Meet The 2018 High Times Women Of Weed Honorees

Join us in raising a joint to our twenty-one Women of Weed honorees of 2019.
Meet The 2019 High Times Women of Weed Honorees
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At High Times, we strive to uplift and center the women who make the cannabis space what it is: innovative, progressive, inclusive, and welcoming. This International Women’s Day, we’d like to announce the 2018 High Times Women of Weed honorees. These twenty individuals have made significant change, progress, and advances in their fields—and of course, in cannabis. Ahead of this year’s Women of Weed event, here are the honorees and what they do:

Meet The 2019 High Times Women of Weed Honorees
Courtesy of Alison Gordon

Alison Gordon

Alison is a veteran of the Canadian cannabis industry, bringing unique experiences and relationships to her role as Chief Executive Officer of 48North. A skilled marketer, she is celebrated for her ability to shift public opinion and consumer behavior. She’s even been named one of Canada’s Top 10 Marketers by Marketing Magazine and was appointed to the Board of Directors for the Cannabis Canada Council in 2018.

As co-founder of Rethink Breast Cancer, Alison is credited with growing a new generation of young breast cancer supporters compelled by her groundbreaking communication and pharmaceutical expertise in the healthcare realm. Today, Alison is applying her skills to 48North’s business plan in this new era of the cannabis industry.

Meet The 2019 High Times Women of Weed Honorees
M’leah Webb

Amanda Ostrowitz

Amanda Ostrowitz is a regulatory attorney and entrepreneur who’s identified a need for a user-friendly, scalable platform to research regulations and laws in the cannabis industry.

Amanda founded RegsTechnology and its current product, CannaRegs, as a tool to aid attorneys, business people, and governments with localized tracking of regulatory issues.

Meet The 2019 High Times Women of Weed Honorees
Courtesy of Amanda Reiman

Amanda Reiman

Amanda Reiman is the Vice President of Community Relations for Flow Kana, a branded cannabis distribution company that works with small farmers in the Emerald Triangle. She is also on the Board of Directors of the International Cannabis Farmer’s Association, a Board member for the California Cannabis Tourism Association, the Mendocino Cannabis Industry Association, The Mendocino County Fire Safe Council, and The Initiative—the first incubator/accelerator for women owned cannabis businesses.

After receiving her PhD from UC Berkeley, Dr. Reiman was the Director of Research and Patient Services at Berkeley Patients Group, one of the oldest dispensaries in the country, and the Manager of Marijuana Law and Policy for the Drug Policy Alliance. -She also taught courses on substance abuse treatment and drug policy at UC Berkeley for 10 years and has published several research articles and book chapters on the use of cannabis as a substitute for opiates and the social history of the cannabis movement. Amanda currently resides in Ukiah, CA.

Meet The 2019 High Times Women of Weed Honorees
Jordan Rahmil

Amy McClintick

Amy McClintick has been a key player on the Cura team since its inception. After starting in Sales Operations, Amy is a shining example of what it looks like to grow with the company and industry. Moving from her previous role as Chief Operating Officer, Amy is essential to the Cura team and comes with in-depth knowledge of the cannabis industry, operations, compliance and regulations. Additionally, Amy has proven the ability to fast track the company into new markets. Under her direction, Cura’s new internationally-based team has become a focused and powerful force of superstars achieving history-breaking sales numbers.

Prior to Cura, Amy built a 15-year independent career in the study and practice of holistic medicine—a personal passion that has proven to enhance her positive influence on Cura’s path forward. Amy’s multi-platform career experience includes specialization within management and business operations, with notable top-performance awards within tech sales and food and beverage distribution.

Amy graduated from the University of Idaho with degrees in Marketing and Political Science. She is a native of Idaho, but has made Portland her home since 2005. She is a wine connoisseur and, with what little spare time she has, runs a wine tasting club.

Meet The 2019 High Times Women of Weed Honorees

 

Ann Skalski

Ann Skalski is the Chief Brand Officer at Double Barrel, the world’s first dual-oil chamber vaporizing system, and first must-have cannabis accessory for connoisseurs and influencers alike. At Double Barrel, Ann has been personally responsible for developing its revolutionary device into an aspirational cannabis lifestyle brand. She oversees all creative and strategic integrated marketing campaigns, PR and key brand partnerships.

Ann’s diverse knowledge stems from her deep experience launching luxury brands and new consumer products in a corporate retail and designer fashion environment, notably at Saks Fifth Avenue where Ann served as Vice President of Creative Services.

