Trusted Partners

Courtney Mathis, MNM, co-founder of Cannabis Doing Good(CDG), co-founder of the Cannabis Impact Fund (CIF) and founder of Rune Consulting, believes that equity and justice practices, community benefit, and planetary care are critical for business growth and industry success. Her businesses aim to build a purpose-driven industry and ensure that doing the right thing, is the easy thing.
Courtney is passionate about racial and social justice, drug policy reform, community health, and environmental stewardship. She has 13 years experience in cannabis where her primary focus has been to innovate on equitable and purposeful best business practices. She specializes in building social responsibility programs through CDG’s trademarked Cannabis Social Responsibility® framework as well as social equity programs for cannabis businesses and policy creators.
Most recently Courtney’ and her co-founders’ work has focused on stewarding anti-racism/DEI trainings and assessments and building legacy CSR programs for companies across the country. Courtney trains, speaks and advises on equitable policy initiatives across the US and Canada and proudly supports strategic partners such as the Minority Cannabis Business Association, Women Grow, Marijuana Business Magazine, Minorities for Medical Marijuana, and Drug Policy Alliance.
Her companies’ work has been featured in Forbes, the San Francisco Chronicle, Represent Collaborative, ABC News, Canada’s The Star, Marijuana Business Magazine, Marijuana Moment, Pacific Standard, Colorado Public Radio, The Nonprofit Quarterly, CBS Local, and many other cannabis-trade magazines. Additionally, they were featured in Green Entrepreneur as one of the top 100 cannabis companies in the country.

David Tran has made cannabis his professional home: from dispensary owner, to landmark events, to the boardroom, to every aspect of the supply chain. His superpower is his specialization: in Hospitality, Marketing, Branding, and Events. He has owned/operated 4 of the most popular venues in Seattle, WA with over $75 MM in total revenue, and has created signature events — including Club Nights — with the worlds top DJ’s and artists. His cannabis journey began in 2011: he founded one of the first medical cannabis dispensaries in Seattle, WA. Being a prolific entrepreneur, he concurrently founded and served as CEO of Dope Media, a cannabis lifestyle brand with magazine distribution of 75K Monthly into 30+ U.S. states and countries. Dope lead the charge on uplifting cannabis culture, with best-in-class Cannabis Events including: the Dope Cup/ Dope Industry Awards Show/Budtender Appreciation Day/Golden Ticket MJ Biz VIP Party. David successfully facilitated the sale of Dope Media to Hightimes for $11.2MM. He was honored as Hightimes 100 Most Influential People. In 2019, he co-founded, Farechild, an all-inclusive event production and marketing platform dedicated to connecting the legal,professional cannabis industry producing events such as It’s Lit, Chronic Relief 420 Golf Tournament, and Virtual Telethon and Dream House with over 2500 attendees. Never one to rest, he also founded/manages his own consulting firm: Goldfingers Group where he advises cannabis companies on Operations/Financing/Marketing in Retail/Manufacturing/Cultivation.

Pam Casale is a clear thinker and change agent. As founder of ASAP Marketing she has earned the trust of dozens of executives who have relied on her ability to quickly assimilate a lot of data to create a path to growth. Her advice is consistent. First, actions have consequences – some break in your favor and some don’t. Be ready to love and adapt to plan B. Second, change is hard but trust in your strengths makes change work in your favor. Third, surround yourself with a resourceful team – have confidence in the team to free the mind, be in the moment and then deliver your best work. The cannabis and hemp economy is alluring. She considers it a gift to be able to jump in and explore how to realize value for man and planet. Pam’s expertise is monetizing technology innovation and using distribution strategies and demand generation for consistent growth. Pam is a co-founder at Skip Intro Advisors, and helped steer the company to launch.

Gretchen Gailey has worked in the cannabis industry for the past six years in a communications and government affairs capacity advancing the industry through its data and the stories of those involved. She has worked in network news, cable news and local news, on and off camera, as well as in print journalism for more than 10 years. After leaving journalism behind, she took her talents to Capitol Hill where she traded places with her former self and entered the political realm. By knowing how the sausage was made, Gretchen was able to work with lawmakers to inform them on tax policy for cannabis and provide the U.S. Senate Finance Committee with the data necessary to draft cannabis tax legislation. Her vast experience across all sectors has made her an invaluable asset to cannabis.

Gabrielle Guttman is the Founder & President of the strategic business development boutique Connext Consulting Inc®. She uses an integrated suite of services that includes business development, marketing, events, and communications to help businesses and nonprofits achieve their optimal growth potential. Prior to founding Connext, Gabrielle held business development, PR/IR and marketing roles at Southridge LLC, Kroll Inc. and Grey Group Inc. She began her career as an investment banking analyst at Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc. Gabrielle has been an active volunteer for over 20 years, and she currently holds several leadership positions at nonprofits focused on the financial services industry, DEI, and children. Notable affiliations include 100 Women in Finance, A Leg To Stand On, Barnard Business and Professional Women, the Connecticut Hedge Fund Association, Cycle For Survival, the New York Alternative Investment Roundtable, and Portfolios with Purpose. Gabrielle graduated Magna Cum Laude with a B.A. in Economics from Barnard College, Columbia University.