Benzinga | Oct 13, 2021 07:10PM EDT

Meet Two Of The Women Leading The Cannabis Industry At Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference

Women Leading The Cannabis Industry: Kim Rivers and Yoko Miyashita

This week Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference will bring together two of the top female-led companies in the cannabis industry, Trulieve (CSE:TRUL) (OTCQX:TCNNF) (OTC:TCNNF) a leading and top-performing cannabis company based in Florida, and Leafly, a leading cannabis marketplace.

Kim Rivers, CEO of Trulieve, will be one of the keynote speakers during the event taking place October 14-15, at New York's Marriott Marquis Hotel. Rivers oversees every activity involved with the cannabis process from seed to sale to ensure quality, operational integrity, and financial success.

Prior to Trulieve, Rivers spent several years in private practice as a lawyer where she specialized in mergers, acquisitions, and securities for multi-million dollar companies. Rivers joined Trulieve at its inception and has been the key driver for the Company's customer-centric vision, strong growth, strategic expansion, and industry-leading profitability.

In June 2021, Trulieve announced the election of Giannella Alvarez and Jane Morreau as directors of the company. Alvarez is an expert in strategic planning, branding, innovation and multi-billion-dollar businesses.

"Diversity is an important value for Trulieve. With the appointments Ms. Alvarez and Ms. Morreau, Trulieve's Board of Directors is now 50% women," said Trulieve CEO Kim Rivers.

At the same time, Yoko Miyashita, CEO of Leafly, will also be attending the Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference.

Miyashita was appointed CEO of Leafly in August 2020 after serving as the company's General Counsel since 2019. Miyashita is an expert in policy and advocacy and has spent her career navigating complex global regulatory environments in order to bring meaningful and compelling products to market.

In April 2021, Miyashita, Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman and Jeff Riedy, executive director of Lehigh Valley NORML, held a press conference calling for cannabis legalization.

As General Counsel, Miyashita led Leafly's position on key regulatory, compliance and government affairs issues. She has focused on progressing Leafly's reputation as a trusted and authoritative cannabis resource and leveraged an understanding of current cannabis regulations, and opportunities for change, to help scale Leafly's product and sales strategy.

Background: Women In The Cannabis Boys Club

The emergence of the cannabis industry coincided with a societal trend of empowering women. However, as recent analyses revealed, gender gaps persist at the top of cannabis companies. Women hold 46.8% of professional-level jobs, but make up only 29.5% of executive or senior-level roles, hold only 30% of board seats, and comprise just 6% of American CEO positions.

According to a report titled "Gender Parity In The C-Suite," by the National Cannabis Industry Association and the Arcview Group, a vertically integrated company servicing the cannabis and hemp industry, there is a lack of inclusion at the top of cannabis companies. A problem that trickles down.

Kim Rivers and Yoko Miyashita will part-take in the Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference being held in New York on October 14-15. Tickets are still available to secure your spot at the conference, for both in-person and virtual gatherings of cannabis entrepreneurs and investors from around the world.

Image By Ilona Szentivanyi