Joe Brezny
Joe has 25 years of operative political experience, beginning as a high school senior registering his classmates to vote and turning them out to the polls. He has been a manager or adviser on hundreds of campaigns, spending 22 of those years managing political operations for state parties, legislative caucuses, and candidates at the local, state and federal levels. Joe has spent the last three years as a nonpartisan political advisor to trade associations, developing and implementing strategies that organize their members and effectively engage in the political process.
Joe Hodas
With 20 years of experience in consumer marketing tactics and a cross-functional approach to brand leadership, Joe Hodas has a broad skill set across media relations, channel strategy, branding, marketing, advertising, social media, investor relations, crisis communications, events development and community relations. And one day he decided that it might be fun to put those skills to use in helping to build the future of cannabis with Dixie Elixirs and Edibles as Chief Marketing Officer (CMO). As CMO, in addition to fielding thousands of pot jokes and requests for volunteer “tasters,” he heads up an organization of professionals who are helping to define what adult-use marketing of marijuana can and should be. Before his adventures on the green side, Joe served as a partner and Executive Vice President of Channel Management at Vladimir Jones (VJ), one of the largest and oldest independently held advertising agencies in Colorado.
Prior to joining VJ, Joe served as VP, communications for private equity firm Consumer Capital Partners (CCP), where he oversaw communications for emerging brands like Smashburger, as well as established names like Quiznos. Joe honed his PR chops as senior director of corporate communications for Frontier Airlines.
Joe Rogoway
Joe Rogoway is the lead attorney and founder of Rogoway Law Group, A Professional Corporation. Throughout California, Joe has gained a reputation as a skilled trial attorney and trusted corporate counsel. Joe is also the co-founder of CAN PAC, the political action committee for the cannabis industry dedicated to pursuing the end of cannabis prohibition and the creation of a regulatory regime for adult cannabis use, production, and distribution. A lifelong California resident, Joe grew up in southern California prior to attending UC Santa Cruz and the University of San Francisco School of Law. He studied abroad at Paracelsus Gymnasium, Germany, Universteit Leiden, the Netherlands, Pazmany University, Hungary, and Charles University in Prague. Joe is currently attending the Stanford Center for Professional Development in order to obtain the Stanford Certificate in Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Joe is admitted to practice in California and Federal Courts where he has saved his clients from hundreds of years of possible incarceration.
Joe Rogoway has been featured in news outlets such as National Geographic Explorer, Culture Magazine, East Bay Express, the Press Democrat, Anderson Valley Advertiser, Kush Magazine, West Coast Leaf, and the Cal Bar Criminal Law Journal. Joe has also spoken at conferences organized by NORML, the Drug Policy Alliance, Cannabis Law Institute, the Mendocino Medical Marijuana Advisory Board, Sonoma Alliance for Medical Marijuana and at the West Coast Cannabis Expo.
John Decker
John Decker attended University of Maryland, where he became involved with the local SSDP and NORML chapters. After seven years of volunteering his time to drug policy reform, and twelve years in the restaurant business, John decided to combine his two talents, and work in the cannabis infused edible world. Currently John is the production manager of Mountain Medicines. John makes hand crafted confectionery delicacies on a daily basis, while ensuring proper kitchen and METRC guidelines are being followed.
John MacKay
John MacKay holds a Ph.D. from the University of Vermont in chemistry, focused on the synthesis for cancer-fighting molecules using a cyclic-phosphazene backbone.
MacKay joined Waters Technologies in July 1983 after teaching appointments at 3 colleges. His career has included roles in technical sales, product development, and management during the 80s, involved with mass spectrometry business development during the 90’s, and as the Senior Director of Business Development for the Americas from 2002 until recently heading up the Strategic Technology team.
Jonathan Valdman
Jonathan Valdman is an entrepreneur, farmer and educator of agricultural practices that are based in permaculture, sustainability and efficiency. He has been farming organically for over 20 years and has been legally growing cannabis since California’s medical marijuana law was passed in 1996. With knowledge of land design, growing indoors, outdoors and in greenhouses via soil and hydroponics he has acquired a well rounded level of experience within the many modalities of cannabis cultivation. In 2006 Jonathan founded Forever Flowering Greenhouses, FFG, in an effort to develop a commercial grade greenhouse company that could address the future needs of the medical Cannabis industry. Through the experience of growing in greenhouses and utilizing the technology of light deprivation he found the solution to an alternative to the high-energy consuming practices of the indoor gardening reality. Through years of hands-on experience and commitment to the highest quality products he and his staff have created the standard of the greenhouse light deprivation industry. Innovative solutions and products that were created over these years of trial and error can be seen within a vast majority of the cannabis industry today.
