Contributors

Steve Brooks

is the CEO of Denver-based Lightshade, which operates three cultivation facilities and eight retail locations. Lightshade has been honored with multiple awards, including Leafly’s “Colorado Dispensary of the Year” and Business Insider’s “Top 5 Dispensaries in the U.S.”

Kristi Byers, AIA LEED AP BD&C

is the founder of Kristi Byers, Architect, an architecture and sustainable design consulting firm in San Diego, Calif. Byers has overseen the implementation of green design and LEED on projects across the U.S., including Golden State Greens, which is the first LEED Certified dispensary in the nation, according to the company.

Jamie Cooper

began marketing/business consultancy Canna Media Works, launched the West Michigan Women Grow chapter and in January 2018, founded Cannabiz Connection. Cooper is also a marketing mentor for Kadin Academy, an eight-week online cannabis-business program for women. Cooper was named by the Grand Rapids Business Journal as among the “Top 50 Most Influential Women in West Michigan.”

Maria Denzin

is the owner of MJ HR Strategic Solutions, an HR consulting firm based in Palm Springs, Calif. Denzin specializes in talent strategy and development for the cannabis industry. Her firm helps cannabis business owners develop strategic HR plans to select, develop, reward and retain employees who deliver value and loyalty. She can be reached at [email protected].

Amy Donohue

co-launched Hybrid Social, an all-cannabis marketing and social media agency in Arizona, in 2015. Donohue has been a member of the Phoenix chapter of Women Grow since December 2014 and consulted on the Prop 205 campaign. She also has a CBD skincare line, and co-coordinates Cannafriends, an Arizona cannabis networking group.

Etienne Fontan

has been with Berkeley Patients Group since 2001 and serves as vice president and chairman of the Board of Directors, and is chief product officer for NuLeaf dispensaries in Lake Tahoe and Las Vegas, Nev. He currently sits on the Board of Directors of the National Cannabis Industry Association (NCIA) and served as chairman of the board from 2012 to 2013.

Debby Goldsberry

is executive director at Magnolia Wellness, an award-winning dispensary in Oakland, Calif., and the managing director of the Berkeley Community Care Center dispensary at Amoeba Music. She co-founded the Berkeley Patients Group (BPG) medical cannabis collective in 1999, directing its growth for more than 11 years. In 2017, Goldsberry published her first book, “Idiot’s Guide: Starting and Running a Marijuana Business.”

Alexa Halloran

is an attorney at Harris Bricken’s Los Angeles office. Her practice is aimed at corporate and regulatory issues in the California cannabis industry. With both a juris doctor and master’s in business administration, Halloran advises companies on cannabis-related legal issues. She is also a regular contributor to her firm’s Canna Law Blog.

Jolene Hansen

is a freelance writer based in Wisconsin’s Driftless Area. A former horticulture professional, she is a frequent contributor to the Horticulture Group publications owned by Cannabis Dispensary’s parent company, GIE Media.

Sara F. Hawkins

has been a private practice attorney for nearly 20 years. She is a recognized expert in marketing promotions law, influencer/celebrity disclosure compliance, sweepstakes, contests and user-generated content promotions.

Jillian Kramer

is a New York City-based freelance journalist whose work has appeared in the online or print versions of Glamour, Food & Wine, SELF, The Wall Street Journal and more. Her work covers everything from career and money to women’s issues, cannabis and beyond.

Shawna Seldon McGregor

joined Grasslands: A Journalism-Minded Agency as managing partner in March 2018. Prior to joining Grasslands, she spent nearly two decades at a New York City agency. Founding an office in Denver in 2012, McGregor was one of the first public relations professionals working in the legal cannabis industry.

Kyra Reed

launched Markyr Cannabis, a digital marketing and social media strategy agency, and Women in Cannabis, a support group for women entrepreneurs, with four chapters in Northern California, in 2016. Reed has also launched Kadin Academy, an online business academy that educates women entrepreneurs in cannabis.

Luke Tipton

joined Milestone Safety Group as a safety consultant in 2011, and has worked extensively as an on-site safety supervisor, and coordinator in construction, general industry and the cannabis sector with expertise in OSHA compliance, job hazard analysis and safety training.