Marielle Weintraub, Ph.D., President of the U.S. Hemp Authority, is the Director of Scientific Research and Development for Zilis, LLC, a company focused on researching, developing endocannabinoid-based products.

Prior to joining Zilis, Marielle was the Strategic Business Development Director of the Hemp Initiative at Eurofins Food Integrity and Innovation (formerly Covance Food Solutions). In this role, she introduced the hemp industry and their needs for valid and reliable testing to Covance (2016) and continued to drive development of hemp-specific testing and standards until she left Eurofins in 2019.

Marielle is very active in many dietary supplement and hemp industry trade associations, including her role as a founding board member and the current President for the US Hemp Authority, a member of the US Hemp Roundtable - Analytical Standards Technical Committee, a member of the American Herbal Products Association - Cannabis Committee and a member of the United Natural Products Alliance - Hemp Extracts/CBD committee.

Marielle earned her M.S. and Ph.D. in Behavioral Neuroscience from Texas Christian University in 2011 and 2014, respectively, focusing her research on Alzheimer's disease pathology, including the accumulation of amyloid-beta plaques and prevention of cognitive deficits resulting from peripheral inflammation.

Richard A. Badaracco, Secretary of the U.S. Hemp Authority, is an accomplished law enforcement professional with nearly four decades of service in public safety and law enforcement, and nearly two decades of executive, command and supervisory experience. Among his varied roles and responsibilities, Rich served as an Assistant Special Agent in Charge for the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in Detroit and Louisville, the Staff Coordinator at DEA Headquarters in Washington DC, the Interim Chief of Police for the Corpus Christi Police Department, the Commissioner of the Department of Criminal Investigations for Kentucky's Attorney General, and the Executive Director of Appalachia High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area.

Jonathan Shell, Treasurer of the U.S. Hemp Authority, is the Campaign Chairman for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Director of State Initiatives for the Pegasus Institute, a Louisville-based conservative think-tank specializing in public policy research.

From 2017-2019, Shell served as the first Republican Majority Floor Leader in the history of the Commonwealth. He served as a member of the Kentucky House of Representatives from 2013-2019, representing Garrard, Rockcastle, and part of Madison Counties.

In 2015, he was selected to serve as the House Republican Caucus Campaign Chairman, where he was in charge of overseeing all Republican recruitment for the 2016 House elections. In November of 2016, Republicans picked up 17 seats and took the majority for the first time in 95 years, and his colleagues rewarded his efforts by electing him House Majority Leader.

During his time in the General Assembly, Shell championed issues aimed at improving Kentucky’s economy and protecting life, including infrastructure and workforce development measures, right-to-work, and numerous pro-life bills. He has also worked diligently to ensure that vital infrastructure needs are met, as displayed by his securing passage of a major I-75 widening project in Rockcastle County.

In August of 2017, Shell was named Campaign Chairman for the re-election of U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell. Shell will be leading McConnell’s grassroots efforts, including traveling the state and organizing voters in support of McConnell, who also serves as Majority Leader of the United States Senate. In announcing the move, McConnell commended Shell for “dedicating his professional life to advancing conservative values” as well as stating that Shell’s “experience, leadership, and commitment to public service will prove to be invaluable assets to the campaign team.”

In his role with the Pegasus Institute, Shell is focused on expanding the organization’s footprint across the Commonwealth.

Shell helps manage Shell Farms, a 1,200-acre family farm based in his hometown of Lancaster, KY. He is a graduate of Eastern Kentucky University, where he earned his Bachelor of Science in Agriculture. Jonathan and his wife, Brooke, are the proud parents of three young children, Jaxson, Lydia, and Reagan, and the attend Pilot Knob Missionary Baptist Church in Berea.

Born and raised in the Bluegrass State and a University of Kentucky alumnus, Josh Hendrix relocated back to Central Kentucky in 2014 on a mission to help rebuild the US hemp industry. Seeing a need to bring farmers, processors, manufacturers and supporters of the industry together, Josh founded the Kentucky Hemp Industries Association that summer and has served as President and on the board of directors for the group. He was also a founding member of the US Hemp Roundtable where he has served on the Board of Directors since it’s inception and recently served as President in 2019. In 2015 he created and became President of Hendrix Hemp, a licensed hemp producer that managed hemp cultivation on his family’s, Mayflower Farm, in Mount Sterling, KY for 3 years. In early 2017 Josh was appointed to serve on the Board of Directors for Friends of Hemp where he still serves and in 2019 he was elected to the Board of Directors to the US Hemp Growers Association. He was elected to serve on the Board of Directors for the US Hemp Authority in early 2020 as well. He is also the host of the very popular podcast, the Hemp Happy Hour, where he discusses the emerging industry with a variety of guests. Most recently Josh served as the Director of Business Development and Hemp Production for CV Sciences, Inc. where he worked with numerous universities, farmers, businesses, and organizations to help facilitate the infrastructure necessary to establish a modern domestic supply chain for hemp in the United States.

