Sara Brittany Somerset Archives - Green Market Report

StaffMarch 6, 2020

In honor of International Women’s Day, we are releasing our annual “Most Important Women in Weed” list for 2020. This list includes women in the industry that have collectively moved the industry forward with all of their hard work, continuous dedication and effort.

This year we opened up the list for nominations and received almost a thousand nominees. After consideration of each, we have developed what we feel is one of the most inclusive and carefully curated lists of the most accomplished and impressive women in the cannabis industry.

As we could not name them all, we would like to thank and celebrate all of the women who have dedicated their precious time to the advancement of cannabis globally.

It is because of each one of these ladies that this industry remains in the lead above all others as far as female leadership is concerned.

This list is in no special order. Each one of these women provide a great contribution to the cannabis industry in their own unique and badass way.

Thank you to every one of you for all that you do!

The “List”

Dr. Chanda Macias

Yvonne DeLaRosa Green

Mara Gordon

Rosie Mattio

Shawna McGregor

Lori Ferrara

Gaynell Rogers

Stormy Simon

Trista Okel

Lori Ajax

Amy Dawn Bourlon-Hilterbran

Kim Rivers

Amanda Soens

Dona Frank

Kat King

Sara Payan

Hannah Daphna

Sandra Castaneda

Erin Gore

Wendy Kornberg

Kristin Nevedal

Wendy Turner

Parisa Rad

Brittany Nicholson

Emily Paxhia

Jessica Billingsley

Gia Moron

Andrea Brooks

Tahira Rehmatullah

Tracey Mason

Lindy Snyder

Jasmine Rose Gunderson

Shannon Hattan

Adelia Carrillo

Karen Petersen

Wanda James

Barbara Blaser

Ophelia Chong

Amanda Ostrowitz

Pamela Nicole Epstein

Melissa Mentele

Jamie Cooper

Sarah Remesch

Jessie Gill

Erica Daniels

Lizzy Jeff

Lelehnia DuBois

Whitney Beatty

Dr. Michele Ross

Manndie Tingler

Chef Lauren Gockley

Kyra Reed

Jamie Evans

Kristin Jordan

Ellie Siegel

Sara Brittany Somerset

Linda Marsicano

Heidi Groshelle

Amber Senter

Nique Pichette

Jennifer Price

Molly Peckler

Bonita Money

Susan Hwang

Judy Yee

Julie Chiarello

Leah Heis

Leslie Andrachuk

Terra Carver

Nancy Whiteman

Luna Stower

Karen Paull and Wendy Robbins

Beth Stavola

Alison Gordon

Penny Green

Sara Gullickson

Dr. Lakisha Jenkins

Pamela Hadfield

Jessica Peters

Dr. Rachel Knox and Dr. Jessica Knox

Tiffany Bowden

Mary Jane Gibson

Michelle Janikian

Dr. Uma Dhanabalan

Taylor Blake

AC Braddock

Kerri Accardi

Heather Sobel

Betty Aldworth

Cathy Jordan

Suzanne Sisley

Nina Parks

Eliza Nova Maroney

Selena Xochitl Martinez

Angelika Penuela-Ruiz

Sarah Mitra Payan

Gretchen Gailey

Nikki Lastreto

Ann Lawrence

Sheena Shiravi

Christina Ianuzzi

Kassandra Frederique

Shannon Buyers

Celia Tapp

Kelly Archer

Katie Field

Randi Sether

Shannon Reed

Katrina Yolen

Ngiste Abebe

Brooke Westlake

Courtney Maltais

Katrina Tso

Anne Don0hoe

Alicia Rose Kelley

Dr. Jacqueline Harding, PhD

Mary Pryor

Dr. Uma Dhabalan

Olivia Mannix

Heather DeRose

Libby Cooper

Leslie Hoffman

Yvonne Perez Emerson

Again, thank you to all of the women who do so much in our industry day in and day out. Your work does not go unnoticed and is deeply appreciated.

Happy International Women’s Day to all women around the world!

Special shout out to our Green Market Report co-founders Debra Borchardt and Cynthia Salarizadeh on this day!

StaffNovember 20, 2018

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 20, 2018 /AxisWire/ AxisWire, the cannabis industry’s first tech platform designed for cannabis entrepreneurs to expose their brands and cannabis journalists to seek out breaking stories, announced today the official winners of the inaugural STAR Media Awards.

“Removing the stigma and reversing the perceptional course of cannabis in the world requires mass media and strategic communications efforts,” expressed Cynthia Salarizadeh, Founder of AxisWire and Managing Partner. “The men and women behind changing the conversation and course of cannabis have been largely ignored for their part in industry advancement. In an open effort to recognize their massive contributions, and to provide an opportunity to thank them for their work, the collective teams of AxisWire and a majority of the top PR firms throughout cannabis came together to award the journalists and publications that we have all been working closely with since the start of regulation. They each deserve the recognition.”

Held in Las Vegas, Nevada, during the Marijuana Business Conference & Expo, the STAR Media Awards were designed to honor excellence cannabis writing; an often under recognized facet of the cannabis industry. Attending the ceremony were some of the best and brightest in the world of cannabis journalism, many of whom have been covering the cannabis space for decades with little to no recognition.

The 2018 Star Media Award winners are:

Best Traditional Cannabis Publication – High Times
Best New Cannabis Publication – Green Entrepreneur
Best Cannabis Business Publication – MJ Biz Daily
Best Cannabis Print Publication – DOPE
Best Cannabis Culture Publication – Civilized
Best Cannabis Digital Publication – The Fresh Toast

Best Cannabis Culture Writer – Michelle Janikian
Best Cannabis Cultivation Writer – Danny Danko (High Times)
Best Cannabis Business Writer – Javier Hasse (Benzinga)
Best Cannabis Mainstream Writer – Alex Halperin (The Guardian)
Best Cannabis Freelance Writer – Sara Brittany Somerset (Forbes/Leafly)
Best Social Media Impact In Cannabis – Garyn Angel (Magical Butter)

Awards for the evening were presented by our keynote hosts that included Dr. Robert Flannery, Debra Borchardt, Rosie Mattio and Shawna McGregor. The event’s sponsors included Dr. Robb Farms, Mood 33 Infusions, Saka Wines, Passport Cannabis, GreenHouse Ventures LLC,PinkHaze, and Gold Q. The evening was flush with brands showering the media with product to thank them for all of their work.

About STAR (Submit To A Reporter):
The STAR Source Locator is the only platform in cannabis of its kind. This service will connect journalists seeking sources and content with entrepreneurs and industry leaders through a vast network of experts in all divisions of the cannabis space. Subscribers will receive story requests directly to their emails and will cut through the random pitching of press, to an effective pitching process that is directed at stories the journalists are actively working on. STAR is free for journalists and is $99.99 per month for subscribers.

About AxisWire:
AxisWire, headquartered in Los Angeles, is the industry’s first tech platform designed for cannabis entrepreneurs to expose their brands and cannabis journalists to seek out breaking stories. The platform provides a newswire distribution and PR tech suite of services including press release distribution, press release writing, consulting and compliance services. AxisWire also features the STAR Source Locator specific to the cannabis industry to assist in facilitating story development between journalists and brands. This platform was created and now operating through a collaborative merger of the most influential and innovative PR and marketing firms operating within the cannabis industry. AxisWire is positioned to sit at the center of all things cannabis media. For more information, please visit axiswire.com. Follow us on social media @AxisWire.