Bio - Mike Golden is an entrepreneur and cannabis advocate with over 15 years of sales and marketing experience. Co - Founder and CEO of the lifestyle brand The Higher Calling - THC out of Syracuse, NY whose mission is to break the drug, race, and neighborhood stigmas around cannabis through fashion. As well as promoting economic empowerment through an inclusive and equitable cannabis industry, and its many ancillary business services with community outreach events like their "Stop The Stigma" Rally. As a real estate agent Mike was Co - Chair of the Social Equity Task Force, and currently sits on the Social Equity board of The Cannabis Association of New York. And Voted most compelling people of 2021 by syracuse.com and The Post Standard.

Long time community, cannabis, environmental conservation, and lgbtq+ rights activist, Tyme Ferris has been a leader in the regulated cannabis market for nearly two decades. Currently he dedicates himself to these endeavors as the President of the Boonville Environmental Conservation Council (BECC), Board Member of the New York State Association of Conservation Commissions (NYSACC), Oneida County Pride Association (OCPA), Black River Valley Business & Community Alliance (BRVBCA), as well as being Founder and CEO of Pantheon Perspective LLC. Having made the jump from the fashion retail world to cannabis during the first of two medical programs rolled out in Colorado, Tyme has since consulted, partnered, and/or owned, companies in both the medical and adult-use markets in Colorado, Massachusetts, Vermont, and California. Now, Tyme adds his home state of New York to this list as he rolls out Pantheon Perspective, a cannabis lifestyle brand forging the way for conscientious capitalism through cannabis.

Shawn Kassner is the Laboratory Director of Kaycha Labs in Albany, NY. Shawn has been working in the cannabis industry for six years, employed as an ISO 17025 auditor and consultant, developing sampling protocols and best practice laboratory quality guidance documents. He was previously an Internal Compliance Auditor with Pace Analytical Service Laboratories and has been part of the environmental analytical, proficiency testing, and reference material producer community since 1988. Shawn remains active in internal auditing and developing consensus and accreditation standards for environmental, cannabis, and life sciences communities. Shawn is currently an active member of The NELAC Institute (TNI) and serves on the Chemistry Expert Committee.

When not working, he enjoys improving his photography, cycling and hiking skills and trying to not fall down while skiing with his family.

Aaron Leentjes is the co-founder and owner of UNIFI Cannabis, a family owned, and operated cultivator located in Central New York.

Originally from a small farm in the historic Leatherstocking region of NY with a focus on organic and sustainable practices Aaron relocated to the Central New York area to pursue both undergraduate and graduate studies in Syracuse. After completing his studies, he felt drawn to return to his agricultural roots and in 2020 was licensed by NYS Dept Ag and Markets to Cultivate Industrial Hemp.

After cultivating craft cannabinoid hemp for two years, UNIFI Cannabis was in the first batch of conditional cultivator licenses issued by the Office of Cannabis management this year and is currently cultivating at their canopy cap.

