board of directors
Matt McClain, President
Matt joined the board of directors and was appointed President in March 2019. Matt has been a hemp advocate and entrepreneur since 2013. He founded the hemp apparel company Recreator and serves on the California Department of Food and Agriculture’s Industrial Hemp Advisory Board, where his insight and work on various subcommittees have been pivotal in getting best practices regarding sampling, testing and new variety development and certification into regulations for commercial hemp farming. His Pacifica Graduate Institute dissertation, “Herb & Shaman: Recreating the Cannabis Mythos” adds new chapters to the WCF’s growing archive of hemp culture and history.
Brenda Kershenbaum, Co-Founder and Chair
Brenda has been active in the movement for decriminalization, legalization and farmers’ rights to cultivate Cannabis since 1989. Her work and activism was integral to the first publication of Jack Herer’s The Emperor Wears No Clothes. She co-founded the World Cannabis Foundation with Richard Davis in 1997. Brenda has an MA in psychology and is primarily focused on research into the clinical, medical and nutraceutical uses of hemp. Pictured with WCF co-founder Richard M Davis.
Tony de Veyra, Secretary
Tony de Veyra joined WCF’s Board of Directors as Secretary in February 2019. Tony has a bachelor’s degree in Plant Science from Cal Poly Pomona and is a graduate of Quail Springs Permaculture. He is a farmer with years of experience cultivating citrus, avocados, exotic fruits, vegetables and hemp. He is committed to land stewardship and soil restoration. He has been conducting research on hemp agronomy and horticulture since 2015 and obtained a DEA hemp seed import permit as part of an MS in Plant Science project at Cal Poly Pomona in 2016. In 2018, Tony collected data from four hemp farms, totaling 60 acres in Ventura County as part of his thesis project.
advisers
Chris Boucher
Chris Boucher
Chris Boucher
Chris is a hemp pioneer. He started in 1990 as CEO of the Hempstead Company and Co-Founded the Hemp Industries Association (HIA) in 1992. He was the first person to legally grow hemp at the USDA Research Station in Brawley, California in 1994 and co-wrote the legal opinion “Hemp CBD is legal in all 50 States” in 2012. He currently heads Farmtiva INC, as its CEO.
Jef Judin
Chris Boucher
Chris Boucher
Jef Judin is a filmmaker, director and producer, recipient of two Emmy awards for his work on critically acclaimed documentaries, Return to the River and Richard Wright- Black Boy. He uses his skills as a filmmaker to document interviews for the Foundation archives.
Ellen Brown
Chris Boucher
Craig Deininger, PhD
Ellen is an attorney and author of thirteen books, including the bestselling Nature's Pharmacy, co-authored with Dr. Lynne Walker. Her 300+ articles are at EllenBrown.com
Craig Deininger, PhD
Craig Deininger, PhD
Craig Deininger, PhD
Craig is a farmer, published author, poet, construction worker and professor of ecopsychology, Jungian psychology and creative writing. He currently works with the foundation as an archivist and writer.
Brian Florian
Craig Deininger, PhD
Brian Florian
Brian is a songwriter, musician, artist, cannabis activist and medical patient that has been supporting research and decriminalization efforts for 20 years. He works with the foundation as an exhibit designer and historian.