Ann has a proven track record in establishing powerful brand identities. Her ability to launch and position brands in the exact spaces they need to grow is a powerful addition to the cannabis industry and at Double Barrel, resulting in widespread awareness for the industry’s most luxurious and edgy device yet.

Meet The 2019 High Times Women of Weed Honorees
Jillian Reddish

Cassandra Farrington

Cassandra heads up the cannabis industry leading daily news website Marijuana Business Daily and its family of content resources for the B2B cannabis marketplace, including the internationally recognized family of MJBizCon conferences.

Previously a vice president at Citi, she earned her MBA from the University of Texas, McCombs School of Business. Cassandra and her business partner co-founded MJBizDaily in 2011; it is now the most established ongoing business to business news organization serving the cannabis industry.

Meet The 2019 High Times Women of Weed Honorees
Courtesy of Cevon Levy

Cevon Lee Iny

Holding an expertise in luxury fashion, Cevon started her career in international production and transitioned into business development and executive roles across the international fashion industry.

In 2017, Cevon partnered with Avanzato Tech to create House of Eden, an 18k gold, charge-free vaporizer geared toward the chic consumer.

For women by women, House of Eden is the first of its kind to raise the bar for your vaporizing experience.

Meet The 2019 High Times Women of Weed Honorees
Jennifer Skog

Corey Thomas 

Corey Thomas is a second generation cannabis farmer, founder of Honey Pot and a fourteen-time cannabis cup winner. In 2018 Thomas rebranded Honey Pot, re-released some of her award-winning products and released a new line of vaporizers infused with organic essential oils.

Today, Honey Pot holds the title of High Times most awarded topical manufacturer with products that have developed a loyal consumer following and a distribution network including some of California’s most popular dispensaries.

Meet The 2019 High Times Women of Weed Honorees
Courtesy of Cynthia Salarizadeh

Cynthia Salarizadeh

Cynthia Salarizadeh is Managing Partner at KCSA Strategic Communications, the founder of the cannabis industry’s leading newswire and entrepreneur tech suite, AxisWire, and the founder of the luxury brand House of Saka, which houses world’s first cannabis infused still and sparkling rosé out of Napa Valley.

Additionally, Cynthia is the co-founder of Green Market Media which is currently most recognized for its cannabis finance news publication Green Market Report, as well as co-founder of the network Industry Power Women.

Prior to joining KCSA, Cynthia was the Founder and CEO of the leading cannabis public relations firm Salar Media Group, which KCSA acquired. She is also a council member on Forbes Communications Council as well as a contributing writer for Entrepreneur on the leading women and business of cannabis.

In 2018, Cynthia was nominated as Entrepreneur of the Year and CEO of the Year by her peers through Cashinbis, she was named by High Times as one of the 100 Women in High Places and featured by Dope
Magazine as one of the “Outstanding Women in Cannabis”. Cynthia earned her degree from the University of Pennsylvania, a certificate in political journalism from Georgetown University.

Meet The 2019 High Times Women of Weed Honorees
Courtesy of Debra Borchardt

Debra Borchardt

Debra Borchardt is the co-founder and CEO of the cannabis financial news website Green Market Report. Debra has covered the cannabis industry since its earliest stages when she recognized that the legalization story was the biggest business news story of the decade. As a senior producer and reporter
at TheStreet.com, Debra was awarded by the American Society of Business Publication Editors in 2014 in the Best Video—News category for “Guess Where People Want To Buy Pot.”

Debra is also a Co-Founder of the women’s cannabis executives networking group Industry Power Women and serves on the board of the cannabis newswire Axiswire.

She began her career in the securities industry where she was a Vice President at Bear Stearns, holding three securities licenses. She left Wall Street to earn her Masters Degree in Business and Economic Reporting from New York University. At that point she embarked on a career as a financial journalist and spent eight years at TheStreet.com working daily with Jim Cramer.

Looking ahead to 2019, Debra has big plans for GMR, which includes the launch of additional websites. Following the successful Green Market Summit in 2018, she is planning her next Green Market Summit event in Chicago on May 7—in addition to everything else, she is a frequent panel moderator and guest at cannabis conferences.

Meet The 2019 High Times Women of Weed Honorees
Courtesy of Beth Stavola

Elizabeth Stavola 

Beth Stavola is Chief Strategy Officer and Board Member of iAnthus Capital, and is also the founder and CEO of the top CBD self-care and wellness brand, CBD For Life.

