Leadership Team

A seasoned human resource executive, Rachel Albert joined Green Thumb in 2020 to lead the People Team. In her current role as Chief Administrative Officer, Rachel supports various executive initiatives while continuing to help shape GTI culture and build a high performing workforce.

Rachel has spent the past 20 years as a trusted business partner in both high growth and downsizing organizational environments, leading teams, motivating employees, and driving business results. Previously Rachel held various roles with strategic and tactical human resources management oversight at GE Capital. She was also a Consultant at Mercer HR Consulting in New York. Rachel’s areas of expertise include executive coaching, talent management, change management, employee engagement, and HR compliance.

Rachel completed her MBA at the Kellogg School of Management and graduated Magna Cum Laude from Tufts University in Boston.

Rebecca joined Green Thumb in 2017 and currently serves as VP, Government Strategy. In this role, Rebecca works with lawmakers and other stakeholders on medical and adult-use cannabis legislation while supporting market expansion projects across the company.

Prior to joining Green Thumb, Rebecca was a tax attorney in Washington, DC, when it occurred to her that the legal skills she honed while helping clients understand various governmental rules, regulations and laws could help her navigate Maryland’s nascent medical cannabis industry. She co-founded a company named Chesapeake Alternatives in Maryland that was later acquired by Green Thumb.

Rebecca has a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law, as well as an LLM from New York University School of Law, and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Psychology from Tufts University.

As the SVP of People at Green Thumb, Kelly Dean enables the business through effective talent strategies designed to build and foster an engaged, high performing team.

Kelly has spent over 15 years as a trusted HR partner in growing organizations, both large and small. Prior to Green Thumb, she spent three years leading the HR team at Jellyvision, a Chicago-based software company, and seven years with Apple, where she progressed through HR leadership roles supporting the Retail teams in North and South America.

Kelly graduated magna cum laude from the University of MN-Twin Cities with a degree in psychology.

Matt Faulkner joined Green Thumb in 2018 and has served as SVP of Accounting and Chief Accounting Officer overseeing the Accounting and Finance teams. During his tenure, he successfully facilitated the company’s initial public offering in the U.S. and led the transition from reporting under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in Canada to U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) reporting with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. In 2023, he was appointed to Chief Financial Officer.

Prior to joining the Company, Matt spent over 20 years at Walgreens building teams in a variety of Finance roles, including general accounting, financial planning and analysis, mergers and acquisitions, and technical accounting. He was also responsible for reporting, designing and implementing financial systems.

Matt graduated from The University of Toledo with a bachelor’s degree in accounting. He also holds an MBA from Northern Illinois University and is a CPA.

As President, Anthony Georgiadis is responsible for overseeing Green Thumb’s operational and financial matters.

Anthony joined GTI in 2015 as it was planning to expand outside of its home state of Illinois. Since then, he has played an integral role in growing the company into one of the leading cannabis operators in the U.S.

Anthony is an investor and entrepreneur, having purchased a manufacturing business in 2005 that he helped rebrand and build into one of North America’s largest manufacturers of wall décor.

Prior to this, he worked as a principal investing associate for a $1.5 billion private equity firm and as an M&A analyst for an investment bank.

Anthony graduated magna cum laude from Bucknell University with a degree in finance and a minor in mathematics.

Anthony is an active supporter of Students for Sensible Drug Policy, the Drug Policy Alliance, Marijuana Policy Project, and the Special Operations Warriors Foundation.

Andy Grossman is an entrepreneur and business executive with over 20 years of experience in the hedge fund industry. He joined Green Thumb for the opportunity to be part of a nascent industry with the potential for tremendous growth and currently serves as EVP, Capital Markets & Investor Relations.

Andy previously served as Managing Partner and Head of Trading, Risk Management and Operations of LG Capital Management. Andy co-founded LG in August 2011 with $13 million in capital and helped raise it to a peak of $350 million. He was instrumental in building the infrastructure of the business and is highly qualified in business operations.

Prior to founding LG Capital, he was a senior trader for Chesapeake Partners, a Baltimore-based multibillion dollar event-driven investment fund.

Andy graduated from Syracuse University in 1996 with a Bachelor of Arts in Finance.

Andy lives in Baltimore and is passionate about giving back to the community. He is actively involved in various organizations in the Baltimore community which include The Associated, LifeBridge Health, Beth El Congregation and Jewish Volunteer Connection.

As SVP of Operations, Matt is responsible for leading wholesale operations, including cultivation, manufacturing, distribution, product development and quality. Prior to joining GTI, Matt served in Operations leadership roles within the cannabis industry at both large and small companies. Matt began his career in the Pharmaceutical industry, focused on product development, manufacturing, and operational excellence at two of the world's leading contract development and manufacturing organizations. Matt graduated from Humboldt State University with a BS in Cellular/Molecular Biology.

Jai Kensey joined Green Thumb in 2021 as Director of Social Impact. In this role, she leads community outreach efforts in support of the company’s Growing for Good program.

Prior to Green Thumb, Jai was Manager of Development Communications at the American Red Cross, National Headquarters in Washington, DC. Jai has managed and supported various internal and external communications and community relations efforts in the non-profit, government and corporate sectors while working at companies such as Young Communications Group in Los Angeles, California; Publicis Life Brands and Edelman Public Relations in Sydney, Australia; Sprint and Boost Mobile in Irvine, California; and Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide in Washington, DC.

