Im a little disappointed about number One ! These 2 girls both walked away from there company and left it to a new person to run with no guidance. Everyone else is pretty good ! Reply
Appreciate your comment Brenda and we were pretty torn by whether CBE should be recognizing Amy and Jasmin as number 1 on the 2016 list. At the end of the day, we felt that the two of them did more in the last 2 years for women in the industry then any of the other important women on the list. They did in our opinion, leave the organization in the hands of a very capable leader, advocate and industry participant (Leah Heise and her partners have applied for a MD license) and she has a very clear vision of expanding the work done by her predecessors and being an outspoken advocate for inclusion and diversity in the new industry. CBE is as well! We will see how Women Grow progresses and CBE wishes the organization and its leaders, present and past as well as the other 55 women on this years list all of the success they can muster! Reply
Thank you so much for honoring us by being #38 on a list of impressive women… many are our friends! We really appreciate it and look forward to being in service to the community for many years to come! Congrats to all of the powerful women on this list! Reply
These women would not be where the are today without Mickey Norris, Debbie Goldsberry, Aundre Speciale, Dona Frank, Kumari Sivadas, Mary Pat Jacobs, Sara Shrader, Valerie Corral, Lisa Gygax, Surina Sisavath, Lauren Goodwin and one of the greatest of them all Steph Sherer, the creator of Americans for Safe Access. No offense, but while everyone else on this list was hiding under a rock waiting for legalization, these women I just listed put their life and liberty on the line. Rob, you put people like Whoopi and Melissa on this list, but seriously, the true pioneers are missing. This is about celebrity rather than those that risked everything. Jazmin Hupp has done more for the industry in two years? LOL. Who do think paved the way for her? Speak up Dale Sky Jones because you know better! Message to Rob, time to reevaluate dude.” Reply
Remember Randy, everyone has a journey that led them to cannabis. Perhaps silence was necessary for some of us? It is with great respect and humility that I get to work in this industry paved by true courage and grit. Honoring the pioneers you mention along with many others is part of my mission. And I celebrate the new courage and grit that has joined in the fight for legalization. Together we will legalize. Together we accomplish the impossible. The future depends on us. Reply
Thank you Rob, I am glad to be a part of such a cool group of cannabitches:) Legalization of cannabis is our mission and working together we are making great strides. Reply
I find it interesting that I own the largest extraction concentrate company in the state of Colorado. I am no where on the list I have more employees and probably make more money than most of the women on that list. I belong to many industry groups I participate in many political and advisory committee situations . It just kind of cracks me up how those are the 50 most important women in marijuana … I must just be a nobody Reply
Hi Shannon, Glad we were able to catch-up and look forward to sharing your story with CBE’s readers. You are definitely “Somebody” that deserves to be on the top women list. Sorry that we missed you! Rob Meagher Reply
You are truly a disgusting display of what should not be displayed. Have you heard of Debbie Goldsberry, Madeleine Martinez, Diane Fornbacher, Amanda Reiman, Kyndra Miller and every other woman you made sure you forgot? Wow! Reply
CBE welcomes any and all suggestions for others that deserve recognition, after all we are a free society. If you were a regular reader of CBE John, you would understand that we are a business to business publication covering the legally regulated business of cannabis. The list you are referring to as “disgusting” recognizes those that are most important, for the most part, based on their ability to take the financial risk, put in the long hours required to run a business in a highly regulated environment and in this case transparent industry pioneers who CBE feels have done the most, since our original list of 20 women in 2014 who are fostering inclusion and diversity in the legal cannabis industry. So, like any list, the 2016 CBE 50 Most Important Women in the Cannabis Industry represents those individuals or teams that CBE feels are leading the charge towards profitability or shaping a regulatory environment that is laying the foundation for the fastest growing industry in the country and can’t include all of the worthy candidates out there including those advocates who clearly set the stage for this year’s listees. We encourage dialogue so our nearly 30,000 readers and subscribers can benefit from each others view point as well. There was no intent to “Skunk” the worthy women you mention; CBE just uses a different set of criteria then let’s say a Business to Consumer publication like Skunk would have used. Reply
Rob, I am sorry you are taking so much shit for putting together a list of awesome women. I bet it took you and your team an extraordinary amount of time to come up with this. Kudos to you and your team! Many are friends of ours and you are right we all put in 80 to 100 hour weeks. We are advocates, educating and honoring of those who came before us. What I love is how many amazing women there are on and not included this year on the list and we would love to connect with all of you to see if we can be in service, network, etc.. make the community greater. What if we don’t complain and simply come together to legalize this amazing medicine? Reply
Thanks Wendy, let’s set up a time to talk about how we can all make this happen and also for empathizing with the task of coming up with a list of 50 when there are so many others. We will be publishing a follow-up with a few others that have come to our attention, I think Noelle Skodzinski (#29) over at Cannabis Business Times was right on when she answered one of her readers saying that there is no way to identify, none-the-less discover everyone! Thanks again for the kind words and lets get some collaboration going! Cheers, Rob Reply
Ok! I know a lot of the women on the list and maybe we can all brainstorm.. we love Noelle! #29. She is awesome. Can you email me so we come up with time to connect?
