Cannabis Movers & Shakers: Dosist, Lantern, Hollister, Ascend Wellness, Volunteer Botanicals

Dosist Appoints Marie Dacyshyn As President & CMO

Dosist chief marketing officer Anne Marie Dacyshyn has been promoted to president and chief marketing officer, Benzinga recently reported.

At her new position, she will oversee all Marketing and Innovation, Digital, e-Commerce, Sales, Customer Experience, Operations and Human Resources.

Dacyshyn, who joined the company in 2018, has successfully built dosist's programs and playbooks for Product Marketing & Commercialization, Partnerships, PR & Communications, Digital Marketing, Creative and Customer Experience.

In addition, she also led the launch of dosist's first flagship retail platform in Venice, California.

"On behalf of myself and our board, we are thrilled with the promotion of Anne-Marie to this new level of leadership," Jason DeLand, executive chairman, and co-founder at dosist, said. "She and I have worked in partnership all year to prime both dosist and our newly launched dosist health brands for growth and expansion, and there is nobody more well-suited for this position."

Lantern Shakes Up Leadership Team, Announces New Appointments

Cannabis e-commerce and home delivery platform Lantern announced several changes in its leadership team on Wednesday.

Meredith Mahoney, Lantern's president, who has been leading the company since its launch in May 2020 by the group behind Drizly, the Boston-based alcohol e-commerce has now been named co-founder and CEO.

In addition, Katie Neer, who served as head of industry affairs, was appointed to serve as general counsel.

Lantern also revealed that it has tapped Akele Parnell as head of equity partnerships, to lead its social equity incubator program.

Following Uber's roughly $1.1 billion acquisition of Drizly, and Lantern's transition to a separate corporate entity, its co-founder, Justin Robinson, transitioned to a full-time role at the company. Most recently, he agreed to oversee Lantern's growth operations and product development.

"Cannabis is expected to become the final frontier in the e-commerce landscape, and I am thrilled to focus my efforts on fulfilling our company's long-term vision of bringing transparency, equity, and access to the legal space," Robinson commented.

Hollister Biosciences Announces A Series Of Appointments

Hollister Biosciences Inc. HOLL HSTRF HOB recently announced a series of appointments in addition to operational and strategic updates to position itself for the next phase of its growth.

Carl Saling, who resigned as the CEO and director of the Vancouver-based company, will serve as senior advisor to the company's board.

Jake Cohen, who oversaw operations at Hollister, agreed to replace Saling as the new CEO and a board member.

Cohen is the founder of cannabis concentrate brands Venom Extracts, which Hollister bought last year for CA$20 million.

The company also appointed Eula Adams, MBA, CPA, to serve as interim CFO. In his new role, he will oversee recruiting a permanent chief financial officer and chief operations officer for the company.

Most recently, Adams served as a member of the board of directors and chairman of the audit committee for Harvest Health & Recreation Inc. from December 2019 through the recent completion of its acquisition by Trulieve Cannabis Corp. TRULTCNNF.

Chris Lund, who has over three decades of experience in comprehensive brand building, was named Hollister's new chief commercial officer. He will be responsible for supervising all communications, sales, marketing and branding for the company and its subsidiaries.

As founder and CEO of Perennial Design, Lund played a key role in consulting and acting in advisory roles with iconic brands such as RBC, Loblaw Companies Limited L, McKesson MCK, Home Depot Inc HD, Bauer, Coca-Cola Co KO, Morrisons MRW, and Ahold Delhaize.

Jill Karpe, who has been leading the finance, administration and compliance oversight functions for Venom Extracts, was promoted to senior vice president of finance and administration of the company. She brings 20 years of experience in the financial industry, specifically 10 years in banking and underwriting.

Hollister also made some changes to its board of directors and is now comprised of primarily independent directors.

In addition to Cohen, the company has appointed to its board both Lily Dash, a practicing lawyer and entrepreneur with global experience, and Brett Mecum, an expert at understanding legislative processes. Both will be nominated for election at the annual general meeting along with Adams.

The new additions are joining Jakob Ripshtein, former president of Aphria, who currently chairs Hollister's board, and Kevin Harrington, a veteran CEO, bestselling author and platform-building entrepreneur, who has been serving on the board since the last month.

Ascend Wellness Names T. Andrew Brown As President of AWH New York

Vertically integrated cannabis company Ascend Wellness Holdings, Inc. AAWH AAWH announced on Thursday that T. Andrew Brown, founder and managing partner of Brown Hutchinson LLP, has been appointed president of AWH New York.

With over 35 years of experience in legal and governmental sectors, Brown will build relationships with state and local elected officials, the Office of Cannabis Management and industry stakeholders.

Brown is a distinguished lawyer and public servant, focusing on equity, access, and affordability in New York's developing adult-use cannabis program and on improving offerings for medical cannabis patients.

Currently, Brown serves as the president of the New York State Bar Association and previously was the general counsel of the National Bar Association.

"Appointing Andrew Brown is a critical next step to completing this transition prior to the end of 2021 and underscores the significant investment we will make in the Empire State," said AWH Founder and CEO Abner Kurtin.

Volunteer Botanicals Announces Formation Of Medical-Science Advisory Board

CBD company Volunteer Botanicals announced the formation of its medical-science advisory board recently to help guide the company's innovation, technology and product development efforts.

The board consists of leading experts from the cannabis business, medical science, as well as healthcare and pharmaceutical industries. The board will provide strategic guidance on Volunteer Botanicals' ongoing efforts to develop cannabinoid-based products.

Founding board members include:

• Dr. Theodore Search, innovation advocate, tech guru and social networking expert in the medical industry, founded SKIPTA, which now includes more than 31 specialized medical communities with over 800,000 U.S. healthcare professionals as members.
• Dr. Neil Minkoff, who currently serves as a chief medical officer at Coeus Consulting Group. He is a founder of FountainHead HealthCare and has over two decades of market access experience.
• Peter Burch has over three decades of experience in the healthcare sector, having held various responsibilities at several companies.

"The level of expertise and experience our founding board members bring to the table will help us identify the best uses for our technology, as well as provide insight on and contacts with the product manufacturers interested in introducing cannabinoids into their products," Derek Odette, CEO and co-founder of Volunteer Botanicals, recently said.

Photo: Courtesy of David Gabrić on Unsplash