Executive Team

Ben Kovler brings his extensive experience managing complex operating companies and his deep commitment to philanthropy as Founder, CEO and Chairman of Green Thumb Industries. Ben founded GTI in 2014 and has successfully grown it into a national cannabis consumer packaged goods company and retailer that manufactures and distributes a portfolio of branded cannabis products including Rythm, Dogwalkers, The Feel Collection, and Beboe, among others. The company also owns and operates a rapidly growing national chain of retail cannabis stores called Rise™.

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 lllinois. In its first ten years, IFK has raised approximately $14 million and supported over 60 organizations to benefit more than 80,000 children.

Ben earned a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy, politics and economics from Pomona College and an M.B.A. in accounting and finance from The University of Chicago. Ben and his wife, Amy, enjoy living in Chicago with their two children.

ANTHONY GEORGIADIS is an investor and entrepreneur, having purchased a Florida-based manufacturing business in 2005 that he helped grow into one of North America’s largest manufacturers of wall décor. Prior to this, he worked as a principal investing associate for CIVC Partners, a $1.5 billion private equity firm, and as a M&A analyst for Bowles Hollowell Conner &Co.

Anthony became involved in the cannabis industry in 2014 after exploring cannabidiol (CBD) for treatment on his swiss mountain dog, who suffered from epilepsy. Since then he has invested in a number of cannabis-related businesses including PAX (vapor technology), Cannasure (insurance), Headset (data analytics), and Baker (customer engagement).

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

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

Anthony and his wife, Katie, enjoy spending time with their newborn daughter.

BETH BURK brings over 25 years of broad legal expertise to GTI, most recently serving as Global Chief Compliance Officer of Aon plc (NYSE: AON), a leading global professional services firm providing a broad range of risk, retirement and health solutions. During her 14-year tenure with Aon, she served the company in its Chicago and London, UK offices in a variety of key leadership roles including as Chief Counsel of its Global Employment Law team and of a key business unit.

Prior to joining Aon, Beth was a partner in the Chicago, Illinois office of the global law firm Winston & Strawn LLP, where she advised businesses in a variety of industries from early stage to maturity.

Beth earned her J.D. from Chicago-Kent College of Law and a Bachelor of General Studies degree, with a concentration in Economics, from the University of Michigan.

Recently, Beth provided primary care for her sister grappling with end-stage cancer and, consequently, witnessed the extraordinary benefits of medical marijuana.

Beth lives in Chicago with her husband, Brad, two teenagers and their English Working Cocker Spaniel, Rocket.

Julie Knudson oversees all human resources, recruiting, and culture initiatives for GTI. She brings an extensive business background including leadership in premier market-leading organizations, publicly traded companies and high-growth entities ranging from early-stage companies to Fortune 500 C-suite experience.

Julie most recently served as Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer for GGP Inc., an S&P 500 company acquired by Brookfield Properties in 2018. She started her career in consulting and has led human resources for public companies Echo Global Logistics, DigitalGlobe and YesMail. Additionally, she held HR leadership positions at Accenture and spent time in Rwanda as the Country Director for The Clinton Foundation where she worked in partnership with the Rwandan president’s office and directed teams on the Clinton HIV / AIDS and other initiatives.

She has a Bachelor of Science in Accountancy from the University of Illinois and Sloan Master’s in Leadership and Strategy from the London Business School. Julie has been a director of a private foundation and is an Advisory Council Member of Youth Guidance’s WOW (Working on Womanhood) program.

JENNIFER brings a decade of experience building consumer brands, driven by her uniquely creative and analytical approach to identifying and capitalizing on market opportunities to GTI.

Prior to joining GTI, Jennifer led strategic Brand Development and Innovation at Storck USA, a top 10 global confectioner, known for brands Werther’s Original, Toffifay, Mamba, merci and RIESEN. There, she managed a $100M brand portfolio P&L and brought to market dozens of new products, including the first non-confection product to come out of the century-old Werther’s Original brand: a Caramel Popcorn that knocked out incumbents, earning #1 ranks in the market, and the 2015 Snack Category Product of the Year. She also ran brand operations for the Werther’s Original Caramel Shoppe in the Germany Pavilion at Walt Disney World’s Epcot.

In 2019, Jennifer was named to Marijuana Venture’s “40 Under 40” list and High Times “Female 50.” She earned her MBA from Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management with a focus on Marketing, Entrepreneurship and Innovation. Jennifer graduated summa cum laude from the College of Charleston with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and English while a member of The College’s NCAA Division I Cross Country and Track + Field teams.

She currently resides in Chicago, loves a nice rye, a good pen, puns and boxing.

ANDY GROSSMAN is an entrepreneur and business executive with 20 years of experience in the hedge fund industry. He joined GTI for the opportunity to join a nascent industry with the potential for tremendous growth.

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 under management. 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 multi-billion event-driven investment Fund.

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

Andy is actively involved in various organizations in the Baltimore community which include The Associated, LifeBridge Health, Beth El Congregation and Jewish Volunteer Connection.

Andy lives in Baltimore, Maryland with his wife, Jennifer, and their three kids. He is passionate about giving back to the community and enjoys traveling with his family and friends.