After years of working within Forever Flowering and growing the company into a place of success Jonathan has branched out to launch the Greening Corporate Cannabis, GCC, campaign. GCC is his response to the direction that the industrial and often corporate side of the Cannabis industry is heading. With a large number of licensed facilities being grown indoors under lights and being fed synthetic, salt-based nutrients he feels time is of the essence to educate both investors and cultivators of the benefits and increased profits that come naturally from a reduced carbon footprint operation. When the US Federal Government came down hard on the cannabis industry growers went indoors. Now that the laws are changing it is no longer necessary for cannabis to remain the only plant on the planet grown its entire life cycle under lights. There is a vast pool of knowledge these days when it comes to growing organically/biologically and in a method that is not destructive to the planet nor a company’s bottom line. GCC aims to collaborate like-minded companies, certifiers, and individuals to educate and consult about profiting from reduced carbon footprint growing and operating procedures.
Julianna Carella
Julianna Carella founded Auntie Dolores, The Every Day Edible in 2008, bringing 20+ years of culinary work with cannabis and entrepreneurship in the health space. Julianna is an avid proponent of health freedom, a visionary, and an activist in the MMJ community. As a health food enthusiast, Julianna began incorporating cannabinoids into her own diet and sharing the benefits with friends and family members who later encouraged her to turn her passion into a business. Today, Auntie Dolores healthy gourmet edibles and pet products are sold in over 150 dispensaries throughout California and the brand will launch in additional states in 2015.
Julie Dooley
Julie Dooley, president of Julie’s Natural Edibles and a Celiac patient, wanted to create a premium product that gluten-sensitive adults could freely enjoy. For over 5 years now, with an amazing team and plenty of research, they specialize in cannabutter extraction which is then baked into a product line that consists of strain specific, gluten free, and refined sugar free edibles. Julie’s Natural Edibles is committed to the highest level of ingredients and manufacturing standards in order to provide consumers with the healthiest, most effective edible in the Colorado marketplace.
Kara Bradford
Kara Bradford is Co-Founder and Chief Talent Officer of Viridian Staffing. She has been an HR professional, specializing in talent acquisition, workforce planning, employer branding, compliance, and organizational design for over 14 years. Her career has spanned multiple Fortune 100 companies in a wide variety of industries. Kara has an MBA in Human Resources & Organizational Behavior and is PRC, CIR, and CSSR Certified. She also sits on the Board of a Global Recruiting organization. Kara has spoken and is slated to speak at several National conferences this year in both the Cannabis and HR industries.
Karl Keich
Karl Keich is the Executive Director of Seattle-based Canna Consulting Group and owner of the Seattle Medical Marijuana Association. He has positioned himself as one of the most trusted cannabis industry experts out there having formed relationships with the industry’s top processors and producers, and continuously striving to carry the highest quality medical marijuana for his customers. Karl knows a quality product when he sees it, with a keen insight to the characteristics that distinguish the exceptional. The Seattle Medical Marijuana Association has established a reputation as one of the industry’s ‘Top Shelf Dispensaries’ in the State of Washington according to reviews from customers on sites such as Weed Maps, Leafly, and Yelp.
Karl understands the challenges in this industry and launched Canna Consulting Group to fill the knowledge gap in the industry between investors with money but little know-how when it comes to cannabis, and pot connoisseurs who need funding and guidance to set up successful business operations. With the industry still in its infancy and running on a rulebook that is not set in stone, Karl and the Canna Consulting Group are some of the rare few who have a bird’s eye view of where the industry is going and how investors and entrepreneurs can get ahead of the curve. Karl’s unsurpassed knowledge serves to help bypass and work through complications that arise, no matter the issue.
