Category: 2023 Notables

Ankur Rungta Co-founder & CEO, C3 Industries Under Ankur Rungta’s leadership, C3 Industries navigated a highly complex industry landscape to grow from its origins as a stand-alone cultivator in Oregon to a vertically integrated, multistate operator in four states, with expansion to an additional three states this year. On top of the physical expansion, Over […]

Kim Prince Founder & CEO, Proven Media Kim Prince has spent the last several years guiding her team to implement successful communications strategies that result in national cannabis and mainstream media visibility for her clients. Kim is nationally recognized as a cannabis public relations pioneer and was recently named one of the Top Most Powerful […]

Lauren Rudick Founder & managing principal, Rudick Law Group Lauren Rudick recently founded and launched Rudick Law Group after breaking off from her previous role to start a more cannabis-focused practice. The firm is heavily focused on cannabis transactions and regulatory matters, representing investors, operators, and ancillary businesses. Currently, they work with several conditional adult […]

Morgan Paxhia Co-founder & managing director, Poseidon Investment Management Morgan pioneered one of the first investment firms dedicated to the emerging cannabis and hemp industry. He grew the firm from its two founders to a full-time investment team with a platform of investment offerings. While raising capital early on, Morgan had his bank accounts seized […]

Crystal Peoples-Stokes New York State Majority Leader of the Assembly District 141/EquityPAC Crystal Peoples-Stokes is the New York State Assembly Majority Leader representing Assembly District 141. She is a champion of women’s rights and teachers’ rights, as well as always being a champion for people of color and making sure they have the same opportunities […]

Patricia A. Patton Founder, Cannabis Business Alliance Patricia A. Patton is a dedicated wellness practitioner and patient advocate for older adults and baby boomers. For the past seven years, Patricia has utilized her personal journey to discover the role of cannabis in aging gracefully. She uses her CannaBoomer social media platform to build awareness and […]

Gia Morón CEO, GVM Communications Gia Morón is the former president and equity partner of Women Grow LLC, a post she resigned from in 2023. During her tenure, she formed significant partnerships with leading cannabis companies such as Curaleaf, Trulieve, Columbia Care, and Etain and has worked closely with state agencies, policy and advocacy groups, […]

Kema Ogden Co-owner, Top Notch The Health Center (Top Notch THC) Kema Ogden was the first Black woman to receive a dispensary license in Nevada. Her dispensary ownership group also received a cannabis consumption lounge license from the Nevada Cannabis Compliance Board in December 2022. As one of America’s very few Black women dispensary owners, […]

Kate Myers Director of community & partnerships, The Honeybee Collective Kate Myers develops and implements The Honeybee Collective’s community reinvestment and partnership programs, where she has been instrumental in formalizing the partnership and vetting criteria for fund recipients. In the past year her work has resulted in $2,400 in cash donations to local nonprofits (a […]

Maria McIntyre Head of cannabis business development, bioMérieux Maria McIntyre is a true trailblazer in cannabis microbiology, demonstrating lifelong enthusiasm for human health and public safety through her work in science, education, and innovation. As head of cannabis business development at bioMérieux, she consults the cannabis industry to evaluate gaps and find solutions to mitigate […]