Assistant Professor of Sociology and Program Leader of the Cannabis Studies major at California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt

Dominic is an Assistant Professor of Sociology and Cannabis Studies Program Lead at Cal Poly Humboldt University. His research interests include regulatory effects of policing illicit drugs; history and geography of cannabis prohibition and legalization; political economy of cannabis markets; cultural geography of cannabis in California; and ethnographies of cannabis criminalization as it pertains to Local Equity Programs in California.

Executive Director of Origins Council

Genine is the Founder and Executive Director of Origins Council, a California nonprofit advocacy, education and research organization dedicated to sustainable rural economic development for rural cannabis producing regions. OC is partnered with 6 regional trade associations based in rural legacy producing regions, and represents the collective 900 members of these regional partner associations in OC’s programmatic activity. Her research interests are focused on community-based participatory research and appellations research. She is currently collaborating with university researchers in California to study the economic impact of cannabis legalization on the North Coast. 

Associate Professor of Anthropology at California State University, Northridge

Rachel is Associate Professor of Anthropology at California State University, Northridge (CSUN). Her research interests include collaborative, community-based efforts in anthropological research; cultural heritage, tourism, and development; and indigeneity and ethnic politics in southern Africa. She is currently conducting research on the implementation of an appellations of origin program for cannabis in California.

Historian with the Oral History Center at the Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley

Todd is a Historian and Associate Academic Specialist with the Oral History Center of The Bancroft Library at UC Berkeley. A specialist in California and the American West, his work focuses on the history of politics, business, and agriculture in the region. At the Oral History Center, he serves as the managing academic specialist of the UC Berkeley / OHC 420 Archive, a collaborative project focused on documenting and preserving the history of California Cannabis.

Co-founder of Canndor the world’s first cannabis herbarium and Co-founder and CEO of LeafWorks

Eleanor is the Co-founder and CEO of LeafWorks, a botanical genetics company focusing on plant identification and building DNA based diagnostic and verification tools for the emerging cannabis and medicinal plant industries. A classically trained botanist that has worked extensively in medicinal plants and specialty crops, her work has focused on the impacts and importance of population diversity and gene flow in agricultural systems, and how agricultural best practices affect medicinal plant quality and market value. She has a long connection to the cannabis community. In 2015, she co-founded Canndor, the Peoples Herbarium - the world’s first cannabis herbarium - to document diversity and protect the plant stewards that breed and maintain those plant collections under prohibition.

Deputy Director for the California Equity Policy Council and President of the United CORE Alliance. Chief Executive Officer at United CORE Alliance

Khalil is an accomplished strategist, advocate, and community organizer. He brings a racial equity lens to his leadership as well as a passion to implement racial equity in his organizations, network, and community. Khalil has assisted small for-profit and non-profit businesses with their business plans, structure, financials, and identifying funding opportunities. Khalil’s focus on strategies for combating gentrification and supporting inclusive economic development programs has resulted in appointments to committees, speaking engagements, and numerous awards. Currently, Khalil is the President of the United CORE Alliance (UCA), a non-profit organization in Sacramento, CA that restores the rights of formerly incarcerated individuals through the records expungement process in partnership with the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development and the City of Sacramento.