I encourage you to take a look at the work my organization is doing for the Illinois medical cannabis industry. Medical Cannabis Outreach – Caprice Sweatt, CEO please google our organization as we are leading the charge in outreach, education, and patient acquisition Thank you for recognizing women! Reply
Will do Caprice and thank you for reaching out. We appreciate you identifying the good work you do, there are too many women worthy of this list, I guess we will have to expand it to 100 next year! RM :-)! Reply
Rob, Thank you so much for #10 both of us are honored & truly appreciate it. While I’ve been in the industry before the recognition I greatly appreciate it. Your great! Thank you, Nicole Gonzalez http://www.GFarmaBrands.com Reply
hey rob, it is easy, there are groups everywhere of POC (people of color) in the industry. Shaleen Title Amber Senter Sunshine Lencho for starters. Reply
Certainly all impressive professionals. Not sure they would have made this year’s 50 list, tough call to replace any of the listees orthe additional women recognized in today’s newsletter. Appreciate the input Ophelia, connecting me with more great candidates and remember there is always next year’s list which we are already working on the 100Most Important Women! Cheers, Rob Reply
I would like to introduce Eva Dickinson MD PhD. She is a Pain Management Physician that recommends more patients for Cannabis in the State of De. Than any other Physician. She has weaned most of her cannabis Patients off of narcotics or reduced their use of Narcotics with Cannabis. She is dedicated to the medicine of cannabis. At the end of the day, this is what counts Reply
Giving a shout-out to everybody working to end prohibition!!! I give a shout out to these Washington State women who are definite inspirations and trail blazers… Alison Holcomb – wrote I-502, Councilmember Jeanne Kohl-Welles – former State Senator champion of the Medical Use of Marijuana Act and Cannabis Patient Protection Act (aka 5052), Michelle Sexton – co-author of AHPA Cannabis monograph, Ah Warner – founder/owner Cannabis Basics author of CHABA law, Pam Haley – co-founder of Cannabis Defense Coalition owner of 1st female operated CO2 extraction lab, Shawn DeNae – R5 zoning activist owner Washington Bud Co, Sharon Whitson – Executive Director of Seattle Hempfest, Stephanie Viskovich – former dispensary owner now running for State Rep. of 46th district , Terra Martin – Founder of the Pink Gene Foundation, Alison Draisdin – founder of Ettalews a High Times award winning company, Joy Beckerman-Maher – Founder of Hemp Ace International Industrial Hemp, Rachel Kurtz – attorney former board member of People’s Harm Reduction, CCSE and Seattle Hempfest, Dawn Darrington – Owner Choice Wellness producer All Day Live, Deidre Finley – owner MMJ Universe farmers market, Meghan Schwarting – creator of Kush Creams. Reply
Rob – Humbled and honored to be included in this list of amazing women. I know that it is by no means an all-inclusive list of the rockin’ ladies that make strides every single day in cannabis. We all have our own paths and challenges, and we all know that we are climbing the ladder that was built by those who came before us. Reply
I think it is awesome that so many great women are making a difference in the cannabis industry. Great list, very informative. Thanks for sharing! Reply
How do you select your 50 (or 57!) most important women in the Cannabis Industry? I would like to nominate someone for your 2017 list. Please tell me how. Thank you! Jacqueline Langwith Reply
She is a black girl who quit her news job on air for weed. founded the alaska cannabis club and is facing prison for it. Also has an online show called The Weed Show and has a line called CBD beauty. Reply