Karl attributes his success to “refining best practices and having ethics in this industry.” He continued, “not everyone is reliable or qualified to advise on an industrial scale. It’s a matter of managing processes, understanding margins, and looking at analytics, and getting results! There’s a lot more to consulting than being a cannabis expert. Success in this industry involves knowledge of zoning, policy, planning, licensing, architecture, HVAC, security, project build out, acquiring the appropriate genetics, production management, best practices for processing, inventory management, packaging, marketing, and point of sale integrations.” Karl’s knowledge of the cannabis industry comes with years of experience that can only be acquired by hands on collaborations within the cannabis industry. Karl’s feel for the pace of innovation in the industry is second to none, personally helping industry leaders develop and refine their products on an industrial scale.
Karl said he is thankful for the State of Washington and the City of Seattle for “getting it” and moving policies forward to regulate the industry. “We see the future, see the long term, and see the benefits of being involved in our communities. Marijuana is changing America. It is providing jobs, it is providing an alternative healthcare option that wasn’t available before, and it is generating huge tax revenues. It’s a win-win-win-win-win situation.” Still, the country as a whole still has a long road to travel before ending prohibition. Participating in paving that road, Karl said, has been one of the best parts of his job. “It’s about more than making money, it’s about being part of a nation-wide movement toward positive change. I’ve never worked so hard and done so many cool things and helped so many people. It is so rewarding.”
Kayvan Khalatbari
Kayvan Khalatbari holds a degree in Architectural Engineering and worked as an electrical systems designer with a Denver firm for 5 years while volunteering for Sensible Colorado and SAFER, where he was introduced to the medical marijuana community and its devoted base of patients and caregivers.
Through those friendships that were formed Kayvan realized the wonderful benefits that medical marijuana provides for patients and the support system those caregivers make available. It is also through these relationships that he met future partners in his local small businesses, Denver Relief, Denver Relief Consulting and Sexy Pizza. Kayvan currently acts as Operations Manager for Denver Relief and Principal for Denver Relief Consulting. Denver Relief is a Founding & Sustaining Member of NCIA and Kayvan’s business partner is Vice Chair of the NCIA Board.
Keith Roberts
Keith Roberts has always been an unorthodox thinker. Keith started Zenman out of his living room in 1998 as a way to drive more business as a photographer, having graduated from the Brooks Institute of Photography three years prior. Keith’s approach to both photography and design directly reflect his personal “Zen” philosophy: treat your clients as you would want to be treated and success will follow.
Ken Sobel
Ken Sobel is the President and CEO of the Green Halo, LLC, which owns and operates the Green Halo Dispensary in Tucson, Arizona; established the Heavenly Harvest, Arizona’s only approved cannabis infusion kitchen; and is a principal officer or consultant in several other dispensaries scheduled to open later this year. An attorney who has practiced for 32 years in California and Arizona, Ken was the first person to take and pass two bar exams in the same week on his first try. He serves as First Vice President of the Arizona Wellness Chamber of Commerce, the primary trade organization for medical cannabis in Arizona, and co-founded an organization of dispensary owners dedicated to strengthening the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act (“AMMA”). Green Halo was the first Southern Arizona business to join NCIA. The Green Halo is a Member of NCIA.
Kerrie Badertscher
Kerrie Badertscher’s life long association with plants and plant production made working with cannabis an easy and natural decision. For over 4 ½ years, Kerrie Badertscher and her husband, Kurt, owners of Otoké Horticulture, specialize in all aspects of Cannabis Production. Otoké Horticulture is proud to have published recently: Cannabis for Capitalists. As an American Society for Horticultural Science Certified Professional Horticulturist, she is the first professionally recognized horticulturist to delve into the Cannabis and hemp industries. After owning a small commercial flower farm and greenhouse for many years, Kerrie earned both a BS and MS in horticulture from Colorado State University. She was an Extension Specialist / Adjunct or Asst. professor to Colorado State University (Horticulture,) University of Colorado (architecture and engineering) along with University of Nevada, Reno. Kerrie started working on sustainability issues pertaining to horticulture in the early 1980’s before sustainable became trendy. Her last fellowship examined the use of plant materials (including hemp) for co-generation of heat and electricity along with the production of bio-char.
