US Cannabis Council appoints new CEO Khadijah Tribble

The US Cannabis Council (USCC) announced on August 19 that it had appointed Khadijah Tribble as the organization’s new CEO. Tribble succeeds former USCC CEO Steven Hawkins, who has led the USCC since the organization’s inception in February 2021.

“We thank Steven Hawkins for his key role in launching USCC and are very pleased to welcome Khadijah Tribble to the role of CEO at this critical time for the cannabis industry,” said Jessica Billingsley, chair of USCC and CEO of Akerna. “She is deeply respected for her leadership, expertise and breadth of experience and is well positioned to advance our mission to end prohibition and create an equitable, values-based industry.”

Tribble founded Marijuana Matters in 2020 and the organization serves as an incubator for cannabis education and advocacy. She was also CEO of the Marijuana Policy Trust, which helps develop and implement DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) programs in the cannabis industry.

Tribble has often focused on fair and equitable policies on behalf of marginalized communities throughout her career and also serves on the 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 pushing through crucial reforms in this session of Congress,” Tribble told the High Times. “My top priority is to work to get that done, with the understanding that the Banking Act will, by and large, make our industry safer and fairer, and erasing it will greatly improve the lives of countless Americans with cannabis records.”

Tribble continues, “These tangible achievements are the stepping stones we need to achieve our ultimate goal: comprehensive federal reform that gets cannabis off the schedule while promoting an equitable, inclusive industry.”

The USCC’s mission is to improve legal access to cannabis – but in a fair and values-based way, by advancing the legalization of cannabis at the federal and state levels. The organization also promotes restorative justice for communities hardest hit by the war on drugs.

The recent work of the USCC

Earlier this year, the USCC created the DEI Task Force of legal, business and civil rights leaders to work with the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation to develop an internship program for black college students and recent graduates with leading cannabis companies and organizations to accomplish.

Steven Hawkins, former USCC CEO, gracefully walked out of the role as the organization unveiled a high-impact briefing and publicity campaign in support of the SAFE Banking Act.

On July 27, Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-CO), Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) and Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) met with Hawkins for a briefing in support of federal bank reform.

Dennis Brown, whose son Jordan was murdered in an armed robbery at a pharmacy 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. “His life was taken because we don’t allow these companies to use credit cards. It should have been all credit cards and no cash. My son graduated from college, he was an artist, he worked to supplement his income and had a wonderful life. Leaves a very big void in my life.”

The second video in the campaign features small cannabis entrepreneurs in Washington state who have been the target of an escalating crime trend.

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