Wesley Hein the President of the CDA and currently heads up Mammoth Distribution / Heavy Hitters’ Global Brand Initiatives which includes handling the company's strategic relationships, as well as its legal, licensing and government affairs departments. Wesley has extensive experience in managing high growth companies. Past experience includes co-founder & President of Enigma Records (acquired by EMI), Executive Vice President of the Walt Disney Company's Hollywood Records division, co-founder of Cinebase Software (merged into Kodak), and co-founder of Enigma Digital (acquired by Clear Channel Communications). Wesley also serves on the board of directors of the California Cannabis Manufacturers Association (CCMA), is Head of the Steering Committee of Legal Cannabis for Consumer Safety (LCCS), and is a member of the California Advisory Board of Americans for Safe Access (ASA).

Brooks Jorgensen is President of Kiva Confections and Kiva Sales & Service. Kiva serves the states of CA, AZ, NV, IL, MI, HI and OH with its high-quality edibles, and provides category leaders in other verticals through its distribution company, Kiva Sales and Service. Prior to entering the cannabis space, Brooks held the positions of Vice President and General Manager for the D&E Fine Wine Division of SGWS Texas and acting Vice President for SGWS / Glazer’s Distributing in Texas. Brooks started his career path On-Premise as the owner and proprietor of the Roosevelt Tavern in Sun Valley, Idaho at the age of 25, followed by a sales representative position with SWS Nevada, Las Vegas in 1999, and later managing all channels of business for the seven state control market for both Don Sebastiani and Moet Hennessy USA to Director of Chains, West Region in Walnut Creek California. Brooks has successfully managed teams in the On-Premise, Off Premise, Spirits, Craft Spirits, Control Markets and Fine Wine, working alongside industry leaders including Larry Ruvo, Scott Oppenheimer, and Bruce Scott.

Will Senn is the founder of Urbn Leaf. Will is one of the cannabis industries’ earliest entrepreneurs. Over the past 14 years, he successfully built 8 early-stage medical cannabis businesses. His focus project, Urbn Leaf, is regarded as one of the most successful Cannabis retail brands in California. The company holds licenses in all verticals of the industry and maintains a centralized distribution infrastructure to support its retail operations.  Will is a founding member of several local (Southern California) and national organizations, including the Global Alliance for Cannabis Commerce (GACC), whose sole focus is federal cannabis reform; the United Medical Marijuana Association (UMMC); the Patient Care Association; the Alliance for Responsible Medicinal Access; and the Citizens for Patient’s Rights.

Eddie Franco is the Director of Policy at Nabis, California’s leading licensed cannabis wholesaling platform, responsible for overseeing the company’s licensing, compliance and regulatory affairs. With over six years of experience in cannabis policy and laws, Eddie is consistently looking to improve California’s legal and regulatory landscape by leaning on his past experiences and the wide network of brands, retailers and operators Nabis serves. Prior to his current role, Eddie was the Legislative and Regulatory Affairs Manager for the California Cannabis Industry Association (CCIA), overseeing the trade group’s policy and regulatory objectives, and in 2018, he was proud to staff Asm. Bill Quirk’s cannabis portfolio including AB 2020, which established legal cannabis events in California.In addition to serving as an incumbent Board Director at CDA, Eddie also holds board positions at CCIA and Oakland Citizens for Equity and Prosperity (OCEP). During his free time, you’ll likely find Eddie at the local comic book shop or spending time with his wife and their ever-growing family of rescue pets.

Lauren Avenius, CEO Node Labs, has over fifteen years experience in consumer technology, FDA regulated industries, and supply chain. Prior to joining Node Labs as CEO, she worked at Sony Electronics, US leading Strategic Operations and Product where she launched 187 products including 4k TV and Hi Res Audio, while driving innovation in supply chain, finance, and IT. Her experience in medtech, where  she launched a direct to patient medical product platform and transformed a global device supply chain, has direct relevance in her work in cannabis now, where she successfully launched the Compound Genetics Brand direct to consumer platform and smokable products. Her experience and background in regulated industries, consumer products, and global supply chains, has allowed her to lead Node Labs from a California nursery and tissue culture facility to the world's largest cannabis in vitro genetic bank with a global footprint in 5 countries and 22 states and one of the most premium brands in cannabis.

