Volume 5:
Pot Talk

From April to September 2017, the use of medical marijuana by Canadians rose 20% - and that’s just legal, reported usage.  Pot is coming to Canada across the country in 2018 and businesses, citizens and even the government implementing the changes are clearly unprepared.

In the wake of these changes entrepreneurs, policy makers and innovative business people are flooding the market to introduce products and services to meet an excited audience.  As always, at Ensemble, we’re here for you to pull together the discussion and create an evening to tap into what you need to know to be a part of the conversation that will impact our culture in the back half of 2018 and beyond.

Who are the players you need to know?  How are corporations, brands and individuals getting involved - both to the benefit and detriment?  What are the implications of the proposed government-run delivery mechanism in Ontario?

Join us on May 31 as we dive into another great topic and deliver the points of view you want to hear from.

SPEAKERS:

Rebecca Brown, Chief Revenue Officer, Abacus.Agency and Founder, Crowns Creative

Anna Duckworth, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, Miss Grass

Alan Gertner, CEO, Hiku

Brady Green, Director of Cultivation, CannTrust

Saleem Haniff, Mental Health and Well-Being Lead, Toronto District School Board

Kerri-Lynn McAllister, Chief Marketing Officer, Lift& Co.

Margaret McKellar, VP, Innovation and Product Development, Kantar TNS

Lorne Simon, Founder, RIDE Checks

EVENT INFO

May 31, 2018
WE Global Learning Centre,  339 Queen Street East

Tickets: $25.00

• Doors open at 6:30pm
• Talks begin by 7:15 pm
• Networking from 8:15 to 10:00pm

About Our Speakers

Rebecca Brown, Chief Revenue Officer, Abacus.Agency and Founder, Crowns Creative

Rebecca Brown recently founded Crowns, a cannabis advertising agency based in Toronto. Crowns has a strategic partnership with Cannabis Compliance Inc., a consulting firm for commercial cannabis producers and resellers around the world. Rebecca is also the Chief Revenue Officer at Abacus, and has previously worked at J. Walter Thompson.

Anna Duckworth, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, Miss Grass

Anna Duckworth is co-founder and e\ditor-in-chief at Miss Grass—an elevated content and e-commerce platform for women and cannabis. Her career in media and editorial spans magazine, radio, film, television, branded content and specifically, cannabis brands. She was the Head of Content at the California-based cannabis brand dosist (coming soon to Canada!), Managing Editor at The Alpine Review, and co-founder of Buckslip—a weekly newsletter named one of the best of the year in Wired. As a certified pilates teacher, wellness enthusiast and cannabis advocate, Miss Grass is the ultimate manifestation of Anna’s divergent preoccupations—wellness, media, cannabis and the good women who make it all go round. 

Alan Gertner, CEO, Hiku

Alan Gertner is the CEO of the recently founded Hiku, the only Canadian craft cannabis
producer with a significant national footprint and a growing brand house including premium
cannabis lifestyle brands DOJA, Van der Pop, Maïtri and Tokyo Smoke (co-founded by Alan).

A lover of technology, design and everything in-between, Alan most recently led a $+100M
organization at Google in Asia. Alan is a proven leader in strategy and operations, including as
a founding member of Google's first Global Business Strategy team while based in Mountain
View, California. Alan was formerly a Management Consultant at Oliver Wyman in New York
and graduated Dean’s list from the Richard Ivey School of Business, Canada’s leading business
school, in 2006. As a youngster, Alan spent every moment he could interning at wild and weird
startups - from building flashy flash websites to developing and selling the garbage bin billboard.

An angel investor and advisor outside of Hiku, Alan supports programs that empower the
greater startup community, the cannabis movement and future generations of people pursuing
their passions, including his own Time On Project (www.timeon.org) , dedicated to self
disruption, mindfulness and winning at life.

Alan went to computer camp as a kid, he reads too much, loves traveling, and getting lost.

Brady Green, Director of Cultivation, CannTrust

Brady Green has 15 years of growing experience and joined CannTrust in May 2014 as a grow technician. He completed his bachelor of science degree with honours specializing in biochemistry and molecular biology from Trent University. His growing styles range from self sustainable organic growing, to highly technical hydroponic production.

Saleem Haniff, Mental Health and Well-Being Lead, Toronto District School Board

Saleem Haniff was born, raised, educated, and still works and lives in Toronto. He has worked with children, youth and their families in a variety of contexts across the province, which include youth and adult shelters, youth justice, mentoring, school based violence prevention, walk in and community based counseling, therapy, and developmental services.

Saleem is currently the Mental Health & Well-Being Lead at the Toronto District School Board, and has a professional commitment to work with youth across Canada to help them live well on their way to reaching their personal best. Saleem has a keen interest on the intersection of culture, technology, and sleep with one’s mental health and well-being.  Saleem finds inspiration from his wife and mother’s unwavering strength, his 2 daughters' unfiltered and care-free world view, and his father’s sage mantra that, “Knowledge isn’t power, until you act on what you know.”

Kerri-Lynn McAllister, Chief Marketing Officer, Lift& Co.

Kerri-Lynn McAllister is the Chief Marketing Office (CMO) of Lift & Co. Previously, Kerri-Lynn was a member of the founding team at Ratehub.ca, Canada’s leading financial product comparison platform, serving more than five million users annually. During her tenure as CMO, Ratehub.ca secured $12-million in series-A financing. Kerri-Lynn is also an early-stage investor in Zoocasa, and remains an advisor to this and other notable real-estate tech companies. A graduate of the Smith School of Business at Queen’s University, Kerri-Lynn regularly shares her insights into digital marketing and technology at conferences and meetups including the Richard Ivey School of Business, OneEleven, and Elevate Toronto.

Margaret McKellar, VP, Innovation and Product Development, Kantar TNS

Margaret McKellar is Vice President, Innovation at Kantar, one of the world’s largest research companies. Margaret’s agenda is to foster Canadian innovation through thought leadership, creativity, and guiding clients through their innovation challenges and initiatives.

Prior to joining Kantar, Margaret led a number of leading Canadian brands including Becel, Dove, Sunlight, and Vaseline, where she developed a passion for consumer understanding before moving to her passion for whisky leading innovation at Corby Spirit and Wine.

Lorne Simon, Founder, RIDE Checks

Lorne Simon works with Police Services in the GTA in messaging and rewarding responsible drivers in R.I.D.E. Spot Checks. He also put together the Consequence Strains documentary with BBDO and Beleave, a licensed producer of marijuana.  He is the Past Chair of T.O. Crime Stoppers and an Honorary Detective with the Toronto Police Services.