Scheril Murray Powell, Esq. is an Agricultural, Cannabis, Dietary Supplement, and Trade Attorney at Doumar, Allsworth, Laystrom, Voigt, Adair, and Dishowitz LLP. Scheril is Of Counsel at Feldman Legal Advisors and the Founder of the Cannabis HR Council. She is also an Adjunct Professor at NYU, teaching continuing education classes on Cannabis and Social Equity Policy and has an HR Management Certificate from Florida Atlantic University. Scheril is the Former Chief Operating Officer and on the Board of of 501(c)3 non-profit organization, the JUSTÜS Foundation (www.Justus.foundation) and Former Chair of the Broward County Medical Marijuana Advisory Board which advises the County on Marijuana related policies and positions. She is the Chair of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Sub-Committee of the ASTM D37 Committee. Honeysuckle Magazine recognizes her as one of the Top 28 Black Shapers of Drug Policy, Cannabis, and Psychedelics. She is a member of the Florida Bar Association and the New York City Bar Association. The Daily Business Review has named her one of the Top 12 Cannabis Attorney’s in Florida. In 2022, she was named one of High Times 100, an annual recognition of the industry’s top leaders and influencers. Her practice covers both the Marijuana and Hemp Industries, specializing in Cannabinoid legalization and UK Novel Foods registration. She is a Florida licensed Hemp Farmer and is a Research Farmer for the University of Florida. Scheril serves on the Board of one of the oldest Cannabis Advocacy Organizations, Patients Out of Time. She is the Former Executive Director of the African American Farmers Association. She is the former Executive Director of the Black Farmers and Agriculturalists of Florida and former Director of Federal Affairs for the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Scheril is on the Hemp Pilot Program Advisory Board for the University of Florida and serves on The Tamarac North Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce Foundation, and a Board Member of The Unprescribed.org (a non-profit focused on reducing Veteran homelessness and suicides). She was a Founding Board Member for the U.S. Hemp Builders Association (not to be confused with the U.S. Hemp Building Association Foundation). She is also President of consulting firm Green Sustainable Strong, LLC. In her spare time she volunteers with the Winrock Foundation delivering Marketing training to Farmers in Ghana, Africa. In 2018, she was a recipient of the Crohns Foundation Blood, Sweat, and Tears Award, and the Cannabis Business Award's Industry MVP Award. She is former In-House Counsel for Sunflora/ Your CBD Store and former In House Counsel for Green Roads World. She is a graduate of Florida International University College of Law. As a Cannapreneur, Scheril is the President of Canna Headhunters, a staffing agency in the Cannabis Industry that connects Cannabis talent to opportunities. She has been selected to present at a number of Cannabis Conferences including the South East Cannabis Conference The Hemp and CBD Expo in the United Kingdom, The American Bar Association Cannabis Symposium: “From Regs to Riches”, the Cannabis Science Conference, Tuskegee University Professional Agricultural Workers Conference, the Women Grow Leadership Summit, the Emerge Conference, the U.S. Cannabis Conference, Canex Jamaica Conference, South East Cannabis Conference, SHE-CANN, Cannaday, The University of the West Indies Caribbean Neuroscience Conference, Women Grow Leadership Summit, National Association of State Credit Unions, The Kentucky Hemp Convention, The Kentucky State Hemp Symposium, the University of Technology Jamaican Medical Cannabis Integrated Symposium, The Women of Cannabis Conference, the Cannabis Science Conference, Detroit’s Canna Con, Florida Medical Marijuana Conference, and Canna-Ed Conference hosted by the Florida Cannabis Coalition. She has been asked to speak at Jamaica’s Pharmacological Board Mandatory Meetings and Jamaica Bureau of Standards meetings based on her international reputation as a Cannabis Expert. In May of 2019, she planned and hosted the 1st Annual Cannurban-Unifest Agricultural Symposium in collaboration with the City of Lauderdale Lakes and the FAMU-Cannurban Hemp Town Hall with Florida A&M University. Scheril was the regular Cannabis Law expert on Cannabis Law Radio every Saturday morning on Cannabis Life Radio and launched a Cannabis Talk Show called “Terps in the City” in Summer of 2019. She presented at the National Association of Black Journalists and National Association of Hispanic Journalists Joint Conference in August 2016 on the topic of: “Exposing the Truth: Getting Access to Audio and Video Evidence in Police Involved Shootings”. Scheril served as both the Secretary and Treasurer of the FIU College of Law Alumni Board. While at FIU Law, she was the Charter President of the Palm Beach ABA Student Organization and a member and coach of the Board of Advocates Negotiation Team. In 2013, Scheril won the FIU Law Intramurals Negotiation Competition, also she and her partner won the ABA Southern Region Negotiation Competition. In 2014, she and her partner came in 2nd place in the Nelson Mandela International Negotiation Competition and she was awarded the distinction of Best Overall Negotiator for her efforts. Scheril served on the Black Law Student Association’s National Board for two years and is passionate about eradicating sex trafficking and other social justice issues such as police brutality. She has interned at the State Attorney’s office in the 15th Judicial Circuit of Palm Beach County and for two judges of the 17th Judicial Circuit of Broward County. In the summer of 2014, she served as an Anti-Defamation League Summer Associate. She believes that practicing the law and advocacy for the disadvantaged go hand in hand. She is an activist and has dedicated her time and resources to promoting awareness, access to educational resources, and support for survivors of domestic violence and trafficking. She has a Facebook page called “Police Chronicles” which documents national police interactions with the community. She mentors Pre-Law and Law School students of diverse backgrounds and has been a speaker at the Black and Hispanic Prelaw Conference, the Diversity Prelaw Conference, and the HBCU Prelaw Summit and Expo. Law is a second career for Scheril. She spent over a decade in the wireless industry working for T-Mobile, USA; T-Mobile, UK; RIM BlackBerry; and MetroPCS as a Customer Retention Strategist and Marketing Interface Manager rolling out training, technical change, cultural change, and process improvement projects Nationwide. Scheril received her undergraduate Business Management degree from Florida Atlantic University with a minor in Marketing where she pledged Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and served as the Student Government Senate Speaker for seven campuses.