In 2017 Cannabis Business Executive named Beth #3 on the “CBE 75 Most Important Women In Cannabis” list for being a true pioneer cannabis operator and is one of the only female C-Suite executives in the public, multi-state cannabis companies.

Beth holds the esteemed honor of being named as one of the leading medical cannabis expert entrepreneurs on the floor of the House of Representatives in 2014 by Congresswoman Dina Titus. She holds a BS in Finance and Economics from Monmouth University and spent most of her Wall Street career at Jefferies and Company.

Beth resides in New Jersey wth her beautiful family and is proud to be the mother of six children.

Meet The 2019 High Times Women of Weed Honorees
Courtesy of Emily Paxhia

Emily Paxhia 

Emily Paxhia is a co-founder and Managing Partner of Poseidon. She has reviewed thousands of companies in the cannabis industry and has worked with countless founders in many capacities, such as shaping pitch preparations and market strategies and product launches, and advising on day-to-day business operations. Emily has over 10 years of experience working as a consultant and researcher and has become an expert at extracting actionable insights from research and applying them to make corporations function more efficiently and successfully.

Emily has also dedicated time and energy to supporting policy groups and has served on the Board of Directors of the Marijuana Policy Project. She also currently serves on the Board of Athletes for CARE.

Emily graduated from New York University with an M.A. in Psychology in 2008.

Meet The 2019 High Times Women Of Weed Honorees
Courtesy of Ester Vigil

Ester Vigil

Ester Vigil spent more than 17 years in the cosmetics industry before switching her focus to medical cannabis. As VP of sales, Ms. Vigil is responsible for all sales initiatives, including negotiating client accounts, securing product placement in retail outlets, managing sales staff and marketing products across all sales channels.

 

Meet The 2019 High Times Women of Weed Honorees
Courtesy of Grace Lahlouh

Grace Lahlouh 

Grace Lahlouh is a self-described “motivated stoner”. A cannabis consumer since her teens, Grace left a successful career in real estate to join two friends at Ganja Gold to become pioneers in the fight to end prohibition.

A California native, she relocated to Los Angeles in 2016 to expand the company, running distribution, curating events, writing, and donating cannabis to the homeless. She feels honored and humbled to be named one of the High Times Women of Weed.

Meet The 2019 High Times Women of Weed Honorees
Ognjen Ugljenović

Jackee Stang

Jackee Stang is a serial marketing entrepreneur with a distinct focus on building brands that aim to help people live better lives. She is the founder of High Times’ Women of Weed and the High Times’ Women’s Council, and is the former the VP of Programming at High Times Magazine.

An award-winning producer for Bulletproof Radio, Jackee is the co-founder of Quarter Brands, a new lifestyle cannabis brand available at MedMen, and is also the president of Delic—an emerging new media brand mainstreaming psychedelic culture.

Meet The 2019 High Times Women of Weed Honorees
Courtesy of Bhang

Jamie Pearson, COO of Bhang Corporation, is a rare, second-generation cannabis executive. She has been a leader in numerous industries including real estate finance, investment, and strategic celebrity cannabis partnerships.

Jamie is widely recognized as a win/win deal-making ninja, and leads negotiations for all global joint ventures and licensing deals for Bhang—the world’s most-awarded and distributed cannabis brand featuring the eight-time Cannabis Cup winning line of gourmet chocolate bars and an award-winning line of CBD products.

Meet The 2019 High Times Women of Weed Honorees
Courtesy of Karson Humiston

Karson Humiston

Karson Humiston is the Founder and CEO of Vangst, the cannabis industry’s leading hiring platform. Launching in 2016, Vangst has connected over 10,000 people with jobs at over 650 leading cannabis businesses. Vangst has raised over $12M in funding from institutional investors.

Meet The 2019 High Times Women of Weed Honorees
Kathleen Thibault

Kathleen Thibault

Kathleen Thibault is the driving force behind constructive change at Advanced Nutrients, BigMike’s Blends and Lacturnus Labs, spearheading the culture of advocacy that is foundational to the company. As a clinical social worker and psychotherapist, Kathleen brings over two decades of professional experience in assessment, research and policy to her position as chief culture and people officer with tertiary qualifications in psychology, social work, and health policy.