Dustin McDaniel, formerly Arkansas Attorney General, is an attorney in Little Rock, Arkansas. He is a partner in the firm of McDaniel, Wolff & Benca, PLLC (www.MWBFirm.com). Dustin was elected to the Arkansas House of Representatives in 2004, serving from 2005-2007. He was the only freshman lawmaker in the 85^th General Assembly to be named by the Arkansas DemocratGazette to its “Top 10 Legislators” list in 2005. In 2006, Dustin was elected as Arkansas’s 55^th Attorney General. At the time, he was the youngest Attorney General in the United States. In 2010, Dustin was reelected. He was selected by his colleagues around the nation to hold many leadership roles, including Chairman of the Southern Region of the National Association of Attorneys General, Co-Chair of the Democratic Attorneys General Association and Chairman of the NAAG Tobacco Project, which oversees roughly $7 Billion in annual payments between settling tobacco companies and 46 states. Dustin currently serves as Co-Chair of the Society of Attorneys General Emeritus (SAGE), which is the professional association for all former AG’s in the United States. Dustin is also proud to be the first Arkansan named as a Rodel Fellow at the Aspen Institute.

Under the Arkansas Constitution, Dustin was term limited for life as AG at the end of his second term. In 2015, he formed the law firm of McDaniel, Richardson and Calhoun, PLLC which quickly established a successful national attorney general practice managing investigations, litigations and general government affairs with AG’s and governors. The firm also navigated regulatory and political affairs, as well as litigation in Arkansas on complex issues including education, manufacturing, healthcare, technology, medical cannabis, tobacco and casino gaming.

In 2019, McDaniel Richardson & Calhoun, PLLC merged with the Little Rock tax law firm of Wolff & Ward, PLLC and the criminal defense firm of Benca & Johnston, PLLC to form McDaniel Wolff & Benca, PLLC.

Dustin and his wife Bobbi have three children. Both are active in the community. Dustin is a member of 50 For the Future and serves on the boards of The University of Arkansas Alumni Association, The UALR Wm. H Bowen School of Law Dean’s Advisory Council and The U.S. Hemp Authority. Bobbi works as a client advocate at the Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance. Dustin graduated cum laude with his Juris Doctor from the Bowen School of Law, where he served as Honor Council Prosecutor and as Assistant Articles Editor for the UALR Law Review. The law school presented Dustin with its “Young Alumnus Award” in 2002 and its “Distinguished Alumnus Award” in 2019. He is a graduate of the Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas, where he was Interfraternity Council President and a member of the Kappa Sigma fraternity. In 2004, Dustin was an honor graduate of the Arkansas Law Enforcement Training Academy as a Patrolman for the Jonesboro Police Department. He has maintained his law enforcement certification to this day, serving as a volunteer deputy sheriff in Poinsett County, Arkansas. In 2008, The Arkansas Sheriff’s Association named Dustin “Arkansas’s 76^th Sheriff,” an honor previously bestowed only once to the late Lieutenant Governor Winthrop Rockefeller.

Dr. Guru Ramanathan is President of his Global Healthcare Innovation Advisory Services company, currently serving on Corporate and Advisory Board’s for established and early-stage companies in Global Food, Nutrition, Pharma, OTC, Digital Health and Primary Care Medicine industry sectors. He is very active in Nutrition Industry initiatives having been a founding member and current Chairman of the ‘Supplement Safety & Compliance Initiative’ (SSCI). He currently serves on CRN’s OWL Registry advisory board, as well as the Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine’s Advisory Board.

Dr. Ramanathan is an Adjunct Professor at Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge Louisiana.

Dr. Ramanathan is a globally recognized expert on Innovation Management and his advisory concentrations include Scientific Affairs, Regulatory Compliance, Quality Assurance and Control, Clinical Trials Design & Management, Technology Acquisition, Alliance Management, Product Development and Manufacturing in the Global Health and Wellness Industry.

