2021 CCIA Board of Director Nominees

The 8th Annual CCIA Board Election Is Underway!

Join other leading industry professionals in shaping the direction of California’s cannabis industry

Being a CCIA Board Member is an important and influential position in California’s newly regulated cannabis industry. Board Members vote on the CCIA budget, provide strategic policy direction, serve as representatives of CCIA, and participate in Capitol advocacy and recruitment events. At the conclusion of this election, the CCIA Board will be comprised of 15 dynamic individuals who are committed to representing California’s fastest-growing industry.

Voting Process | December 1st. - 17th.

All active CCIA members in good standing will be eligible to vote in the Board elections.

The voting will follow a weighted system and breaks down as follows:
- Associate / Associate+ / Social Equity member ballot equals 1 submission
- Business member ballot equals 3 submissions
- Executive member ballot equals 5 submissions

Eligible voters will be directed to an online ballot on December 1, and will be able to vote for candidates through December 17, at 5:00 PM. Each member-company gets one ballot, the first time-stamped ballot received will be counted.

All Active CCIA Members Vote Here Dec. 1st - 17th!

2021 CCIA Board of Director Nominees

(I) = Incumbent

(I) Tiffany Devitt - CannaCraft

(I) Conrad Gregory - Harborside

(I) Pamela Epstein - Eden Enterprises

Mindy Galloway - Khemia

Rashad Johnson - Eaze

Nicole Phillis - Davis Wright Tremaine

Jocelyn Sheltraw - Headset

Michael Steinmetz - Flow Cannabis Co.

Josh Wurzer - SC Labs

Active CCIA Members Vote Here Dec. 1st - 17th!

Not a CCIA Member? Click Here & Join CCIA Today!

Bio - Tiffany Devitt

Tiffany Devitt is Chief of Government & Consumer Affairs for CannaCraft, a California cannabis company responsible for making Care By Design, AbsoluteXtracts, Farmer and the Felon, and several other popular brands. She is a Board member of the National Cannabis Roundtable and the California Cannabis Industry Association, playing a valuable and vital role in shaping and executing the company's legislative strategies in Sacramento and DC.

Bio - Mindy Galloway

Mindy Galloway is on a mission to bring love, support, and encouragement to the world. As Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Khemia, Mindy has led the company from conception to revenue positive with her socially concious heart centered leadership.

Khemia is a women owned, social equity and legacy cannabis company, providing a pathway for pre-regulation manufacturers and cultivators to bring their time tested formulations to market under the Khemia brand name. Mindy Operates Khemia with the intention to build community and provide earth friendly, health-conscious cannabis products for women.

Mindy is a leader in advocacy on the state of local level. As a Board Member of the United Core Alliance, Mindy works toward building a sustainable framework for social equity businesses, including a connected supply chain and a united voice. She believes, as an industry, we need to ensure the success of social equity businesses and bring the topic of social equity to the forefront of decision making.

Bio - Pamela Epstein

Pamela has made a name for herself as one of the cannabis industry’s most respected, prominent, innovative female leaders and featured industry speaker. She serves as the General Counsel, Chief Regulatory & Licensing Officer for Eden Enterprises a vertically integrated company.

Epstein has used her extensive background in environmental law with an emphasis on regulatory compliance to help implement Eden’s novel “Compassion Over Destruction” initiative. In Epstein’s previous role with Green Wise she was known as a fearless advocate for cannabis businesses of all sizes across the supply chain. She successfully guided them through the ever-changing legal and regulatory landscape. Her passion and sense of duty to the community is unparalleled. Epstein also served as the Special City Attorney for cannabis regulation for the City of Hollister and is currently the Co-Chair of CCIA's Special Events & Social Consumption Committee, where she is working to update cannabis events regulations.

Bio - Conrad Gregory

Conrad Gregory leads the government relations and licensing activities of Harborside Inc., one of the oldest and most respected cannabis companies in the country. His work covers the policy and politics of the cannabis industry as well as the development of current and future licenses.

Prior to joining Harborside, Gregory helped run several successful political campaigns at the local, state and federal levels before moving to Sacramento to work for then-Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom as Chief Consultant for Economic Policy. Gregory’s work culminated in overseeing the Lt. Governor’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Marijuana Policy, which ultimately influenced Proposition 64 to legalize adult-use cannabis in California.

In addition to his work at Harborside, Gregory co-chairs the CCIA Retail and Delivery Committee and is a founding member of Oakland Citizens for Equity and Prosperity (OCEP).

All Active CCIA Members Vote Here Dec. 7th - 21st!

Not a CCIA Member? Click Here & Join CCIA Today!

Bio - Rashad Johnson

Bridging the gap between equality and equity has been at the heart of Rashad Johnson’s professional and personal work for his entire life. A Sacramento native, for nearly a decade Johnson has worked in California politics and government to help level the playing field for Black and Brown communities. Today as Senior Government Affairs Manager for Eaze, California’s largest legal cannabis retailer, Johnson has been closely involved in the creation of Eaze’s Momentum business accelerator and first-in-the-industry Social Equity Partners Program. Together, these initiatives fund and elevate BIPOC entrepreneurs in legal cannabis, without taking equity in their businesses.

