G.E. Jarrell, Board Chair/Onboarding Chair

When I was young my knowledge of cannabis was based on propaganda and my experience with cannabis was nonexistent. I judged something I didn’t understand. After completing undergrad and ending up in a high pressure corporate role I had few tools to manage my rapidly increasing anxiety. I was prescribed pharmaceuticals that made me feel ‘numb’ and made it harder for me to complete daily tasks. A friend recommended I try cannabis and suddenly I found relief. Since that point I’ve dedicated much of my time and interest in learning about the perspectives and policies that led our culture to stigmatizing, limiting and criminalizing plant medicine. I’m overwhelmed by the progress so many states have made and look forward to pushing for further change in NC. I’m proud to be a member of North Carolina NORML and to be organizing for change in the state while serving as Board Chair.

Jessica Painter, Executive Director/Public Relations/Communications Co-Chair

As a child, I saw first-hand how detrimental cannabis-related charges can be to a person’s life. As I got older, my interest in the cannabis industry grew; I learned and began to understand national and international regulations. After three years in the cannabis industry, I see the desperate need for all states to participate in social equity programs. Now, living in Asheville, NC, my mission is to bring these types of programs into legislation and ultimately help people from disadvantaged groups or those who have previous cannabis convictions. 

Tim Berggren, Treasurer/Fulfillment Chair

My professional experience is rooted in cannabis, technology, and finance where I have created robust financial models, developed strategic business initiatives, and consulted on licensing applications for over 100 cannabis companies. My skill set encompasses navigating the financial aspects of the full cannabis supply chain across dozens of jurisdictions. I'm passionate about coaching and supporting companies throughout the fundraising process and have helped organizations raise over $80M in debt and equity capital. My financial acumen is evident in the well-sourced, thoroughly researched, and meticulously prepared calculations, forecasts, analyses, and modeling required by complex organizations in highly regulated environments. I approach each project with the firm belief in the importance of understanding all aspects of an organization and how they factor into the financial and market decisions unique to that company. I am excited to use my professional experience in the cannabis industry to help advocate for North Carolina cannabis supporters and lobby North Carolina legislators to take decisive action on harm reduction, decriminalization, testing and safety regulations, and patient rights protections.

Sarah Carson, Fundraising Chair

I was born and raised in North Carolina. If you asked a loved one about me, they would tell you that I'm the wild child, the dreamer, the artist, the nature lover, the mother, the therapist, the friend. This wasn't always the case. As a teen and young adult, I struggled with traumatic experiences in my home and love lives. By the time I was 21, I was addicted to opiates and continued down a turbulent path up to the point where I lost someone very close to me. That loss turned out to be my wake-up call. At 23 years old, I detoxed myself off of opiates and have since been able to maintain complete sobriety from opiates with the help of cannabis. At the age of 24, I moved to New York, where I remained for ten years. Around the age of 29, I ended up going to a local holistic festival that set the plan for my life into motion. I met some friends there that I now call family. These individuals were different; they taught me that it was okay to choose and pursue natural medicine forms, which I've done for the last six years. I immersed myself in learning about holism and holistic-based medicine, but my passion is set on herbalism. I am now three years into my Bachelor's degree in Complementary and Alternative Health. While living in New York, I saw firsthand how decriminalization of cannabis could elevate the community.  New York legalized cannabis right as I moved back to North Carolina, so I became a cannabis activist in my home state. I decided I was tired of hiding the fact that this 'medicine' actually gave me my life back. That's why I joined NC NORML. My mission here is to use my voice to elevate cannabis so that every community member equally has the opportunity to choose to use plant medicine.