Membership Spotlight

Tim is the CEO of Trellis, a financial services company that provides commercial cannabis operators access to banking through, Unify Financial Credit Union. Our membership with ACCCE provides the tools and resources we need to demonstrate our commercial cannabis operators’ lower risk profile.

Dede joined the cannabis industry in 2013 as a member of the application team that won one of the first competitive vertically integrated applications in Massachusetts. After that, she helped win cannabis licenses in New York, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ohio, California, Arkansas, North Dakota, and Nevada. A regulatory specialist, Dede is passionate about combining compliance with operational excellence; safe, standardized products; empowered employees; strong company culture and brands. 

Jacob is an Australian native with 10 years of working anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing experience within the APAC region, however, he now resides in the United States. He has a bachelor’s in Business majoring in Finance and is a Certified Commercial Cannabis Expert (CCCE). Jacob has specialized in risk management, working with highly regulated industries such as Banks, Gaming, FinTechs with NBFI/MSB/Gaming licenses, and marijuana businesses. Jacob has vast experience in regulatory compliance and AML/CTF in the US, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and the EU. The commercial cannabis market is exciting! The market is continuing to mature in key regions such as North America where it is legalized, but at the same time, is still in its infancy within the APAC region, and specifically in Australia where it remains illegal.

ACCCE offers me the opportunity to work with cohorts who are involved in the cannabis industry. Working with these professionals allows me to share my knowledge of how to design and implement Crisis Management Plans for cannabis businesses. It also affords me the ability to gain further knowledge of risk management best practices. Being a part of ACCE allows me to not only reach out and share my knowledge, but I am also able to expand my knowledge by working with the other members. In my opinion, ACCCE is the leading organization for risk management professionals who work in the cannabis industry. – William J. Cousins, CPP, CCCE, Chief Executive Officer of WJ Cousins & Associates LLC

Garrett is the President at Intellicheck, an age verification technology serving the cannabis industry. Over the past decade, his focus has been on identity, an area integral to the success of the cannabis industry. He joined ACCCE because he sees ACCCE as the highest bar of professionalism throughout the Cannabis industry, becoming a CCCE is another step in his commitment to risk management and compliance, and better equips him to serve the industry.

From the ground up, Sean is intimately familiar with cannabis operations, having operated and managed all facets of a vertically integrated, multi-state, cannabis food and topical manufacturing company. During his time within the industry, he has overseen the product life cycle of 26 unique cannabis-infused food and cosmetic products from concept to commercialization.  His responsibilities have included facility design and construction, product research and development, process design and validation, standard operating procedures, and most importantly creating and executing quality control and safety programs.  

Anuraga is the Chief Consultant for Qualium Consulting. Qualium Consulting provides compliance support to the craft operators in the Canadian cannabis industry. She has a bachelor’s degree in Food Science and Technology from ANGRAU, India, and a master’s degree in Food Process Engineering from Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago. Anuraga’s first job was in endurance food and supplement manufacturing company, but after slowly transitioning into health products and pharmaceuticals, she’s found her career in the cannabis industry.

Jim began his career in public accounting, working in teams to conduct financial audits and business valuations. He brought that experience to the Colorado Marijuana Enforcement Division, using a variety of financial data to identify risk and conduct financial analyses on Colorado’s marijuana license holders. Today, Jim is the Financial Controller of BeLeaf Medical, a vertically integrated Missouri commercial cannabis business. He is also a consultant through Vigland Advisors, which provides financial advisory services for cannabis businesses, giving management the information needed to make decisions confidently. Jim is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE), Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS), Certified Commercial Cannabis Expert (CCCE), and holds a B.S. in accounting from Missouri State University.

Alice is an attorney at Gottlieb, Rackman & Reisman, P.C. (GRR) with a focus on U.S. and international trademark protection where she helps clients investigate and secure trademark protection for their cannabis brands. GRR is a full-service intellectual property law firm assisting clients all over the world with patents, trademarks and copyrights, namely counseling, protection, enforcement, transactional, and litigation. Alice completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Toronto, with a joint major in computer science and new media, and her law degree at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in New York City. Alice is admitted to practice law in New York and New Jersey.

Nahid is an AML/CTF consultant at Toronto Compliance and AML Events (TCAE) where he extends his knowledge of regulatory expectations and related Acts to help organize bi-weekly webinars on regulatory compliance topics, to create content to disseminate complex concepts in bite-sized knowledge nuggets, to coordinate training programs and to foster collaboration among internal teams across various projects. To say the least, TCAE is fortunate to have Nahid as a part of its team.