Previously, Johnson worked for Sacramento Mayor and businessman Kevin Johnson (no relation), where he supported local, state, and national campaigns to mobilize communities seeking better educational options for their children. In 2016, Johnson joined the office of Senator Steven Bradford (SD 35) where he was instrumental in writing SB 1294, the California Cannabis Equity Act. This, the first statewide cannabis equity law in the nation, set a new standard for states creating legal cannabis markets and made clear that any legitimate framework must systematically address the War on Drugs. Johnson holds a BA in Political Science from Morehouse College and lives in Oakland, California.

Bio - Jocelyn Sheltraw

Jocelyn Sheltraw is the Director of Industry Relations at Headset, responsible for internal and external strategies to build Headset's brand awareness, community development, and market expansion across North America.

Jocelyn is a vocal cannabis advocate and industry thought leader, involved in various cannabis associations, committees, social equity programs, as well as regular speaker at various industry events, podcasts and webinars.

Prior to the cannabis industry, Jocelyn spent 10 years working in mobile advertising and technology developing advertising and monetization strategies for apps including: Flipboard, Spotify, SoundCloud, Pandora, and Uber to name a few.

Outside of her work in cannabis, Jocelyn is the Chairperson for the Mono Lake Kutzadika Cultural Preservation.

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Bio - Nicole Phillis

Nicole Phillis is a commercial litigator at Davis Wright Tremaine LLP (“DWT”) and co-chairs DWT’s Cannabis Industry Group. She has represented some of the largest brands, investors, and enterprises in the cannabis industry in a wide range of litigation matters, including supply chain disputes, trademark and trade dress litigation, breach of contract and corporate governance disputes, unfair competition disputes and class actions, trade secret actions, and defamation matters, among other things.

In addition to her litigation practice, Nicole advises clients in both the cannabis and hemp industries on speech, advertising, and compliance-related issues. She has written extensively on cannabis advertising and been featured on multiple panels based on her advertising and speech expertise, including most recently for the LACBA Cannabis Section’s Second Annual Litigation Salon (2021), the LACBA Cannabis Section’s Cannabis Advertising CLE (2021), and the International Bar Association’s panel on Cannabis Trends in the Americas (2021).

Nicole is also very active in industry advocacy spaces, serving as a co-chair for CCIA’s Risk Management Committee (2021-Present) and as an executive board member and former VP of Communications for the Los Angeles County Bar Association Cannabis Section (2019-Present). She focuses much of her pro bono practice on serving social equity applicants and licensees in the cannabis industry.

In her civic life, Nicole is an elected commissioner and past chair of the Santa Monica Rent Control Board, a municipal office to which she was first elected in 2014. Nicole has also served as a delegate to the California Democratic Party (2017-present), the Los Angeles County Democratic Party (2017-2021) and previously chaired Santa Monica’s Commission on the Status of Women (2013-2017).

In her personal life, Nicole is a dog-mom to three Golden Retrievers (Loki (12.5 years), Parker (11 years), and Georgia (7 months)) and a Maine Coon cat (Theo, 8 years). Nicole is also an avid Settlers of Catan player and won her first Catan tournament in 2021!

Bio - Michael Steinmetz

Michael Steinmetz is the co-founder and chief servant officer of Flow Cannabis Co, a business and community leader who believes in building mission-driven companies to effect change. Michael's unique, hands-on approach has been instrumental in developing their flagship brand Flow Kana and Flow Cannabis Co’s large infrastructure and diversified supply chain ecosystem that spans across all of CA.

Prior to founding and leading Flow Cannabis Co, Michael built and sold a Venezuelan national brand management company Distribuidora DanMic that manufactured and distributed food products which grew in popularity as innovative, unique, value-added products quickly becoming the leaders in their categories.

Michael blends deep business strategy and leadership skills that leverage his diverse background and experience, including prior roles as an investment banker at Merrill Lynch and as an engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

He is originally from Caracas, Venezuela, and graduated summa cum laude while pursuing a double major in Mechanical Engineering and Economics with a minor in Business at Carnegie Mellon University.

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Bio - Josh Wurzer

Josh is a cofounder and serves as the President of SC Labs where he is responsible for managing technical operations, research and development, regulatory compliance, and intellectual property. Founded in 2010, with facilities in California and Oregon, SC Labs is one of the longest running cannabis testing laboratories in the nation. Josh also serves as co-chair of the CCIA's Quality Control Committee. He has a background in analytical and synthetic chemistry and spent his early career in the pharmaceutical and electronic materials industries and has managed cannabis testing laboratories since 2009.

As a long time patient and cannabis activist, he is committed to the continual development of quality and safety standards for cannabis and cannabis products. Besides his role on the CCIA QC Committee, he serves on the U.S. Pharmacopeia (USP) Cannabis Expert Panel, is a founding member of the AOAC CASP advisory group on cannabis, and is a founding member of the American Council of Independent Laboratories (ACIL) cannabis committee, as well as other cannabis and hemp trade associations and committees.

Josh has served as a flower judge for the Emerald Cup and regularly presents his research with regard to cannabis chemistry at conferences and trade shows. Josh received his Bachelor's degree in Chemistry from the University of Wisconsin Green Bay.

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All Active CCIA Members Vote Here Dec. 7th - 21st!

Not a CCIA Member? Click Here & Join CCIA Today!