Vladimir Bautista is the CEO and Co-Founder of The Happy Munkey brand, an internationally known NYC lifestyle company that is synonymous with cannabis culture.

Born and raised in Hamilton Heights, NYC, Vlad and The Happy Munkey are formidable advocates and leaders in the cannabis space. Vlad is widely recognized for his deep relationships with the international cannabis elite and his successful experience in music, hospitality and event production. He provides corporate cannabis access to the authentic NYC cannabis scene.

Vlad has been a featured speaker at many virtual and live Cannabis conferences, from being on the keynote panel at MJBIZ CON, the largest trade show in the US, to CannaSalud held recently in Mexico and many in between.  His passion is discussing how the legacy and legal Cannabis industries must work together and unite rather than clash. He and The Happy Munkey have featured in many mainstream media outlets including CNBC, The New York Times, Crain’s NY, Bloomberg Business Week, USA Today, Rolling Stone and NBC News among others.

Under Vlad’s leadership, Happy Munkey hosts popular VIP events that connect politicians, chefs, doctors, influencers, athletes and creative artists with each other based on a mutual love of the plant. For over five years, Happy Munkey has laid the groundwork for what the future of social consumption can look like in New York. Since MRTA legalized cannabis in 2021, Happy Munkey has worked actively with local vendors, community leaders, and elected officials to envision what compliant social consumption will look like in our great city/state.

Happy Munkey is committed to always evolving their operations to ensure every event they produce is compliant with all OCM regulations. Their goal is to lead by example and show that, with creativity and in partnership with stakeholders in the community, the legal market can be fun and exciting.

The Happy Munkey team was awarded a Silver Clio for their groundbreaking “Happy Munkey After Hours” consumption event at the Original Immersive VanGogh exhibit.   That was on top of their hosting the End of Prohibition celebration in 2021 on April 20 the Cannabis industry’s unofficial global holiday, at Bobby Van’s Steakhouse on Wall Street.  And this past 710, Vlad hosted the Happy Munkey’s Sexual Soiree 710 party at NYC’s Museum of Sex which attracted over 1000 guests including many celebrities on a Monday night in the summer.

Educating the community is also a priority for Vlad.  This past April, The Happy Munkey presented, in partnership with Columbia University, a day long “Choose Happy Symposium,” which featured NY politicians and community leaders as speakers to an audience normally ignored, the Latino’s and blacks who live in his old neighborhood, Harlem as well as Washington Heights.  It was the first event to offer simultaneous translation in Spanish.  Vlad and the Happy Munkey also helped sponsor an event called CannaRed to educate and inform the Spanish-speaking community about the benefits of Cannabis (particularly the Dominican community) and build support for the Cannabis March happening in May 2023 in the Dominican Republic.