For more than 20 years, Lewis has been working in strategic communications career in politics, he served as a full-time campaign staffer on the Clinton/Gore 1996 re election campaign and worked for then US senator Robert Torricelli (D-NJ) as his deputy press secretary. Lewis brings a “campaign” mentality to all his client engagement. After moving to private practice, Lewis has amassed vast experience running cannabis-specific programs for companies across the entire supply chain of the industry.

When not crying into his cereal about the Mets, Lewis can be found hanging with his family, cooking with his wife Melissa using fresh food from their garden and enjoying the occasional glass of wine.

Thinking Outside the Bud is a business podcast devoted to driving innovation in the cannabis space. During each episode, we speak with founders, investors, thought leaders, researchers, advocates, and policy makers who are finding new and exciting ways for cannabis to positively impact business, society, and culture. Have each episode delivered to your inbox by subscribing here: http://www.thinkingoutsidethebud.com/subscribe

A serial entrepreneur as far back as his days studying Psychology at West Virginia University, Russ founded Webbula, a data-centric technology company headquartered in California. In 2009, Cersosimo took an idea from concept to market, generating high-profile clientele including Google, Yahoo, T-Mobile, Neustar, and Epsilon. Webbula is now an international leader in the data industry.

Lisbeth began her career in cannabis as the Director of Communications for Mindful (Addison, IL) a medical cannabis dispensary in 2016. While navigating the industry she realized traditional marketing tactics would not work for a cannabis brand. She developed a system for marketing cannabis brands online and went on to launch Canna Marketing U: a marketing coaching and consulting business.

Dasheeda Dawson is The WeedHead™ - a global cannabis advocate, award-winning executive strategist and author. An industry thought leader featured across multiple outlets, including a historic Times Square billboard campaign, Entrepreneur.com, Huffington Post, Black Enterprise, and Essence Festival, Dasheeda is a corporate crossover pioneer spearheading the “rebranding” of cannabis as medicine for mainstream consumer market adoption. From Target to THC, she has over 15 years of business development, strategic management and brand marketing excellence while leading teams for United Way, Target Corporation, and Victoria’s Secret. Dasheeda received her MBA from Rutgers Business School and completed her undergraduate degree in Molecular Biology at Princeton University.