Dr. Ramanathan’s industry experience spans Clinical care, Pharma, Consumer health, Animal health and the Retail sectors. His most recent appointment was with Pittsburgh based General Nutrition Corporation (GNC) as its Chief Innovation Officer, Senior Vice President and Member of the Executive Committee. Prior to that Dr. Ramanathan was a Senior Director for the US subsidiaries of Nutricia (Danone). Before this he was Medical Director for the US subsidiary of Scotia Pharmaceuticals. He has also held various industry consulting, research and teaching appointments in India and the US.

Dr. Ramanathan holds an MBA from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business focused on global business practices. He earned his Ph.D. from Tufts University in Healthcare Innovation Management.

Annie Rouse was nominated to serve on the Authority Board by the Hemp Industries Association, for which she serves as Secretary and Director. Annie has been at the forefront of the US hemp industry since 2009 with experience across the three industry sectors: grain, fiber and cannabinoids from farm to finished product. In 2013 she received a US Fulbright Scholarship to study Canada’s hemp supply chain. Annie is a serial entrepreneur, with start-ups across the CBD sector including Overcome (formerly Nature’s Hemp Oil), a US Hemp Authority Certified lifestyle CBD brand as well as Anavii Market, an e-commerce retailer for verified CBD. In 2019 she co-founded OP Innovates, a hemp formulations company dedicated to delivering the world’s most effective cannabinoids.

Annie is a thought-leader on the theories behind cannabis prohibition, which she has unfolded through years of extensive archival research and published within her podcast series, Anslinger: The untold cannabis conspiracy - an interview-narration style podcast.

Annie also serves the industry in various capacities including as President and Founder of Friends of Hemp, an industry non profit, as well as serving as an Executive Committee Board Member to the Hemp Industries Association where she assists as ASTM liaison to the D37 Cannabis Committee, State Chapter Task Force Co-Chair and US Hemp Roundtable co-liaison.

Beyond start-ups, research and organizational work, Annie is a published author and an experienced public speaker on hemp, with her most renowned engagements on the Today Show, at Natural Products Expo East & West and DEFCON.

Annie received her BS in Economics and holds a Masters in International Environmental Policy and an MBA. To explore more about Annie and her journey visit her blog, Think Hempy Thoughts.

CEO & Founder of Agrarian Group / Co-Founder of Agrarian Supply, F1 Genomics, Agrarian Research Solutions & Agrarian Farms / US Hemp Authority Board Member / Texas Hemp Coalition Executive Board Member.

Currently Kyle is the CEO of Agrarian Group and actively participates on the board of directors for several agricultural and pharmaceutical companies. He specializes in brand management, business development, agricultural production, and emerging markets. Kyle is a licensed Pest Control Advisor and Qualified Applicator in the state of California as well as a National Certified Crop Advisor.

At the start of his career Kyle spent 6 years in organic farming and fresh food production as a Sales Manager at Earthbound Farm. In 2012 Kyle joined Wilbur-Ellis Company where he held the positions of National Specialty Crop Portfolio Manager, Retail Branch Manager & Pest Control Advisor. After leaving Wilbur-Ellis in 2018 Kyle took his collective agricultural experience to the hemp and cannabis industries where he co-founded Agrarian Supply with his partner Scott Knippelmeir.

Kyle has over 16 years of Sales, Strategy and Management experience. Over the last 6 years he has dedicated most of his time developing go to market strategies for the entrance of hemp and cannabis into the traditional agriculture industry. Kyle currently leads the Agrarian teams focused efforts in stewarding these two game-changing crops into a sustainable future.⁠ His goal is to assist farmers in growing the highest quality and maximum yielding hemp and cannabis possible to provide versatility, sustainability, and profitability for the American farmer. Kyle has a vision for the Hemp and Cannabis industries and wants to help write the playbook for the “seed to harvest” commercialization of both crops.

Kyle holds a degree in agricultural business and management from California Polytechnic State University- San Luis Obispo where he met his wife of 20 years Jennifer. Together they are raising two boys, Michael age 6 and Bradley age 8.

Dr. Andrea Wong is Senior Vice President, Scientific and Regulatory Affairs, at the Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN), the leading trade association representing the dietary supplement and functional food industry. She leads CRN’s science and regulatory affairs department, responding to emerging regulatory issues, as well as advocating for science-based nutrition. Dr. Wong provides scientific expertise in evaluating research relevant to the benefits and safety of ingredients and dietary supplements, and in support of CRN’s nutrition policy activities. She also leads proactive self-regulatory initiatives, including the development of best practices guidelines for industry on product labeling and formulation. Prior to joining CRN, she worked as a senior scientific and regulatory consultant for the firm Intertek (Cantox). Dr. Wong earned her B.Sc. in Life Sciences from Queen’s University and her Ph.D. in Toxicology from the University of Toronto.