Our Team
Dale Jones · Chair
Dale is one of California’s most visible cannabis policy reform advocates, having been one of the principal media spokespersons for the Yes on Proposition 19 campaign. As Executive Chancellor of Oaksterdam University, Dale works to establish successful models for the control, regulation and taxation of the cannabis industry through building coalitions with elected officials, labor unions, law enforcement, health professionals, media, and community and industry leaders.
Ms. Alice Huffman · Vice Chair
Since 2000 when Ms. Huffman began her tenure as President of the California NAACP, her leadership has accelerated the organization into one of the most sought after participants in California’s policy arena. She serves on the Board of the Center for Democratic Participation and is a member of the California Democratic Party Executive Committee and the Democratic National Committee. Ms. Huffman graduated from UC Berkeley with honors in Social and Cultural Anthropology and is a member of Phi Beta Kappa.
Tom Angell · Board Member
Tom has worked in drug policy reform for eleven years. Currently, he serves as media relations director for Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, where he helps place the perspectives of the organization's pro-reform law enforcers in print, broadcast and online news outlets. Previously, he worked for six years with Students for Sensible Drug Policy, first as a chapter leader and then as a full-time national staffer handling media outreach and congressional lobbying efforts in the organization's Washington, DC headquarters. Tom holds a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Rhode Island.
Graham Boyd · Honorary Board Member
Graham is a visiting fellow at the Criminal Justice Center at Stanford University. Before coming to Stanford, he was the founder and director of the ACLU Drug Law Reform Project. Boyd has litigated before the U.S. Supreme Court and federal courts across the nation, building a record of court victories and resulting policy changes. He has played a leading role in criminal justice reforms, including changes in sentencing, racial profiling, medical marijuana, police practices and alternatives to incarceration.
David Bronner · Board Member
David is President of Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps. Under David’s leadership, Dr. Bronner's was one of the first brands to certify their products under the USDA National Organic Program. Today Dr. Bronner’s is coordinating certified fair trade projects for all major ingredients. David was the main coordinator of the Hemp Industries Association’s (HIA) successful multi-year litigation against the Drug Enforcement Administration, to protect sales of hemp foods and body care in the United States. He is a board member of both the HIA and Vote Hemp, and is working to bring back hemp farming to the U.S. David holds a B.A. in Biology from Harvard.
Antonio Gonzalez · Board Member
Antonio is President of the William C. Velasquez Institute. WCVI is a preeminent national Latino public policy and research organization. Gonzalez is a leading expert on Latino voter mobilization, and President of the Southwest Voter Registration Education Project. In August 2005, Time Magazine named Gonzalez one of the 25 Most Influential Hispanics in America due to his ability to mobilize the Latino vote. He holds a masters in Latin American History from UC Berkeley.
Stephen Gutwillig · Honorary Board Member
Stephen is California Director of the Drug Policy Alliance, the nation's leading organization advocating alternatives to the war on drugs. He oversees DPA’s statewide legislative agenda, “model city” initiative in San Francisco, and other projects across California. Based in LA, Stephen primarily focuses on marijuana reform, including advocacy on behalf of Prop. 19 in 2010. He recently supervised the production of several reports documenting racist enforcement of marijuana possession laws throughout the state. He has appeared on NBC Nightly News, CNN, Telemundo, and Fox as well as in The New York Times, Rolling Stone, Los Angeles Times, Huffington Post, and dozens of other media outlets.
Jeff Jones · Board Member
Jeff has provided expertise in the medical cannabis field to Californians for over 14 years. He serves on the Board of the Medical Cannabis Association (MCA) and the Green Aid Medical Cannabis Defense Fund. He also helped establish Alameda County Patient Services, which provides patients and caregivers with official State of California Medical Marijuana ID cards in Alameda County.
Richard Lee · Board Member
Richard has been working to end cannabis prohibition for 17 years. He is the founder and President of Oaksterdam University, a cannabis educator, and has founded several diversified cannabis enterprises in Oakland, which have helped contribute to the revitalization and economic growth of the city’s downtown area. Richard was the principal proponent of Proposition 19.
Jim O'Neill · Board Member
Jim is a managing director of Clarium Capital Management. Before joining Clarium, he served as the principal associate deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In that post and others in the Bush Administration, Jim led projects related to science policy, biodefense, global health, the Food and Drug Administration, human trafficking, and vaccine safety. He represented HHS on the President’s Management Council, the Task Force on New Americans, and the American Red Cross. Jim holds a B.A. from Yale and an A.M. from the University of Chicago.
Perry Rosenstein · Board Member
Perry is a consultant with Trilogy Interactive, where he has helped lead online strategy and operations for a range of senatorial and gubernatorial races. Prior to that, Rosenstein served as New Media Director for the Obama for America campaign in Nevada. Before joining the Obama campaign, Rosenstein worked as a product marketing analyst at Facebook, and has developed dozens of Facebook applications. Perry holds a B.A. in Economics and B.S. in Symbolic Systems from Stanford University.
Dan Rush · Board Member
Dan is Special Operations Director for the United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW), Local 5, a Bi-State Local Union in California and Arizona, and is currently the Executive Secretary Treasurer of Instituto Laboral de la Raza, a workers resource center for mono-lingual, immigrant working families in Oakland, San Francisco and San Jose. Rush is an Elected 16th AD Central Committee Delegate and Chair of the 16th AD Democratic Club.