Kimberly is the Chairperson of the recently established Frenchy Cannoli Foundation. The Foundation will continue Frenchy’s legacy of open-source hash-making education and promote projects to support the small regenerative farmers of the Emerald Triangle. Kimberly is also leading the distribution of Frenchy’s documentary film “Frenchy Dreams of Hashish” and will publish his book on the history of cannabis concentrates currently being edited. The second iteration of his scientific investigation with High North Labs in Canada on aging hashish is under development. The Foundation is also in the process of organizing the inaugural Frenchy Fest for summer 2023 in Humboldt to celebrate Frenchy’s life and empower the community he loved.
Chief Ron Sam has 11 years experience as elected leader of Songhees Nation and serves as the chair of the Songhees Development Corporation. Ron brings expertise in government and community relations, negotiation and conflict resolution and strategy development.
After over a decade in the corporate world, Anuraga decided to alter her direction.
Now, she shares her passion towards quality, with craft operators in the cannabis industry to help them thrive and produce high grade products that genuinely help consumers.
As a Quality Assurance Person possessing active Health Canada’s security clearance, she brings with her a combined experience from Cannabis, Food and Pharmaceutical industries, to work with you and within your budget. Over the last few years, she has been instrumental in several successful license applications and on-going managements.
Leave the compliance worries to her, while you grow this amazing plant and produce wonderful products.
Mat Beren is the founder and Chief Cultivating Officer at Great Gardener Farms, Mat has been working with cannabis for 28 years. Mat worked with compassion clubs like the Vancouver Island Compassion Club for 15 years. He has won 80+ international awards for his work with cannabis on 4 continents. In 2018, Mat and his partner Kirk Tousaw started Great Gardener Farms in Canada. Their focus is on developing unique cultivars for the Canadian market. Grown with Intention.
Ted Smith, founder and executive director of the Victoria Cannabis Buyers Club (VCBC), has been a medical cannabis advocate in British Columbia for almost three decades. Ted founded the country’s oldest compassion club in downtown Victoria, BC in 1996 and has been operating the VCBC out of the same retail location on Johnon St since 2001. Ted has played a significant role in the battle to secure patient’s access to medical cannabis and paving the pathway to federal legalization of cannabis across Canada.
Ted moved to Victoria in 1995 to start the International Hempology 101 Society and he has been at the forefront of cannabis activism and patient advocacy ever since. Ted has an extensive bibliography of publications including his textbook, “Hempology 101: The History and Uses of Cannabis Sativa.” Ted was the editor and publisher of the Cannabis Digest newspaper, Canada’s most widely circulated publication on cannabis issues for 10 years. Ted has also been a significant cultural icon, highlighted by playing a fun role in the movie “Kid Cannabis” (2014). Between coordinating or participating in thousands of rallies, meetings, press conferences and other cannabis activism events over the years, Ted Smith’s breadth and depth of knowledge on cannabis activism and the needs of patients is unparalleled.
Ted founded the Victoria Cannabis Buyers Club in January 1996, and it is the oldest medical cannabis dispensary in Canada with over 8,500 members. In 2009, Ted’s employee Owen Smith (no relation) was arrested for baking cookies for patients at the VCBC. Ted was a central component to the defence team and helped manage the case all the way to a unanimous victory at the Supreme Court of Canada in 2015. The successful supreme court decision in 2015 made cannabis edibles and concentrates legal for patients. Over the years, the VCBC and its facilities have been raided 8 times due to our non-compliance with federal and provincial cannabis regulations that neglect the needs of patients. The VCBC has undergone three raids by the Community Safety Unit, have endured threats against our landlord, and we are now being fined close to $6.5M. He and the staff have beaten every criminal charge in court using various constitutional arguments.
Today Ted is leading our small non-profit society into the future. He is focused on getting Health Canada to grant the VCBC a temporary exemption from the Cannabis Act. Our goal is to seek an exemption in order to provide the high-dosage edibles patients rely on, something the club has provided long before legalization. In the future, it is Ted’s goal to create integrated palliative care facilities with cannabis and other plant medicines grown and processed on-site for cancer patients.
Kyra Horvath is a Co-Founder and Master Grower of Pineapple Buds Inc., a Micro-Cultivation facility located in Oliver, BC that specializes in deep-water cultivation and proprietary genetics. Kyra attended the University of Calgary, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology and minor in Anthropology. After graduating, she fully immersed herself in the Cannabis market focusing on quality assurance and consumer application with partner Laine Keyes.
Darwin is responsible for strategic oversight, management and operation of All Nations. As former, long-standing council member for the Cheam First Nation and director of Cheam Enterprises Inc., Darwin is well-versed in First Nation’s politics, business development and strives to assist Indigenous Nations achieve economic independence.
Darwin was a key player in assisting the Shxwhá:y First Nation to develop, build and licence a 30,000 square foot cannabis cultivation and processing facility on reserve land. This state-of-the-art facility will produce upwards of 4,000 kgs of premium cannabis products per annum which can be sold in national and international markets.
Darwin is a leader in both his family and community and has deep knowledge of Indigenous . Throughout his life, his work has been driven by the legacy of his late Grandfather Chief Albert Douglas, a genuine leader who had a vision of wellness and prosperity for the Stó:lō people. The second oldest of seven siblings, Darwin is proud to have a strong entrepreneurial spirit that was passed down from grandparents, and follows in the leadership path his family created.
Darwin has been a longstanding protector of Indigenous cultural knowledge and resources within his traditional territory for over 22 years. He holds a certificate in Cultural Resource Management from the University of Victoria and a business management certificate from the Sauder School of Business at the University of British Columbia.
Simon Smit is a Dutch cannabis breeder, 105-time cup winner from Amsterdam, co-founder of Cerebral Seeds, and the creator of Serious Seeds, founded in 1994.
Smit studied biology at ‘Free University’ in Amsterdam, where he began his cannabis career as a certified professional falconer, working in Holland for a few years as a high school biology teacher before taking on the role of manager for Sensi Seeds in Amsterdam around 1992. His transition from the waitlist for licensing to grower took place when Alan Dronkers asked Simon to manage Sensi Seeds, and since then, he’s grown into a renowned expert cultivator.
In 1994 Simon Smit won his first 2 cannabis cups, while his work inspired the second wave of breeders and seed companies to take root in Amsterdam. His company, Serious Seeds, was inducted into the High Times Hall of Fame in 2007, and in 2020, this skilled grower was chosen as one of the 420 icons of the top 100 cannabis influencers of all time.
Alannah leads her family farm – Hi Point Guest Ranch, on Vancouver Island, where they not only cultivate sungrown cannabis, but also offer guest accomodations with a private lake, tours and events. Their cannabis brand Dabble Cannabis Co. produces solventless extracts and a new topical collaboration called Dabble into Blyss, with a legacy brand Blyssful Alchemy. Alannah has been in the legal cannabis industry since 2018 with roles at Aurora Cannabis in wholesale operations, product development and commercialization. Prior to cannabis, Alannah has a background in retail operations at LUSH Cosmetics, banking and hospitality.
Andrea is a serial entrepreneur with an education in Design & Display for the retail environment . Throughout her career, Andrea has worked in front line retail with a focus on design and management and has had the pleasure of working for forward-thinking retailers such as IKEA, The Body Shop, and Womyns’Ware. She is an entrepreneur who has followed her heart when in the visioning process and her intuition while in the growth phase. Andrea finds most of her joy in supporting people to enjoy a health relationship with Cannabis.
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