Bio

I have a skill set and experience that's tough to match. In fact, I was labeled a ''unicorn'' by Bruce Linton, who once offered me the position of Vice President of Global Affairs at Canopy Growth due to my decade + of navigating communications, cannabis, culture shifts and the United Nations simultaneously. I possess an expert-level (15+ years) knowledge of the cannabis industry (including cultivation) and 4+ years in the psychedelic/biopharma industry. I'm a PROSCI Certified Change Management Practitioner w/ a strong background in multimedia journalism (deadline-writing, reporting, photography, videography, animation) and communications. As a public speaker and thought leader, I have spoken or moderated at a plethora of industry events worldwide. My career pie chart has three quarters, equally divided into multimedia journalist, cannabis and psychedelics advocate, and spokesperson. I am a creative thinker, empathetic manager, and hyper-focused deadline meeting producer. Not a member of the media hive mind, but a genuine, award-winning newsie, I rose up from the ranks as a cub/beat reporter and photographer for several of New York's most-read publications. Once I gained experience and paid my dues, I established the first cannabis news bureau at the United Nations (when cannabis reporting was anathema to most people rather than ubiquitously socially acceptable). I used my position at the U.N. to advocate for cannabis as a genuine medicine for people with mental disorders and physical disabilities. In the immortal words of Shirley Chisholm, ''If they don't give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair.'' My personal philosophy is to bring three folding chairs, to even the playing field. My focus during the previous two years at Forbes drew on my U.N.-based research experience to elucidate the intersection of cannabis and global affairs. I scooped Florida's media on the legalization of medical marijuana flower in that state, and I scooped Aphria's IR report that the company pulled out of LatAm and Jamaica, and I exclusively reported that Bill Clinton is an advocate for CBD, among other breaking news stories. Honorable mentions: 2022 – Nominated by Benzinga for Cannabis Business Reporter of the Year. 2021 – One of the Top 10 Cannabis Journalists in 2021, by Muckrack. https://muckrack.com/blog/2021/04/19/top-10-cannabis-journalists-2021 2020 – One of the 100 Most Important Women in Weed https://www.greenmarketreport.com/100-of-the-most-important-women-in-weed-2020/ 2018 – Axiswire Star Media Award for Best Cannabis Freelance Writer.