Thinking Outside The Bud

Kieve Huffman, CEO, Founder, Engager Brands

Kieve is a successful entrepreneur and innovation executive with a proven track record of success in cannabis, music, digital marketing and media technology. He has founded five companies and created new divisions within larger organizations five times. He has been a founder at three cannabis companies that have raised over $25 million. He grew the digital business at BMG from sub $1mm to over $125mm in revenues.

His current company, Engager Brands, is a portfolio of cannabis lifestyle brands that focus on serving audiences that have been under-marketed to but over-index in consumption for cannabis. Having worked on over 60 cannabis brand projects at his previous company, PRØHBTD Media, he brings a wealth of insight into what brands are built for global success.

www.engagerbrands.com

www.linkedin.com/company/engager-brands

www.theheavygrass.com

IG: heavygrassofficial

m.facebook.com/heavygrassofficial/

www.industrialstrengthcannabis.com

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Riaan du Plooy, CEO & Partner, Cannsult, Inc

Riaan du Plooy is a Chemical Engineer-turned-Business Improvement Executive who is passionate about creating big value for people and organizations. As the CEO of Cannsult, Inc., Riaan does more than wrangle the strategic direction and execution of his own business. He partners with organizations worldwide to confront massive changes and challenges to deliver large-scale benefits such as increased growth, capacity, revenue, profitability, scalability, employee engagement and customer satisfaction.

With 20+ years of experience as a hands-on practitioner of business improvement, Riaan, as featured in the Top 50 Australian Professionals Magazine, has rolled up his sleeves and isn't scared to get his hands dirty at every organizational level from the front line to the board room. With experience in Consumer Goods, Pharmaceuticals, Healthcare and in the largest breweries in the world, Riaan was ready and able to enter the Cannabis industry as it crawled out of the shadows of the black market and emerged into a legitimate multi-billion dollar industry.

Riaan and his team stepped in to support organizations to build an infrastructure that could thrive amidst the constant changes of an emerging industry, the onslaught of regulatory and statutory changes, the massive leaps in growth and the hyperactivity with Mergers and Acquisitions. Riaan has worked with Cannabis functions such as Sales & Marketing, Packaging, Distribution, Legal, Finance & Accounting, IT, Human Resources, Branding and Design, Warehouse Management and Strategic Alliances.

https://www.cannsult.org

https://cannsult-online-training.thinkific.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/riaanduplooy

https://www.thetop100magazine.com/riaan-du-plooy

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Justin Robinson, Founder, Lantern

Justin Robinson is the founder of Lantern, among the leading on-demand cannabis ecommerce and delivery platforms in the U.S., and a co-founder of Drizly, the largest ecommerce alcohol marketplace in North America.

Lantern brings transparency, safety, and convenient access to cannabis by connecting recreational cannabis consumers and patients to its network of local, licensed dispensaries and third-party delivery partners through an intuitive digital shopping experience. The platform is powered by Drizly, leader in regulated marketplace technologies, marketing, and operational expertise to support best-in-class consumer and retailer experiences.

Prior to Lantern, Justin co-founded Drizly in 2013 and most recently served as SVP of New Business. Under his leadership, Drizly’s network grew to 2,200+ retailer partners who reach consumers of legal drinking age in 235+ markets across North America. The company is backed by world-class institutional investors and has raised over $119 million to date, most recently closing its $50M Series C round in August 2020 following 350% YoY growth. He was recognized in the prestigious Forbes “30 Under 30” List in 2015.

Justin holds a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Boston College. He currently lives in Boston.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/justin-robinson-3b059614/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lanterncannabis/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/LanternCannabis/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lanterncannabis/

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Nohtal Partansky, CEO, Sorting Robotics

Nohtal Partansky is the CEO of Sorting Robotics, a Y Combinator backed startup based in Los Angeles, CA. Nohtal started his professional career working at NASA-JPL building the MOXIE Instrument; a device that is currently producing oxygen on the surface of Mars. After completing the MOXIE project at NASA, Nohtal had a desire to start his own robotics company so in 2018 he left JPL and started Sorting Robotics. Sorting Robotics initially built inventory management robotics for e-commerce companies, but wanting to grow bigger Nohtal applied and was accepted into Y Combinator. After getting into YC, Sorting Robotics targeted the cannabis automation market and started building robots for cannabis manufacturers. In 2020, after seeing a need in the market for contract packaging, Nohtal started Rise Co-Packing a cannabis co-packing company based in Oakland, CA. Now, Nohtal is focused on building out the automation infrastructure in the cannabis sector to bring the industry into the 21st century with ramp up to national legalization.

https://www.instagram.com/jikojoints/

https://www.jikojoints.com/

https://www.sortingrobotics.com/

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Quinn Shiskin, Director of Products & Innovation, The Valens Company

Quinn Shiskin is a talented technician who has transformed his skills as a dual ticketed Red Seal tradesman into becoming a creative and knowledgeable Director of Products & Innovation at The Valens Company. In his current role, he serves as the strategic link between the commercial business team (business development, sales, marketing and products) and the operational team (extraction, purification, isolation and value add manufacturing), connecting business plans with plant operations/execution, R&D, and Quality/RA to ensure successful execution of innovation, productivity, capacity and capital expenditures to deliver against revenue and margin targets.