Dave Myers, CPP® is Vice-President of Security at Cannaspire and manages all security related planning and services for cannabis business clients. While at Cannaspire, Dave provides security consulting to clients in numerous states, as well as oversees development of security plans and security system design for cannabis businesses of all types.

Prior to joining Cannaspire, Dave had a distinguished 26-year law enforcement career with the Pennsylvania State Police. As a supervisor of the Governor’s Executive Security Detail, Dave managed an elite security team charged with executive protection of the Governor of Pennsylvania and other dignitaries. During his career, Dave participated in the planning and execution of numerous security missions nationally and internationally. Dave has extensive experience and has received highly skilled training in personal and asset protection, security of high-level facilities, protection of sensitive information, crisis management, leadership, and investigations. He also developed and conducted highly sought-after security training to law enforcement professionals from around the country.

Dave is a Certified Protection Professional (CPP®), Board Certified in Security Management by ASIS International. In addition, Dave received certification in Infrastructure Protection through the Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service (TEEX) and is certified by the American Crime Prevention Institute (ACPI) as a Law Enforcement Security Assessment Specialist. Dave also holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Administration of Justice from the Pennsylvania State University.

Katharine Neer assists clients on New York state regulatory and legislative issues. Katie primarily focuses on regulatory compliance issues for heavily regulated industries, including cannabis, gaming, and financial services.

Prior to private practice, Katie served as Assistant Secretary for General Government and Financial Services in the New York State Governor’s Office. At the Governor’s office, Katie was a member of the state operations team overseeing policy and operations for six agencies: the Department of Financial Services (DFS); the State Insurance Fund; the Department of State; the Department of Tax and Finance; the Office of General Services; and the Gaming Commission. During her time in the Governor’s Office, Katie was responsible for negotiating and overseeing the implementation of several key policy initiatives, including Paid Family Leave, Ride-Share, and the DFS’s cybersecurity regulations.

Katie also gained in-house experience in the cannabis industry, working as the Director of Government Affairs for a multi-state-operator and Chair of the New York Medical Cannabis Industry Association. In those roles, she gained a specialized understanding of the challenges facing cannabis operators in several states, including New York, where policymakers recently enacted legislation to legalize and regulate cannabis for adult-use.

Katie was listed as an attorney on The Best Lawyers in America, “Ones to Watch,” List for Administrative and Regulatory law in 2021. In 2018, she was profiled as an Albany 40 Under 40 Rising Star. She also serves on the Board of Directors for the Upper Hudson Planned Parenthood.

A member of the New York State Bar, she received her J.D. from Syracuse University College of Law, her M.P.A. from Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy, and her B.A. in political science from SUNY Albany, where she earned the 2009 SUNY Chancellor’s Award of Excellence and played Division I Lacrosse.

Cecilia Walsh is a member of the Cannabis Employment and Education Development team (CEED) at the New York State Department of Labor. CEED's mission is to empower and prepare the workforce and businesses to support an equitable, diverse, and inclusive cannabis industry, resulting in economic opportunity and growth for traditionally underserved people, and positioning New York State to be a leading model for the nation. Brought on in early 2022, the team is highlighting opportunities in the emerging adult-use market by assisting job seekers with cannabis employment, training, and up-skilling opportunities. In addition to supporting New York’s businesses by helping them find qualified workers and keeping them informed about tools and incentives to make their businesses thrive, the team is tracking cannabis education and training programs and providing information about NYSDOL labor standards and best practices. Prior to working at NYSDOL, Ms. Walsh served as Director of Communications for the Albany County District Attorney’s Office where she was able to track the decriminalization and regulation of cannabis in New York’s laws while serving as an advocate in the criminal justice community. Ms. Walsh received her BA at Russell Sage College in Troy, NY and is an MPA Candidate at Marist College.