Kevin Fisher
Kevin currently owns and operates Rocky Mountain Remedies, a type 3 medical and retails-sales marijuana center and infused products manufacturer based in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. He is the Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer of New England Treatment Access (NETA), a non-profit corporation that will dispense medical marijuana in the towns of Northampton and Brookline, Massachusetts. He also serves as board chair of the Marijuana Industry Group, a non-profit trade association based in Denver, Colorado.
When Kevin finds the rare hour where he is not talking about, provisioning, or cultivating cannabis, he can be found enjoying the great Colorado outdoors in his kayak, or twisting the throttle on his dirt bike or snowmobile.
Kevin Frender
Kevin Frender has been growing indoors under artificial lights for over 24 years, using every commercially available lighting technology along the way. Over two years ago while continuing his quest for the perfect indoor grow light, Kevin found Black Dog LED and tested their lights. Within a few weeks the results were so obvious he changed out the rest of his lights for Black Dog LED grow lights and a few months later quit his full time job to join Black Dog LED.
Kevin’s extensive experience growing under artificial light, his vast knowledge of plants, and his penchant for science has driven R&D at Black Dog LED to new heights. He is the primary point of contact for science related projects such as CU researchers using BDL grow lights in Cannabis research.
Khadijah Adams
Khadijah Adams is the founder and senior managing partner of Marijuana Investment & Private Retreat™ (MIPR), a limited liability corporation that bridges the gap between the cannabis industry and the public by sharing strategic ways of investing in the cannabis industry. She is originally from Sugar Land, Texas. An entrepreneur since 1997, Khadijah previously owned and operated a successful nationwide signing agency for over 10 years and went on to own a successful chain of computers stores in Houston, Texas. Khadijah attended Barry University in Miami, FL (Law/English/Theology). She is a presidential board member of the National Cannabis Chamber of Commerce. Khadijah is a business member of MJBA, NCIA, Cannabis Consumers Coalition, Norml, MPP and has participated with Women Grow as a sponsor of local events. She is also an affiliate of Cashinbis and Marketfy.
Khurshid Khoja
Khurshid Khoja is Principal of Greenbridge Corporate Counsel, a business law firm founded in 2012 to represent legal cannabis businesses on regulatory and transactional matters. He’s participated in legislative and initiative drafting, stakeholder meetings, executive agency outreach and rulemaking proceedings in connection with California’s cannabis laws and regulations, including Proposition 64 and the Medicinal and Adult Use Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act (MAUCRSA), a well as the Minority Cannabis Business Association’s Model Municipal Social Equity Ordinance.
Khurshid currently serves as Chair Emeritus of the Board of Directors of the National Cannabis Industry Association and Co-Chair of Policy, and on the Board of the Minority Cannabis Business Association, where he serves as the Co-chair of the Policy Committee and co-author of its Model Municipal Social Equity Ordinance. He has previously served on State Treasurer John Chiang’s Cannabis Banking Working Group as a representative of the industry, as a Founding Board member and General Counsel of the California Cannabis Industry Association, as a co-founder and General Counsel to the Emerald Growers Association (now the California Growers Association), and the Arcview Investor Network.
Among other honors, Khurshid was profiled in The National Law Journal’s first ever Cannabis Law Trailblazers’ list, was featured in The Hemp Connoisseur magazine’s “100 People You Should Know” issue, and was elected a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation. His work in California has been profiled in multiple editions of the Arcview Market Research report, and his earliest days in California’s pre-regulated industry as the General Counsel of MendoGrown (later the Emerald Growers Association) are chronicled in Doug Fine’s book Too High To Fail.
Kimberly Cargile
Kimberly Cargile has been dedicated to advancing the medical cannabis industry in California for almost 15 years now, as an advocate and educator. With 14 years’ experience operating dispensaries and 20 years cultivating cannabis, Kimberly has gained invaluable industry knowledge. As the C.E.O. of A Therapeutic Alternative, a locally permitted and State licensed storefront dispensary in Sacramento, Kimberly is proud of the fact that various government officials have commended her on her model operation. Over the last few years, Kimberly has mentored and partnered with many of her employees founding 9 more cannabis businesses including 6 more dispensaries, 2 cultivation sites and a manufacturing company, all without any corporate funding.