Prior to joining Valens, Mr. Shiskin founded Red Rain Welding; an industrial construction company, which for twelve years was involved in some of the world’s largest projects in oil and gas mining, construction of high-rise buildings, laying of pipelines, and commercial developments. During these years Mr. Shiskin used his spare time to study every aspect of the cannabis industry, familiarizing himself with processing cannabis from seed to oil. He focused on cannabinoid extraction and purification by taking courses with some of the top cannabis alchemists in the U.S.

Mr. Shiskin was instrumental in developing Valens’ award-winning extraction platform from the ground up by designing and implementing commercial production practices in the diverse offerings of CO2, ethanol, solventless, terpene and hydrocarbon extraction methods. The platforms developed at Valens are a global standard of commercial cannabis production, leading the way in innovation and new product offerings.

Quinn’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/qshisk/

Valens Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thevalenscompany/

Valens LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/thevalenscompany/

Valens Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thevalenscompany/

Valens Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheValensCo

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Kevin Greene, Vice President, Cleveland School of Cannabis

Kevin Greene is a father, mentor, compassionate community member and successful entrepreneur. He has been focused on the equitable development of community and business his entire professional career and continues to commit to having a social impact through economic growth and advancement of his communities. With ownership of two successful startups-Faces International Marketing and Development, and the Cleveland School of Cannabis- he has years of experience developing successful teams. As a VP for the Cleveland School of Cannabis, his role has been crucial in the growth of the student body, partnership development, and community engagement. Mr. Greene’s successes have led the way to a multiple city expansion of CSC and a robust student body serving students between the ages of 18 and 67. Understanding that relationships are vital when developing an ecosystem of prosperity has been his core value. As COO of Faces International he has lead strategies over the last decade with clients ranging from small businesses and city governments to non-profits of all sizes, he has been tasked with creating a culture of inclusion and participation to assist in Economic development and comprehensive initiatives. With the urge to make an impact on the youth, Kevin has Co-Founded R2C2 Inc, a youth development Non-Profit Organization that works to advance teens from disenfranchised populations. Continuing in the space of service he has furthered his impact by board participation with organizations such as the United Way, Valley Youth House, Lehigh Valley Chamber, and the Community Action Lehigh Valley. Mr. Greene continues to make it known that he is always willing to roll up his sleeves and do the grunt work in efforts to advance all facets of community and business.

https://csceducation.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-greene-48b5b7b7/

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Nicole Brown, Chief Innovation Officer, Open Book Extracts (OBX)

Nicole Brown serves as Chief Innovation Officer for Open Book Extracts (OBX), an ingredient manufacturer and product development house focused on cannabinoid-enabled health and wellness, located in North Carolina. As Chief Innovation Officer, Nicole channels data-driven consumer insights into a long-term course of action, delivering immediately usable innovation, and drives awareness and thought leadership by overseeing strategic marketing efforts, including PR, event marketing, advertising, and partnerships.

Prior to joining OBX, Nicole served as CMO for Citymaps -- a social mapping technology platform optimized for travelers -- culminating in the acquisition of Citymaps by TripAdvisor in 2016. After the acquisition, Nicole served as Senior Director of Global Business Development for TripAdvisor from 2016 to 2019. Previously, she held management roles at LVMH and Shiseido Cosmetics, focused on product development and commercialization in the beverage and beauty sectors, respectively. Nicole graduated from Harvard University with an honors degree in French Literature and a minor in Organic Chemistry.

https://openbookextracts.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/nbrown5/

[email protected]

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Matthew Mograbi, U.S. National Sales Manager, Eybna

Matthew Mograbi oversees U.S. operations for Eybna, a pioneering technology company and terpene manufacturer with US HQ offices in California and R&D centers in Israel and Colorado. With a forward-thinking Research & Development team, comprised of highly accomplished Ph.D. scientists and engineers, Eybna researches the therapeutic benefits of cannabis phytochemicals to advance the mission of enhancing the health of mankind. Eybna’s extensive proprietary database of cannabis phytochemicals, alongside partnerships with academia and leading industry professionals, allow the company to consistently integrate advanced research in the process of product development, transforming valuable scientific knowledge into easily applicable products that serve the needs and enhance the experiences of consumers worldwide.

https://www.linkedin.com/company/eybna/

https://www.eybna.com/

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Jose Escalante, CEO, Future Farms

Jose is a business executive working towards the promotion of health and wellness through the democratization of medical cannabis. His expertise includes strategy design, financial management and venture building. He enjoys generating new ideas that could create feasible solutions to current and relevant problems. His coworkers would say he's a resourceful and proactive professional, with a constant positive attitude.

[email protected]

https://futura-farms.com/

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Ashley Elsner, COO and Co-Founder, Artery Pay

Ashley, a thought leader in cannabis banking and payments, is an expert in fintech and financial law. She began her career on the financial regulatory team at Sidley Austin in NYC where she handled SEC and state regulatory compliance for public and private financial offerings and was instrumental to long term internal regulatory audits of an $800B+ global investment firm, saving the firm $40M+ in fines.

www.arterypay.com

https://www.nacb.com/

https://www.nacb.com/

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