Jai currently serves on the board of Illinois Women in Cannabis, a not-for-profit group created to serve, support, and advance women connected to Illinois’ regulated cannabis industry.

Jai received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism with a concentration in Public Relations and a minor in Marketing from Georgia State University.

Ben Kovler brings his extensive experience managing complex operating companies and his deep commitment to philanthropy as Founder, CEO and Chairman of Green Thumb. Ben founded GTI in 2014 and has successfully grown it into a leading national cannabis consumer packaged goods company and retailer.

Ben is frequently featured as an industry thought leader in media outlets such as Bloomberg, Barron’s, Business Insider, CNBC and Forbes.

He is also co-founder and CEO of Invest For Kids (IFK), an annual forum bringing together portfolio managers, family offices and analysts to share investment ideas to benefit children in Illinois. All the proceeds from the conference go to nonprofit organizations serving Chicago area youth from disadvantaged communities. Since 2009, IFK has donated more than $20 million to over 70 high performing organizations.

Ben earned a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy, politics and economics from Pomona College and an MBA in accounting and finance from The University of Chicago.

Bret Kravitz is the General Counsel and Secretary of Green Thumb. He serves as the primary legal advisor to management and the board while overseeing all legal matters of the Company.

Bret joined Green Thumb in 2017 as Chief Corporate Counsel. Throughout his tenure, he has closed numerous strategic acquisitions, partnerships, and capital raises in coordination with Green Thumb’s executive team. Prior to Green Thumb, Bret held attorney positions at Dickinson Wright and Baker Hostetler.

Bret earned a Bachelor of Science in Finance from the University of Colorado, a Master of Business Administration in Finance from the University of Denver and a Juris Doctor from Lewis & Clark Law School.

Kate Lloyd serves as Green Thumb’s Chief Counsel, Securities & Governance, overseeing securities law matters, corporate governance, labor relations and providing other legal support. Kate also serves as Green Thumb's Assistant Secretary.

Prior to joining Green Thumb, Kate served as Associate General Counsel at Navigant Consulting, and Senior Counsel at Accenture and International Law Solutions. Kate is a Big Sister with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metropolitan Chicago and previously supported literacy programming for under-resourced Chicago schools by serving as Board President at SitStayRead.

Kate holds a Juris Doctor from Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law and a BS in Business Administration from The Ohio State University.

Ryan Marek, Senior Vice President of Marketing, is an experienced marketing executive with a passion for finding growth opportunities at the intersection of consumer, cultural, and category insights. Ryan first joined Green Thumb in August of 2021 after a long career building brands in both traditional and bev-alc CPG industries.

Having spent his career working on brands varying from smaller high-growth engines to large-scale turnarounds, Ryan earned a reputation as a balanced marketer, combining creative thinking with rigorous data analysis to build foundational brand architectures, communication strategies, and innovation frameworks for some of America’s most well-recognized brands.

He graduated twice from DePaul University, first with a Bachelor of Science in Management and again with a Master of Business Administration with a focus on Marketing Strategy and Planning.

Matt Navarro joined Green Thumb in 2021 as SVP of Retail. In this role, he is responsible for the company’s nationwide retail operations and experience, including end-to-end management of real estate, store development, facilities maintenance, operational compliance, safety, security, as well as the customer and patient experience.

Prior to joining GTI, Matt served as SVP of Retail at BevMo/Gopuff, an alcohol beverage retailer and consumer goods and food delivery company. Previous to his work at BevMo/Gopuff, Matt was Regional Vice President at Dick’s Sporting Goods responsible for the West Coast.

Matt also spent 16 years with Staples, most recently as Regional Vice President covering multiple territories from California to the Pacific Northwest, out to West Texas. Matt’s knowledge, expertise, and business savvy comes from over 30 years of diverse retail operations and sales experience.

Dom O’Brien is the SVP of Revenue responsible for leading the revenue organization, which includes Wholesale, Buying, eCommerce, Supply Chain, Commercial Strategy and Planning, and Regional Marketing.

Before joining Green Thumb, Dom held various commercial executive positions at Beam Suntory and Pax Labs. He began his career in consulting and spent 10 years working for McKinsey and Accenture.

Dom holds an MBA from Columbia Business School and was a double major undergraduate at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Armon Vakili is Vice President of Mergers, Acquisitions, and Partnerships at Green Thumb and is involved in all external investment and strategic developments. Prior to joining Green Thumb in 2017, Armon was part of the M&A / advisory teams at Stericycle Inc. and KPMG US LLP. Armon earned his BA at Indiana University where he graduated with distinction.

Shannon Weaver joined Green Thumb in 2021 and currently serves as Vice President of Communications. In this role, she leads strategy, planning and execution of Green Thumb’s corporate communications across channels including internal communications, public relations, investor communications, social media, and the company website.

Prior to Green Thumb, Shannon worked at Allstate Insurance Company for over ten years. She progressed through roles of increasing responsibility with a focus on communications, strategy, and planning.

Shannon graduated from the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign with a degree in economics and a minor in business.