In 2006, when she graduated Humboldt State University as a Presidential Scholar with a degree in Liberal Studies with a minor in Psychology and a focus on Social Justice, she moved to Sacramento and began her advocacy for patients to City Councils, Board of Supervisors, and the State Legislature. She has been an educator to local and State governments advocating for regulations that protect consumers, the industry, the environment, and the public alike.
Kimberly provides fully transparent tours of A Therapeutic Alternative on a regular basis to government officials in order to educate them on the operations of the cannabis industry. She has provided numerous tours to Senators, Assembly Members, The Bureau of Cannabis Control, The Department of Public Health, The Department of Food and Agriculture, The California Department of Fee and Tax Administration, The Franchise Tax Board, The California Highway Patrol, The Department of Motor Vehicles, the California Association of Cities and Counties, The Rural Counties Association, Chiefs of Police Association, City and County officials from throughout California, Neighborhood Associations, Doctors and College Professors.
A Therapeutic Alternative has been a member of the National Cannabis Industry Association since Kimberly became the E.D. in 2013 and is the longest-standing member of the California Cannabis Industry Association, joining on day one. She speaks regularly at colleges, hospitals, and for various organizations in efforts to spread education of cannabis as medicine. Kimberly is respected for her knowledge, ethics, and compassion.
Kris Krane
Kris Krane serves as a Principal and Managing Partner at 4Front Advisors, the nation’s premier medical marijuana dispensary consulting firm that is dedicated to ensuring the highest standards of operations in the industry, and president of 4Front Ventures, a holding company dedicated to professionalizing the cannabis industry. Since forming 4Front Advisors, the company has experienced unparalleled success in helping clients navigate the complex regulatory process necessary to obtain medical cannabis business permits in state regulated markets. Under Mr. Krane’s leadership, the company has developed the most professional best practice operating standards for retail dispensaries, largely based on professional standards from the retail, hospitality, and medical cannabis industries.
Prior to forming 4Front, Kris served as Director of Client Services for CannBe, where he helped develop many of the best practices that have become the backbone of 4Front Advisors’ operations. Kris got his training in the medical cannabis industry at Harborside Health Center in Oakland, CA, the largest medical cannabis dispensary in the country, which also serves as a training grounds for 4Front Advisors’ clients.
Kris has dedicated his career to reforming the nation’s failed and misguided drug policies, having served as associate director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws from 2000-2005 and executive director of Students for Sensible Drug Policy from 2006-2009. At NORML, Kris was responsible for tracking marijuana legislation in all 50 states and coordinating grassroots networks to support the organization’s reform efforts. As the organization’s chapter coordinator, Kris helped increase the number of NORML chapters to over 120 nationwide.
During his tenure at SSDP the organization experienced rapid growth at the chapter, national and international levels, increasing from chapters on 40 college campuses in 2006 to over 200 when Kris left the organization in 2009. During this time the organization led a successful campaign to convince members of Congress to scale back the HEA Aid Elimination Penalty, the law that automatically denies federal financial aid to students with drug convictions, removing the penalty’s retroactivity and restoring aid to tens of thousands of students. Kris has personally appeared on television news programs including Fox News Weekend Live and Today in New York, and has been featured on National Public Radio, Court TV Radio, Wisconsin Public Radio, The WWRL Morning Show with Armstrong Williams, and dozens of local radio shows nationwide.
Kris currently serves on the Board of Trustees for Students for Sensible Drug Policy and the Board of Directors of the National Cannabis Industry Association, Marijuana Majority, and Common Sense for Drug Policy. He also served as Associate Editor of the 2011, 2013, and 2015 editions of the Arcview Market Research Report, the most comprehensive report on the size and scope of the legal marijuana.
Kris Lotlikar
Kris Lotlikar has been the lead researcher on all three Arcview Market Research reports. He hires and leads a team of experienced researchers to compile the market data and develop the market size estimates and projections. Kris is also the creator and host of the popular business and politics podcast, Marijuana Today. Kris has over a decade of experience following marijuana policy and reforms since co-founding and serving as the first executive director of Students for Sensible Drug Policy in 1998. Since then Kris has been a successful entrepreneur and consultant.
