The U.S. Cannabis Council (USCC) announced on August 19 that it has named Khadijah Tribble to serve as the organization’s new CEO. Tribble succeeds former USCC CEO Steven Hawkins, who led USCC since the organization was first founded in February 2021.

“We thank Steven Hawkins for his integral role in launching USCC, and we are thrilled to welcome Khadijah Tribble’s to the role of CEO at this critical juncture for the cannabis industry,” said Jessica Billingsley, chair of USCC and CEO of Akerna. “She is deeply respected for her leadership, expertise and wide-ranging experience and is well-positioned to advance our mission of ending prohibition and creating an equitable, values-based industry.”

Tribble founded Marijuana Matters in 2020, and the organization serves as a cannabis education and advocacy incubator. She also served as CEO of the Marijuana Policy Trust, which helps develop and run DEI (Diversity, equity, and inclusion) programs in the cannabis industry.

Tribble often focused on fair and equitable policies on behalf of marginalized communities throughout her career, and also serves on USCC’s DEI Task Force. She holds a master’s degree from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.

“USCC is focused on securing critical reforms in this session of Congress,” Tribble tells High Times. “My chief priority is doing the work to make that happen, with the understanding that the banking bill will broadly make our industry safer and more equitable, and expungement will meaningfully improve the lives of countless Americans with cannabis records.”

Tribble continues, “These concrete wins are the stepping stones we need to reach our ultimate goal: comprehensive federal reform that deschedules cannabis while fostering an equitable, inclusive industry.”

USCC’s mission is to improve legal access to cannabis—but in an equitable and values-driven way, advancing cannabis legalization at the federal and state levels. The organization also promotes restorative justice for communities hit the hardest by the War on Drugs.

The USCC’s Recent Work

Earlier this year, USCC launched the DEI Task Force with leaders in law, business, and civil rights, partnering with the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation to create an internship program for Black college students and recent graduates at leading cannabis companies and organizations.

Steven Hawkins, former CEO of the USCC, left his role gracefully as the organization unveiled a powerful briefing and ad campaign in support of the SAFE Banking Act.

On July 27, Reps. Ed Perlmutter (D-CO), Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), as well as Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) joined Hawkins for a briefing in support of federal banking reform.

Dennis Brown, whose son Jordan, was murdered during an armed robbery of a dispensary in Tacoma, Washington was featured in one of two new video ads presented by the USCC during the event.

“My son Jordan was the ultimate loss,” Brown says in the video. “He got his life taken because we don’t give these businesses the opportunity to use credit cards. It should have been all credit cards and no cash. My son graduated from college, he was an artist, he was working to supplement his income, and had a wonderful life. Leaves a very big void in my life.”

The second video in the campaign shows small cannabis business owners in Washington state who were the targets of a worsening trend of crime.

The USCC calls itself “the voice of America’s regulated cannabis industry,” with business members from many of the largest cannabis companies in the nation, as well as leaders in cannabis policy and criminal justice reform.

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