U.S. Cannabis Council Appoints New CEO Khadijah Tribble

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 will succeed Steven Hawkins who was the USCC CEO from February 2021 until his retirement.

“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.”

Marijuana Matters was founded by Tribble in 2020. The organization is a marijuana education and advocacy center. Tribble was also the CEO of Marijuana Policy Trust. This trust helps to develop, implement, and manage DEI programs within 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.

“The US Cannabis Council unites my deep commitment to cannabis legalization with my passion for addressing the harms of prohibition,” said Tribble. “My priority is advancing meaningful cannabis reforms through Congress this year that will provide the foundation for achieving our ultimate goal of federal descheduling while fostering an equitable and inclusive legal cannabis 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. It also advocates restorative justice in communities that have been most affected by The War on Drugs.

The USCC’s Recent Work

The USCC established the DEI Task Force earlier this year with leading business and law leaders. They partnered with the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation in order to establish an internship program for Black students at colleges and graduates of top cannabis businesses and organizations.

Former CEO of USCC Steven Hawkins resigned gracefully after the organisation unveiled an impressive briefing and advertising campaign supporting the SAFE Banking Act.

Reps. Ed Perlmutter, Earl Blumenauer and Sen. Jeff Merkley joined Hawkins on July 27 for a briefing to discuss federal bank reform.

Dennis Brown was the father of Jordan Brown who was killed in an armed robbery at a Tacoma dispensary. He was featured in the USCC’s new videos 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. The only thing that should have happened was all the credit cards and none of the cash. My son was an artist who had just graduated college. He worked to make a living and lived a happy life. Leaves a very big void in my life.”

In the second video, small-scale cannabis businesses in Washington were shown being the victims of an increasing trend in 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.