Kris is founder and President of Renewable Choice Energy, one of the leading renewable energy providers in the country with over 50 Fortune 500 clients. He brings years of experience operating in newly emerging and fast growing markets in the U.S. and is a prominent proponent of sustainable and mission-driven businesses.
Kristin Nevedal
Kristin Nevedal is a longtime Humboldt County resident and homesteader who has spent over 15 years specializing in organic no-till farming techniques, non-toxic disease and pest management, agricultural compliance, and nursery operations. As chair of the American Herbal Product Association (AHPA) Cannabis Committee’s Cultivation Working Group, Kristin assisted in the development of cannabis cultivation model regulations and best practices for agency consideration. She is also co-founder and board chair of the Emerald Growers Association whose mission is to promote the medicinal, environmental, social, and economic benefits of lawfully cultivated sun-grown medical cannabis from California’s Emerald Triangle region by advocating for public policies that foster a healthy, sustainable medical cannabis industry.
Kurt Badertscher
Kurt Badertscher is co-founder of Otoké Horticulture and co-author of Cannabis for Cannabis. An engineer by training and longtime corporate trouble shooter by experience, Kurt’s main focus is on applying the lessons of plant science to the problems of Cannabis cultivation and has an almost full time job keeping abreast of regulations that affect cultivators.
Kurt Parbst
Kurt Parbst is currently Director of Business Development for Agam Greenhouse USA a division of Envirotech Greenhouse Solutions. He served as President of Ludvig Svensson, Inc., the Svensson subsidiary for the Americas for over 12 years. Kurt regularly writes articles for industry press about the importance that the growing environment has on greenhouse crop production.
Kurt has an MS in Biological and Agricultural Engineering from NC State University. He is a member of and active in the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers and the National Greenhouse Manufacturers Association.
Kyle Kushman
Kyle Kushman is an internationally renowned marijuana cultivator with 12 Medical Cannabis Cups medals to his credit. He currently holds three US Cannabis Cups for Best Flowers. All awards were won using Kushman’s Vegamatrix. which was awarded the coveted STASH Award by High Times Magazine in 2014 as the best new nutrient on the market.
Kushman’s articles have been featured in High Times Magazine for almost 20 years. He has taught courses in advanced horticulture at Oaksterdam University and across the country. As creator of Vegamatrix™, a new line of vegan and organic nutrients launched in 2014, Kyle continues to make advances in cultivating “simply the purest, cleanest medicine possible.”
Additional projects include Kushman Veganix and Kushman Genetics formed by the triumvirate of Kushman, Wadleigh, and Justis where award winning flowers and genetics will be available on a national scale in the future.
Kyle Kushman is a 28 year veteran of Organic Cannabis Cultivation. After working the Q&A section of their new website for several years, Kyle was hired as a staff journalist and cultivation expert for High Times magazine. In 2004 Kyle left New York and his job at High Times to go back to cultivating and experimenting with organic growing. California provided a legal atmosphere to grow.
Kyle has studied and used almost every nutrient, gadget and piece of equipment on the market today. He continues to contribute as a freelancer on a regular basis to many national and international publications. Kyle started Karma Consulting in 2006; a consulting service for Proposition 215 medicinal cannabis gardens.
In 2009 he began teaching advanced horticulture classes at Oaksterdam University in Oakland, California. Later that year, Kyle began cultivating with his own formulation of Veganics. He taught Earth-Friendly Cannaculture classes using organics and Veganics at both Oaksterdam University and Peace In Medicine in SebastopolA twelve page article about Kushman Veganics is featured in the Jan. 2011 issue of High Times; coincidentally it was High Times’ 420th issue ever! Since then, there have been numerous articles published nationally about Kyle and his innovative techniques including the LA Times, Chicago Tribune and the New York Times.
Kyle blogs regularly on KyleKushman.com where growers can discuss all aspects of cultivation. In addition, Kyle has been working on a book and DVD on the subject of earth-friendly Veganics. He has several other projects in the works and you can expect to see Kyle’s products and techniques all over the world. Kyle has dedicated his life to understanding cannabis cultivation and to help normalize its use.
