Dasheeda Dawson

Dasheeda Dawson is a global cannabis advocate, award-winning Fortune 100 business strategist, and bestselling author on the cannabis industry. Dawson has nearly 20 years of business development, strategic management, and brand marketing excellence while leading transformative organizations in both the public and private sectors, nearly a decade of which has focused on the growing cannabis industry.

As an advocate and policy advisor, Dawson was pivotal to the 2021 landmark passage of New York’s Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act. While fighting for legalization in her home state, Dawson led cannabis regulation in Portland, Oregon for a number of years. In that role, Dawson oversaw all regulatory licensing, compliance, education, and equity initiatives for the city’s cannabis industry. Under her leadership, Portland approved a multimillion-dollar Cannabis Emergency Relief Fund, becoming the first government jurisdiction in the country to allocate cannabis tax revenue to provide aid and emergency relief to the industry.

In October of 2022, Dasheeda was appointed Founding Director of Cannabis NYC by Mayor Eric Adams. As profiled by the New York Times, she returns home to lead the city’s efforts to become a global leader in cannabis industry excellence. As the founding director, she oversees the creation and curation of city resources to help build a sustainable cannabis industry, including helping entrepreneurs to apply for licenses, access financing opportunities, and navigate municipal regulations.

Dawson serves as Board chair of the Cannabis Regulators of Color Coalition, a national organization of industry policymakers and regulators often referred to as the leading architects of cannabis equity and reform in the United States. Dawson received her MBA from Rutgers Business School and completed her undergraduate degree in molecular biology at Princeton University.