When she first joined the Advanced Nutrients family, Kathleen immediately set about reviving the company messaging, starting with edifying BigMike’s core values. To that end, she has implemented new hiring practices and training systems that have achieved a more diverse, inclusive and insightful company atmosphere.

Cannabis has a fearsome proponent in Kathleen Thibault.

Meet The 2019 High Times Women of Weed Honorees
Courtesy of Koala Puffs

Koala Puffs

A lifelong entertainer, Koala Puffs kindled her love for marijuana at the early age of 22, initially as a cure to her poor appetite and eating habits. After falling further and further in love with the plant, she learned her creativity and motivation spiked while high – contrary to reports she’d been fed her whole life. After just two short years consuming, Koala evolved into a viral sensation on Instagram, racking up over a 500,000 fans of her humorous, cannabis-driven skits & shorts. Now 24 years old, this Ukrainian entertainment heavyweight shows no signs of slowing down – even in the face of page deletions from Instagram which cost her nearly 170,000 followers… They’ll be back!

Meet The 2019 High Times Women of Weed Honorees
Courtesy of Maya Elisabeth

Maya Elisabeth

Maya Elisabeth is dedicated to creating the highest quality cannabis products. She is the owner and operator of Om Edibles and Whoopi and Maya, two companies that specialize in treating cannabis as a superfood.

Then winner of 11 High Times Cannabis Cup awards and 9 Emerald Cup awards, she knows her products are only as good as the ingredients she uses to create them.

Meet The 2019 High Times Women of Weed Honorees

Nidhi Lucky Handa

Nidhi, the CEO, co-conceived the L E U N E brand concept and is committed to building a cannabis brand that is not only disruptive but also one that becomes the new industry standard. After attending Columbia University, Nidhi began her career in Luxury Brand Communications and eventually ended up in Los Angeles working in Celebrity Talent Management. Her relationships in the celebrity/entertainment space coupled with her experience building and communicating brands position her well in this emerging space.

Meet The 2019 High Times Women of Weed Honorees
Cynthia Howard

Rachel Gillette 

Rachel Gillette is among the first attorneys in the nation to dedicate her practice to the cannabis industry. Since 2010, she has helped cannabis businesses with licensing and regulatory compliance, business law and transactions, contract drafting and review, tax litigation, corporate formation, and tax matters, including audit representation. She works with startups and entrepreneurs, investors, and ancillary industry businesses to help develop the cannabis innovation ecosystem, and is a zealous advocate for the industry.

Rachel has served as the executive director of the Colorado state chapter of NORML, and was a founding member of Women Grow and the National Cannabis Bar Association.

She earned her JD from the Quinnipiac University School of Law in Hamden, Connecticut, where she served as Associate Editor of the Quinnipiac University Probate Law Journal. During law school, she interned with the New Haven Public Defender’s office. It was there where she developed her commitment to advocacy for those facing the many challenges of the criminal justice system.

Meet The 2019 High Times Women of Weed Honorees
Courtesy of Raechel White

Raechel White

Raechel White joined Cresco Labs in January of 2018 as the Director of Marketing and Communications. Raechel joined Cresco from a position in sales marketing Pandora Media, where she led the sales narrative efforts for healthcare, quick service restaurant, and consumer packaged goods sales teams.

Prior to her time at Pandora, Raechel served as a marketing specialist at Centro Media. Now serving as Director of Brand Marketing at Cresco Labs, Raechel leads the national implementation of a strategic house of brands, tailored to all major consumer segments in medical and recreational markets.

Meet The 2019 High Times Women of Weed Honorees
Holly Aubry

Rylie Maedler

At 13 years old, Rylie Maedler has accomplished more than most of us midway into adulthood. Not only is this teenage powerhouse the CEO of her own cannabis company, Rylie’s Sunshine, and the founder of a non profit, Rylie’s Smile Foundation, but she is the driving force behind three laws granting children in her home state of Delaware legal access to medical cannabis.

She travels the world speaking at medical cannabis conferences, advocates for pediatrics to have safe access to medical cannabis and for advancements in the research of rare diseases using cannabis preparations.

Rylie has found a way to continue her goals while living a full and happy life, despite having a seizure disorder and one of the rarest types of debilitating bone tumors in the world, AGCG.

While the word “inspirational” is grossly overused, there is no other word to describe the young cannabis activist and daily medical cannabis user.

Rylie is an honors student in the 7th grade who also loves to sing and spend quality time with her cat, Toby.

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