Breaking the Grass Ceiling: Women, Weed and Technology is a women-led panel exploring the intense need for technology, automation, and disruptive female leaders in the $63.5B cannabis industry.

1. Breaking the Grass Ceiling:
Women, Weed & Technology

2. Breaking the Grass Ceiling:
Women, Weed and Technology is a
women-led panel exploring the intense
need for technology, automation, and
disruptive female leaders in the $63.5B
cannabis industry.

3. Why Women // Why Weed // Why Tech
Technological advancement has—and will continue to play—a significant role in legitimizing
the cannabis space. As fortune 500 companies and Silicon Valley continue to explore the
space, cannabis tech is becoming one of the fastest growing market segments of our time.
Women continue to shine—holding more leadership roles within cannabis than in the broader
technology space where historically, there has always been a small presence of women in
leadership positions.

4. PANEL
TOPICS
Global
Cannabis
Industry
A discussion
about policy,
global market
trends, and
growing risk
of the United
States missing
out on the
greatest
international
market
opportunity of
our lifetime.
Automation &
Technology
Cannabis
commoditization
and the
increasingly
important need
for businesses
to implement
technology in
the quest for
automation
and protected
profitability.
opportunity of
our lifetime.
Women Who
Lead
As the number
of women
in cannabis
company
leadership
roles continues
to decline,
women
are moving
towards greater
innovation
within the
cannabis
technology
sphere.

5. According to AmeriRearch Inc global sales within the
cannabis market is expected to reach $63.5B by 2024—a
growth rate that highlights the intense need for automation
and technology, as well as disruptive innovators. Panelists will
discuss their respective canna-technology companies, the
role women have played in normalizing cannabis throughout
the United States (and beyond), and the greatest gaps and
opportunities existing in the market today.

6. Panelist One // Ashley Picillo
Founder & CEO of Point7 and TimberDocs
Ashley Picillo is the Founder and CEO of Point Seven Group (Point7),
an international cannabis consulting firm supporting clients with licensure,
facility design and operations. In 2018, Ashley founded and launched
TimberDocs, a platform offering compliance and operations products
for cannabis operators throughout the U.S. Ashley is also the author of
Breaking the Grass Ceiling: Women, Weed and Business a biographical
collection about pioneering women in the cannabis space, which
launched in 2017 at SXSW alongside her first SX panel Breaking the Grass
Ceiling: Women, Weed and Business.
Since first presenting at SX, Picillo began exploring the role women had
within the canna-technology space. Over her five years in the industry
Picillo has worked in 21 states and has begun taking on international
operators as Clients. She has overseen operations within all license types
and is regarded as an industry thought leader.

7. Panelist Two // Anne Forkutza
Head of Customer Experience & Strategy at Cova
Anne Forkutza started her career in customer experience and digital
strategy at the age of 18. Over the years she has utilized her skills to help
deliver award-winning campaigns for big brands such as Electronic Arts,
Nike, the Canadian Tourism Commission, Loblaws, and Starbucks. She
also has years of experience combining business strategy with innovative
product design while in various leadership positions at iQmetrix, a leading
retail solutions company.
Anne is the Head of Customer Experience & Strategy at Cova—a leading
cannabis software company—where she leads the creative vision and
branding, builds strategic partnerships, and continuously strives to elevate
the cannabis retail experience while moving this industry forward in a
positive direction. She holds a Degree in Computer Sciences from Simon
Fraser University and is also a regular mentor at Vancouver Film School’s
Digital Design program.

8. Panelist Three // Karson Humiston
Founder and CEO of Vangst Talent
Karson Humiston, millennial entrepreneur, is the Founder and CEO
of Vangst, the cannabis industry’s leading recruiting platform. Through
Direct Hire, the Vangster job board, and Vangst Gigs, the staffing agency
has successfully connected over 7,500 people with jobs and careers in the
cannabis industry.
Vangst Gigs is a technology platform that connects temporary cannabis
employees with temporary cannabis jobs and makes it easier for
cannabis companies to hire, schedule, and pay fully compliant temporary
employees. The platform also allows both cannabis companies and
cannabis employees to rate each other, creating more transparency in the
industry.
Vangst was featured in Entrepreneur Magazine’s 100 Brilliant Companies
of 2018 and recently raised $3.1M, lead by Lerer Hippeau. Karson was
listed on the Forbes 30 under 30 list of 2018 for Enterprise Technology
and is a former SXSW participant (2017).