Swadheen leads all technological and IT initiatives throughout Green Thumb. He is a business executive with more than 20 years of experience in IT, supply chain management, go-to-market strategy, and IT procurement. Swadheen brings an extensive business and IT background including leadership in premier market-leading retail organizations, publicly traded companies, and high-growth entities ranging from early-stage companies to Fortune 500 C-suite experience.

He started his career in software development and continued his journey in various organizations taking on increasingly complex assignments in a wide variety of locations including Germany and Singapore. He established new growth channels and has led transitions from “brick-and-mortar” to digital business models for adidas/reebok by developing vision and implementing systems using CRM, RFID, eCommerce, Social Media, and mobile technologies. He most recently served as CIO and head of Supply Chain for Snapbac., a professional sports apparel company.

He has built high-performing global teams composed of internal and external resources by mentoring, inspiring, and empowering them to think globally with a strong focus on customer service while assuming greater responsibility and accountability for organizations like Sears, adidas, reebok etc.

Swadheen has Bachelors in Computer Science from MD University in India and Masters in Business Administration from Ohm University in Germany. He lives with his wife and two boys in a northwest Chicago suburb and loves to travel and learn about different cultures.

Dina represents Green Thumb in governmental and regulatory affairs matters at the state, local, and federal level and provides counsel on regulatory matters. Dina began her involvement with Green Thumb and the cannabis industry in 2014 by helping Green Thumb apply for its Illinois licenses, and thereafter served as first external and then in-house regulatory compliance and litigation counsel before transitioning to a government relations role in 2019.

Dina is an experienced attorney who, prior to joining Green Thumb and specializing in cannabis law, was a partner at a commercial litigation law firm, representing plaintiffs and defendants in business disputes throughout the country.

Dina is the co-founder and President of Illinois Women in Cannabis, a not-for-profit group that promotes women’s role in Illinois’ cannabis industry. She teaches a Cannabis Law & Policy course as an adjunct professor at Chicago-Kent College of Law and has lectured widely on cannabis topics, addressing national trade conferences and national legal conferences. Dina created GTI’s social equity License Education Application Program (LEAP), which helped applicants navigate the adult use cannabis business application process in Illinois and will soon incubate social equity licensees. She is also on the board of the Cannabis Business Alliance of Illinois and the Cannabis Trade Federation.

The Chicago Sun-Times named Dina to its list of the top 10 most influential people in the Illinois cannabis industry in 2018 and she was included in the Chicago Business Journal’s Chicago Women of Influence list in 2019.

She earned a Bachelor of Arts from Oberlin College and a law degree from Northwestern University School of Law.

Dina lives in Highland Park with her husband Eli, their two teenagers and their golden labradoodle.

Dan manages the wholesale sales operation for Green Thumb spreading his time between developing currently operational states and opening up new markets. He brings nearly 30 years of experience of building brands within the CPG/FMCG world and has worked on some of the world’s most iconic brands at various stages of their growth cycle.

Dan started his career with Philip Morris USA, with stops along the way at The J.M. Smucker Company and Pinnacle Brands. Before Dan joined Green Thumb in 2017, he spent the previous 15 years in a variety of sales and trade marketing roles working for Diageo North America. Starting as a Sales Director in Southeast, Dan eventually landed in Chicago as the Vice President of Sales for multiple divisions in the company. During his tenure at Diageo, Dan was responsible for managing the growth of over 250 brands through the distributor network in a variety of states across the country and exceeded annual sales revenues of $650 million dollars.

Dan studied Finance at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. He and his wife, Sheri, live in the suburbs of Chicago with their two children, Abigail and Mason.

Greg is working to stand-up and scale the full national supply chain of Green Thumb from grow to shelf including the key support functions of Procurement, Central Planning, R&D, Logistics, Quality and Engineering. Previous to Green Thumb, Greg was the Group Vice President leading the entire internal Manufacturing Operations Division for HEB. HEB is widely recognized as one of the premier food retailers in the US. Greg’s focus at HEB centered upon bringing data, technology and sustained process to the Manufacturing Organization, which included developing and building the snacks plant of the future. Previous to HEB, Greg worked for eight years at Snyder’s-Lance first as a Director of Manufacturing followed by five years as Vice President of Manufacturing and Corporate Engineering. Greg started his consumer products career at General Mills in roles across Strategic Technology Development, R&D, Headquarters Operations as well as Plant Operations at a self-directed work team plant. In each of his roles, Greg has focused on developing high performance work systems and using continuous improvement methodologies as vehicles for engagement and culture transformation.

Greg has multiple invention records and three granted patents for food production processes and technologies. Greg attended Ohio University on a football scholarship followed by receiving his Masters and Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Illinois. Along with his formal career, Greg also spent 10 years coaching football primarily at the collegiate level in the role of position coach and coordinator. Greg currently serves on the advisory boards for The Florida State University/FAMU Department Biomedical and Chemical Engineering, Bondurant Technologies International Inc. and ProFood World Magazine. Greg is a former Executive Chair and current active member of the OpX Leadership Network Executive Council and the Chair of the OpX Workforce Engagement team.