CHICAGO CRAFT CANNABIS | AKELE PARNELL

[keith mclaughlin]

Montel talks with Chicago cannabis entrepreneur Akele Parnell on this episode of Let’s Be Blunt. Akele earned his masters degree in public health and doctorate of law degree from Washington University. He served as in-house counsel at Green Thumb Industries Inc., one of the largest publicly traded cannabis companies in the U.S. There, he worked across finance, securities, corporate governance, commercial transactions, real estate, M&A, corporate transactions and social equity to assist the company's market expansion and business development activities. Today he is the Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of ÜMI Farms, a Chicago-born craft cannabis company. He is the recipient of the Clio Award for the Community Benefits Agreement with Nature’s Care Dispensary West Loop and BCB Mastermind’s Trailblazer in Social Equity He is also a member of the board of directors of Chicago NORML, and the Cannabis Equity Illinois Coalition where he co-led the negotiation and implementation of the cannabis industry’s first community benefits agreement.