Marijuana Business Magazine July 2019

July 2019 | mjbizdaily.com 137  Former Kellogg Exec is New CEO at Charlotte’s Web Adrienne “Deanie” Elsner , former president of the $3 billion U.S. snacks division at the Kellogg Co., is the new CEO at Charlotte’s Web, a Colorado CBD company. As president of Kellogg’s Snack Business Unit, the largest division in the Kellogg Global portfolio, Elsner is credited with leading its exit out of the direct store delivery distribution system, shifting to occasion-based marketing and establishing a portfolio investment strategy. Before joining Kellogg, Elsner spent more than 20 years in various leader- ship roles at Kraft Foods Co., includ- ing executive vice president and chief marketing officer. Elsner also has held sales roles at Procter & Gamble and Johnson & Johnson; she sits on the board of directors at Owens Corning.  Vireo Taps Anheuser- Busch Alum for Marketing Post Vireo Health International, a Minnesota-based multistate canna- bis operator, hired Harris Rabin to fill the newly created post of chief marketing officer. Rabin will oversee brand marketing, e-commerce and sales efforts. Rabin most recently served as global vice president of marketing at Anheuser- Busch InBev (ABInBev), where he led brand-building efforts for a multi- billion-dollar global portfolio of beer brands. Before ABInBev, Rabin spent nearly a decade at Bayer HealthCare as a brand builder in the consumer health division, where he built brands and ultimately oversaw the global aspirin franchise. Americans for Safe Access Leader Steps Down Steph Sherer , who founded the medical marijuana advocacy organization Americans for Safe Access in 2002 and has run it ever since as executive director, left that role to become president of the International Cannabis and Cannabinoids Institute (ICCI). The ICCI, which Sherer helped found in 2015, is a collaboration of patient advocates, scientists and a New York-based investment company, Dioscorides Global Holdings. Sherer formed Dioscorides in 2014. Sherer, who will split her time between Prague, the Czech capital, and Washington DC, will remain president of the board for Americans for Safe Access, though she’ll relinquish her executive director role. MJ Investment Firm Recruits Dem Duo Northern Swan, a New York-based marijuana investment group, installed two senior figures from the Democratic party to its advisory board to help navigate the company’s focus on Latin America: Tom Daschle , a former U.S. Senate majority leader, and Joe Crowley , a prominent party member who last year lost a high-profile primary in New York to Alexandria Ocasio- Cortez. Daschle and Crowley will help guide Northern Swan as it aims to ramp up production in Colombia to export product to medical marijuana markets. Denver Cannabis Vet to Lead MJ Policy Colorado Gov. Jared Polis selected cannabis industry veteran Ean Seeb to lead the state’s cannabis policy. Seeb was co-owner of one of Denver’s original cannabis retailers, Denver Relief, before it was sold. He also co-founded Denver Relief Consulting and twice served as chair of the National Cannabis Industry Associa- tion. Seeb doesn’t have an official title with the state yet, but he did sever all cannabis business partnerships and client relationships before accepting the job, according to reports.  Acreage Poaches Curaleaf IR Exec, Dartmouth Doctor Acreage Holdings expanded its investor relations team by adding Curaleaf Holdings alum Christine Rigby and its medical team by adding Corey Burchman , formerly an assistant professor of anesthesiology and pain medicine at Dartmouth College’s Geisel School of Medicine. Rigby led investor relations at Curaleaf Holdings for three years and also helped launch Measure 8 Venture Partners, a cannabis- focused private equity fund that has raised more than $100 million. For nearly 10 years before that, Rigby was vice president and head trader for Sputnik Group, a private equity fund founded and still led by Curaleaf chair Boris Jordan. Burchman, who also served as medical adviser to the Prime Alter- native Treatment Center of New Hampshire, will build Acreage’s med- ical advisory board, develop patient outreach programs and serve as medical-risk mitigator to the compa- ny’s product development efforts. True Leaf Collars Pet Care All-Star Canada’s True Leaf Brands tapped an executive from the world’s largest pet food company to lead its hemp Christine Rigby