mr. Schenk was tasked with merging three distinct businesses into a single entity and solution which once complete lead to the rebranding of the company to XRS (NASDAQ; XRSC).   XRS was sold to Omnitracs in 2014 for $178M. Schenk recognized the opportunity to shift many of the IoT (Internet of things) learnings such as data analytics, machine learning and predictive modeling to the Social and Content Marketing sector.

In 2017 Schenk entered the payments industry where he formed several new ventures including a freight factoring alternative, BNK which pays truck drivers based on achieving route defined milestones and IPTS a recreation & hospitality employee same day pay solution that enables employees to get paid daily vs waiting till payday.  Schenk holds several board seats in the rideshare, supply chain and mobile technology industries. Previously, he formed one of the largest networks of professional truck drivers, ONE20 which was sold in mid 2017.  ONE20 offered routing, navigation and social intelligence to its more than 700,000 members and monetized by selling content and advertising based on personal personas, relevance and location.

Big Pete devoted himself to creating consistent, wonderful edibles that harness the healing power of cannabis-infused butter. After 6 years surfing and enjoying the good vibes in Hawaii, Pete returned to Santa Cruz to start his business in 2009, focused on helping people with medical cannabis.

As the legalization movement swept through the West, Big Pete realized he couldn’t handle everything on his own, so his son Pete Jr.and daughter Katie learned how to navigate the uncharted waters of a newly legal, quickly evolving industry. Big Pete’s Treats have entered contests and won awards, earning shelf space in over 100 California dispensaries. Most importantly, positive testimonials from patients affirm that Big Pete’s Treats have helped people in countless ways.

Craig and Marc Wasserman, a.k.a the Pot Brothers at Law, California's Award Winning Marijuana Business and Criminal Defense Lawyers, serving Southern California. For over 30 years, The WassLaw Firm, has represented countless Marijuana Business clients from dispensaries, patient cooperatives, marijuana delivery services, cultivation, marijuana manufacturing, and criminal defense for marijuana related crimes here in the State of California.

One thing Marijuana Lawyers, Craig and Marc Wasserman have observed over many years is, what it takes to be a success in the Marijuana Industry, for Entrepreneurs looking to start a Marijuana Business, from Investors, Funding, Cannabis Real Estate, State Licensing, Local Permits, Regulatory Compliance and Medical Marijuana Licensing for Medical Patients. As California Marijuana Attorneys we continue to fight for patient's rights with Medical and Adult Use of Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act (MAUCRSA) being the latest for California's Cannabis Laws in 2019.

The Wasserman Brothers are one of the most recognized Marijuana Law firms, and just recently received CCA's Lawyer of the Year. Being a full service law firm, Pot Brothers at Law offers a wide range of cannabis legal services, from consulting to representation for medical marijuana use, recreational use, along with the formation and regulatory compliance for marijuana business ventures not just in Los Angeles or Orange Counties, but consulting and representation services throughout California, for State Marijuana Licensing, Local Permits, as well as providing tips and cannabis business advice to anyone in need.

Derek Thomas is vice president of Business Development at Veritas Farms, Inc (OTCQB: VFRM). Veritas Farms is a publicly traded company headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. It focuses on producing superior quality full-spectrum hemp oils and extracts made on its farm in Pueblo, Colorado. Thomas’ duties include developing and executing the company’s sales and marketing plans, advancing new product development, establishing strategic partnerships and acting as the corporate spokesperson.

Before joining Veritas Farms, Thomas consulted for numerous cannabis firms including Technical420, Blue Moon Advisors, Hemp Inc., and Stonebridge Partners. His work spanned many verticals within cannabis including textiles, bioplastics, fundraising, agriculture, manufacturing, decortication, and sales and marketing. Prior to consulting, Thomas co-founded and acted as chief operating officer of Hemp Blue ― a premium hemp-based apparel company that focused on utilizing American grown hemp.

Prior to his transition into the cannabis sector, Thomas held numerous middle- and upper-management positions with prestigious hospitality operators for over a decade. These positions included general manager of Hyde Beach at the SLS Hotel on Miami Beach, director of Nightlife Operations for the Thompson Hotel Miami Beach, and director of International Business Development for Life In Color, one of the largest touring electronic music festivals in the world. In these capacities, he led teams and initiatives focusing on sales, marketing, business development, operational management, and strategic partnerships in the U.S., Europe and Latin America.

Thomas is a Jupiter, Florida native and currently resides in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He is a graduate of Florida State University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature.

Liz has nearly two decades of experience helping companies in healthcare, and emerging tech including bitcoin and drones, navigating highly regulated markets. As Regional President of Florida, she leads all of the Company’s business development, marketing, and operations in Florida. Before being named Regional President of Florida, Liz was the Company's Director of Operations in California.