Kyle Rooney
Kyle Rooney has been consulting and growing under Washington State’s MMJ system for the last 7 years. He is a co-founder at Iunu, a Seattle based company, developing full-spectrum lighting and control systems. Kyle helps growers leverage technology to improve efficiency and consistency. He first practiced hydroponics in Holland and continues to mix Dutch and West Coast methodologies today.
Lance Ott
Lance Ott is a 14-year veteran of the electronic payment processing industry. His core competency and expertise covers every aspect of merchant services, including credit and debit card processing, PCI security, fraud and chargeback management, technology implementation, and payment consulting. Lance has broad knowledge of the industry and has continuously demonstrated mastery not only of sales, but also pricing and interchange; business process, operations and workflow; products and solutions; risk; and regulatory, compliance and security matters.
Lance is the former Vice President of National Bank of California Merchant Services and currently operates as CEO of Guardian Data Systems, Inc. Guardian was created specifically to provide secure, reliable, and transparent financial services for our cannabis community. Lance is a cancer survivor and fierce advocate of alternative medicine, including medicinal cannabis. Lance firmly believes that safe access to medical cannabis must be provided as medicine for any patient in need.
Lance has demonstrated the courage of his convictions by fashioning a network infrastructure of medical cannabis-friendly banks, institutions, processors, and software/hardware developers to provide the medical cannabis dispensing collective with a safe, legitimate venue for all commerce-related and logistical challenges they may encounter. Lance has taken it upon himself to offer preeminent expertise for a unique and complex business model. Lance believes that proper regulation coupled with technology will bring credibility, legitimacy, and transparency to our emerging and evolving industry.
Lauren Vazquez
Lauren Vazquez has worked for over a decade to end cannabis prohibition and advance alternatives to the failed war on drugs. In 2011, she launched her law practice providing advice and legal services to California cannabis businesses focusing on multigenerational growers, mom and pop producers, and female owned businesses. Prior to this Lauren founded the Silicon Valley chapter of Americans for Safe Access (ASA) helping to launch a $50 million cannabis industry in San Jose. She organized patients, community members, and industry leaders to lobby the city council to allow storefront dispensaries. Lauren is currently working on the 2016 CA initiative campaign.
Leland R. Berger
Leland R. Berger has 32 years in private practice, including his statewide representation of medical cannabis patients and their providers for the past 20 years. A Portland attorney and activist, Leland R. Berger has morphed his law practice from criminal defense to advising cannabusinesses. Co-drafter of the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act, its amendments and several dispensary and legalization initiatives and bills (including Measure 91), his activism includes citizen lobbying, public speaking, and protester defense.
Mr. Berger is a member of the National Cannabis Industry Association, the Oregon Cannabis Industry Association, the NORML Legal Committee, Americans for Safe Access’ Board of Legal Advisers and the Oregon Criminal Defense Lawyers Association. His awards include High Times’ Freedom Fighter of the Month (Aug. 2001), OCDLA’s President’s Award (2008), NORML’s Citizen Activist Award (2010), and he is the first ever recipient of the Oregon Cannabis Industry Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award (2014). Mr. Berger is assisted at OC3 by Legal Assistant, Office Manager and Industry Insider Leia Flynn.
Leslie Bocskor
Leslie Bocskor is an investment banker and entrepreneur focused on the emerging legal cannabis industry. Bocskor founded Electrum Partners and is working with some of the biggest players in the industry to develop strategies to quickly expand the market for legal cannabis in the U.S. and beyond.
In his role as Founding Chairman of the Nevada Cannabis Industry Association he is bringing time-tested practices from the financial markets and his entrepreneurial experience to assure Nevada’s industry is an example to be emulated worldwide. Bocskor is currently developing a hedge fund that will allow for deployment of capital on a state-by-state and national basis to meet the growing demand for legal cannabis.
As a long time investor, he has a history of success working in early stage disruptive trends and technologies, beginning with internet and new media properties in the late nineties. Since then he has been involved in life science, cybersecurity and internet gaming.
As a member of the Arcview Angel Investor Network he has been mentoring companies for their presentations at investor meetings, is part of the selection committee, is a business advisor, and has been a speaker or panelist at the recent Arcview events. Bocskor is also Chairman of the Figment Project; an international arts festival held in 3 countries on 2 continents and 2 languages in 2014. He is a regular speaker at Arcview Angel Investor Network conferences.
