GMR Female Leadership Award Winners
Thursday, April 26andThe first-ever Green Market Report Women’s Leadership Awards ceremony was held at the Green Market Report Women’s Summit in Manhattan, New York, to honor women and cannabis professionals who identify as women in categories ranging from culture to activism and politics.
The Women’s Leadership Award in the Brands category was presented to Nancy Whiteman, CEO of Wana Brands. Honored for her skillful management of Canadian cannabis company Canopy Growth’s acquisition of 100% of each Wana entity as well as her commitment to social equity in cannabis, Whiteman was also praised for her innovative new product lines. and product development. Khadijah Tribble, Vice President of Corporate Responsibility at curafeuille, (OTC: CURLF) received the Women’s Leadership Award in the MSO category. A highly respected expert on equity and inclusion in cannabis, Tribble created and manages Rooted in Good, one of the strongest corporate responsibility programs in any industry, and is also the founder of Marijuana Matters, a cannabis education and advocacy incubator.
The Women’s Leadership Award in Marketing was presented to Natalie Shaul, co-founder and vice president of marketing at springbig. Shaul was instrumental in Springbig’s pivot to cannabis and is known as a trailblazer, job maker, fundraiser and industry changemaker. Schaul has helped thousands of cannabis retailers while his company has created more than 80 jobs in South Florida while providing discounted services to support veteran and minority-owned cannabis businesses.
Kim Rivers, CEO of Trulieve Cannabis Corporation., received the Women’s Leadership Award in the C-Suite- Public Company category. She is the only female CEO of a publicly traded cannabis company. A former lawyer, Rivers has since led the biggest cannabis acquisition deal to date with Trulieve’s purchase of Harvest Health & Recreation. Rivers was also instrumental in Trulieve’s environmental, social and governance report, the first of its kind by a US MSO. The Female Leadership Award in the C-Suite Private Company Category went to Ralina Shaw, Founder of House of Tyne and a member of the leadership team of 4thMVMT, a leading social impact organization whose mission is to support those disproportionately impacted by cannabis laws. She is also one of BIPOC’s few public relations and retail executives.
Founder and CEO of Women employed in cannabis (WEIC) Kyra Reed received the Women’s Leadership Award in Activism/Politics for her leadership of the largest association of women working in cannabis, psychedelics, hemp and CBD. Named a “Social Media Pioneer” by Entrepreneur Magazine, Reed has grown WEIC into a 15,000 member organization as well as the first global brand and organization dedicated to empowering women to achieve their goals.
The Women’s Leader Award for Cultivation was awarded to Joyce Cenali, COO of Sonoma Hills Farm. Under Cenali’s leadership, Sonoma Hills was the first farm to be recognized as “comparable organic” as designated by CCOF’s OCal program. She co-founded an Emerald Cup-winning organization and supports female cannabis innovators with a mission to advance a regulatory model that unites capitalism and inclusion. Chanda Macias, PhD, CEO of Ilera Holisticwon the Female Leadership Award in the Science category, largely for her role as the first black female medical cannabis operator as CEO of the National Holistic Healing Center, the largest medical marijuana dispensary in Washington, DC. She is also the chair of the board of directors and the CEO of women grow up and first vice-president of National Cannabis Roundtable Plank.
Narmin Jarrous, Development Director at Exclusive brands, won the Women’s Leadership in Social Equity Award. The Jarrous Social Equity Program partners with organizations such as the National Birth Equity Coalition and The Last Prisoner Project while helping social equity applicants obtain their licenses. Jarrous is also a mentor, educator, speaker and advocate for women of color in the industry. Ronit Pinto, founder of Honeysuckle Magazine, won the Women’s Leadership Award in Media. Honeysuckle gained national distribution and also created Honey Pot Magazine, a print and digital sister publication focusing exclusively on cannabis and hemp issues.
Wendy Bronfein, Co-Founder, Chief Brand Officer and Director of Public Policy at Well-being Curio was honored in the Dispensary category. Bronfein leads the company’s legislative program in several states and oversees the brand and all corporate communications. She also helped launch the Curio Welfare Investment Fund and a program to provide seed capital to minority business owners to open their own Curio franchises. The Women’s Leader Award for Public Relations was presented to Shawna Seldon McGregor, Founder and CEO of Maverick Public Relations. She represents companies from all sectors and is recognized as one of the most effective cannabis agencies in the industry. MacGregor provided pro bono public relations work and served on the boards of numerous charities.
The winners were nominated by colleagues from across the cannabis industry. Nearly a hundred nominations were reviewed by industry insiders before they decided on the twelve female executives and entrepreneurs to receive these special awards covering multiple areas of the cannabis industry.
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