Liz has been working in cannabis since 2013 helping domestic and international companies with licensing and government affairs, operations and B2B strategies. Her clients included cannabis technology firms Eaze, Lifted, and Wayv and cultivation and manufacturing MSOs in California, New York and Canada. Prior to joining Parallel she served on the board of Golden State Sciences and continues to serve on the board of Tikkun Rising.

Morgan Paxhia is a co-founder and Managing Partner of Poseidon, one of the longest running funds in the cannabis industry.  

With over ten years experience in investing and finance, Morgan has developed a deep understanding of individual company analysis, portfolio construction, and risk mitigation. Since 2012, he has dedicated his investment focus primarily to the cannabis industry. Given the limited amount of information in this emerging vertical, the lack of institutional research, and relative industry immaturity, Morgan embraces an active approach of working closely with companies. He utilizes a “boots on the ground” methodology to better understand individual companies and the industry. Through his extensive travel across the US and Canada, reviewing hundreds of business plans and overseeing several existing cannabis investments, Morgan has developed Poseidon’s investment methodology tailored specific to the business of cannabis. Poseidon’s proprietary process is driven by the time spent in the industry and the considerable data collected over the last several years. He has created frameworks for analysis depending on sub-sector, company stage, and participation across the capital spectrum through our database of contacts, valuations, metrics, and other relevant factors.

Morgan started his investment career at UBS Financial Services working in a Wealth Management/Investment Banking hybrid training program. The training brought a wide range of first hand experience working through several facets of the organization, including advisory teams managing assets for high net worth individuals and municipal bonds trading. Following UBS, Morgan transitioned to a Providence-based Registered Investment Advisor as an Investment Consultant. During that time, he worked under the partners of the firm doing fundamental portfolio management.

Morgan graduated from the University of Rhode Island with a B.S. in Applied Mathematics in 2005.

Jeffrey Harris is Founder and CEO of springbig, a customer loyalty platform for the cannabis industry. springbig uses SMS, loyalty marketing, and other tools to encourage repeat business for cannabis retailers. Prior to spingbig, Harris founded a loyalty marketing company (Inte Q) which focused on developing and managing data driven programs for large retail and financial services firms.

Keegan Peterson is Founder and CEO of Würk, the leading human capital management company for the cannabis industry. Keegan founded Wurk in 2015 after recognizing that cannabis businesses didn’t have access to the same scalable HR technology solutions as mainstream companies.  Cannabis companies were repeatedly being dropped by workforce management vendors and Keegan saw the opportunity to build an HR and Payroll platform specifically to serve the rapidly growing cannabis industry. Under his leadership, Wurk now serves hundreds of clients across 33 states, including some of the largest publicly traded cannabis corporations in the nation. Würk now pays one in ten employees in the cannabis industry. 

Prior to founding Wurk, Keegan spent over a decade working for high-growth HR technology companies, developing a deep understanding of how to build and scale software solutions that automate critical HR functions of business operations.  

Keegan is active in lifting up other entrepreneurs in the cannabis space. He is a mentor at Canopy Boulder and Canopy San Diego, a mentorship-driven, early-stage investment program for startups in the cannabis industry, with a focus on ancillary products and services. Keegan is an outspoken public advocate and thought leader for the cannabis industry and is associate producer on the 2018 documentary Weed The People, which aims to educate mainstream audiences about medical cannabis as a human rights issue.

A true entrepreneur first, Case also carries a formal business education mixed with extensive industry experience.  Case obtained a MBA from Humboldt State University, holds a B.S. from California Polytechnic University in San Luis Obispo, and resides in Humboldt county – a mecca for the marijuana movement.  In the time between undergraduate and graduate studies he worked in all levels of the Cannabis supply chain, gaining expertise in extraction technologies, product manufacturing, licensing, regulation, and taking companies into uncharted waters. Just recently Case won Entrepreneur of the year at the Hemp Business Awards and he has become a leading expert in cannabinoids and CPG products. 

Case’s main project, “Cannadips” was co-founded with childhood friend Cliff Sammet, and its truly revolutionary flagship product won 2018 Product of the Year at the California Cannabis Awards as well as 2019 Next Generation Product of the Year at the Tobacco Business Awards. Case has led Cannadips through a host of issues dealing with regulations, production, licensing, and logistics. He is now schooled in traditional CPG products and landscape and has transitioned Cannadips from a CBD product to a tobacco and nicotine free dip alterative.  Cannadips sits in over 5000 stores nationally and plans to be in over 20,000 by end of 2021.  Case is also the co-founder of ArcataX inc, which is the first licensed volatile extraction lab in Humboldt County and manufactures for over 40 brands in the California cannabis market.