David E. Argudo is  a seasoned elected Water Board Member and City Official in California bringing over 15 years of combined political experience and nearly 32 years of leadership in Cannabis advocacy work in California. Mr. Argudo helped pass the Compassionate Act (known as Prop. 215) in 1996, while attending Humboldt State University, and has since consulted and developed cannabis policies for states and local municipalities. As Mayor he was one of the first to develop local tax measures for cannabis in California. In addition to nearly 32 years of technical expertise in Cannabis cultivation, manufacturing, retail and distribution he brings extensive cannabis experience pertaining to the areas of public markets, marketing, biopharmaceuticals, cancer research, real estate and financing. Also, he has helped license over 27 cultivation/ manufacturing/ distribution licenses. Mr. Argudo is former founding Member of the California Growers Association and a Member of Humboldt Institute for Interdisciplinary Marijuana Research (HiiMR). As an elected official he has sat and continues to sit as a director on multiple boards. Mr. Argudo also brings international cannabis consulting experience in countries like Germany, Colombia, Mexico and Chile. Mr. Argudo has served as CEO/Chairman of an International Public Company trading on the Canadian Stock Exchange in where he successfully raised over 27 million dollars. Currently, Mr. Argudo holds the position of Chairman at Ladybug Resource Group, a Publicly Traded Holding Company trading in the US, in where Gold Mountain Distribution and Cannagirl are subsidiaries of LBRG. Additionally, Mr. Argudo is a lifelong member of NALEO an organization with over 7,000 elected and appointed officials across the Country. Aside from his political and cannabis experience David has a bachelor’s degree in Business, served in the United States Marine and worked for City of Hope Cancer Research Center. In his personal life he is a proud father of two young teenagers and in his spare time he enjoys the outdoors such as rafting, scuba diving and fishing.

Geoff Hoopes is the founder and CEO of UpNorth Distribution. With a passion for community, for creating a positive work place culture, and for the cannabis plant itself, Geoff has been able to build a company that supports over sixty-five living wage jobs throughout the state of California. Geoff takes great pride that many of these positions are based in Humboldt County, the area where he was born and raised, and where UpNorth Distribution’s story first begins.Although Geoff’s path in the licensed California cannabis recreational market started with a focus on distribution in October of 2015, that road quickly led to the creation of the UpNorth and Daze Off indoor flower brands. UpNorth’s success, establishing itself as a leading brand in California’s competitive market, led to the brand’s expansion into the Illinois and Arizona markets in 2022; thus far, the brand launch has posted an impressive trajectory in both markets. In addition to being UpNorth Distribution’s acting CEO, Geoff now travels between the three states advising on post-harvest production processes, brand development, genetic portfolio expansion, and sales strategy for UpNorth’s partner, Aeriz Holdings. Geoff’s past notable work experience also includes environmental restoration projects, management of public lands, building trades, lumberyard and millwork, retail, food service, and cannabis cultivation. He holds a B.S. in Natural Resources Planning and Interpretation fromCal Poly Humboldt (2011) and an A.A. from College of theRedwoods. Geoff currently resides in Humboldt County, California.

Mike Beaudry is founder and CEO of Herbl Distribution. Mike has over twenty-five years of experience leading high-volume distribution companies and held several executive roles in the natural & organic products industry. Mike led the national operations and then spent more than five years as President of United Natural Foods (UNFI), America’s leading distributor of natural, organic and specialty foods. After over a decade at UNFI Mike spent five years as CEO of Lang Pharma Nutrition, a leading private label dietary supplement company which manufactures and distributes products for the top retailers in the US:  Costco, Walmart, CVS, Target, etc.Mike began researching the California legal cannabis industry in 2014 and relocated from RI to California in Jan 2016 to focus 100% of his efforts on cannabis. Mike is currently the Founder and CEO of HERBL Distribution Solutions, a leading distributor of cannabis products in California.

Charlie leads the all Commercial activity for Humble Cannabis Solutions, which includes sales, brand development, Trade marketing support and business development. Charlie joined Humble from Old Pal, where he served as Chief Operating Officer, providing leadership across multiple areas, including sales, production, innovation, operations & retail execution. His expertise in the cannabis industry also includes reshaping the route-to-market strategies of Kiva Confections and Loudpack. Before he transitioned to the cannabis industry, Charlie spent eighteen years in the beverage alcohol industry in various roles, including sales, marketing, analytics, and senior leadership for Anheuser-Busch and MillerCoors. Additionally, Charlie has been an active legislative lobbying contributor in the cannabis industry. Through his work with CCIA & CCMA, he provided insight and strategies from his experience in the alcohol industry, which is subject to significant state and federal regulations. His ability to draw the parallels between these two adult-use product regulations makes him effective in conveying the need for practical and reasonable cannabis regulations. Charlie is a California State University Long Beach graduate and holds an MBA from Pepperdine University.

Mr. Ainsworth is a co-founder of Lowell Farms Inc. and serves as its Chief Executive Officer. In 2006 Mr. Ainsworth founded Pastry Smart, the first American Humane Certified and Organic bakery and confectionary manufacturer in the United States. Specializing in research and development, Mr. Ainsworth consulted with multiple Fortune 500 companies and developed Pastry Smart products for globally recognized retailers such as Whole Foods Markets and Costco Wholesale Corporation. Prior to forming Pastry Smart, Mr. Ainsworth served as Executive Pastry Chef for Pebble Beach Company and in a similar capacity for The Ritz Carlton Hotel Company. He has served as a Pastry Chef under Master Chef Alfonso Contrisciani at the former Opus 251 in Philadelphia, a Pastry Cook at Trump Plaza Hotel & Casino, and began his career in the pastry kitchens of the Atlantic Inn and Lucca's. A member of the American Culinary Federation since 2013, Mr. Ainsworth is a graduate of Johnson & Wales University, where he studied Pastry and Food Service Management, and he holds a certification from the French Pastry School.