CEPC Team
Brandon Bolton - Board Member - Brandon joined the legal cannabis industry at a young age, working his way up to managing several cannabis operations by his early twenties. His first foray into equity activism was in 2018 when the city of Sacramento introduced its equity applicant licensing system. Due to the lack of support that was available to equity applicants, he founded the United Core Alliance (UCA) to help train and prepare equity applicants to go through the licensing process. Since launching the UCA, he has successfully helped almost a dozen equity applicants in his organization obtain a cannabis businesses license from the City of Sacramento. His goal in starting CEPC is to help start local equity organizations in cities across the nation. Brandon specializes in developing public-sector Cannabis Social Equity Programs. He has also been instrumental in consulting large private-sector cannabis businesses on developing their corporate responsibility plans with a social equity component. Through advocacy, grassroots efforts, and strategic partnerships with communities and local associations, he has authored and proposed cannabis social equity initiatives and policy with adoption successes at the city and state level.
Madison Shockley III - Board Member - Madison was an actor and producer before he dedicated himself to fighting for equity cannabis applicants and operators in the City of Los Angeles. He is also a co-founder of the Social Equity Owners and Workers Association (SEOWA). Through his work in SEOWA, he successfully compelled the City of Los Angeles to add an additional 100 cannabis business licenses that would be available to equity applicants. He also developed pro bono legal assistance programs that have been successful in getting equity entrepreneurs out of predatory contracts, allowing entrepreneurs to continue moving forward in building their businesses. Madison's goal for CEPC is to ensure that equity applicants and operators have an equal seat at the drafting table at the state and national level. He currently resides in the City of Los Angeles
Rubi Wahhab Nicholas MBA/MS, MS - Board Member Rubi is a 26 year healthcare professional working in the fields of geriatrics, long-term care, and end of life care. Her work brought her a better understanding of the uses and power of medical marijuana and she became an advocate for its passing for a variety of conditions. A Pennsylvania native, Ruby is also the executive director of her local NORML chapter in Lancaster, Pennsylvania - her lobbying efforts generated the most lenient decriminalization law in the entire state. She continues to advocate for marijuana legalization and recreational use only while simultaneously committing reparation to those populations inappropriately and negatively affected by previous marijuana prohibition laws. Rubi has 2 adult daughters, is a nationally recognized standup comedian and former winner of Nick @Nite’s Funniest Mom in America, she’s delivered a TEDx talk, and is also running for office in her home state of Pennsylvania in the 97 district in 2022.
Nate Bradley - Strategic Advisor - Nate is a 10-year veteran of the cannabis policy reform movement with seven years of law enforcement experience.
Over the last decade Nate has collaborated with, and contributed substantially to, numerous cannabis policy reform organizations and authored the book, “The Medical Marijuana Survival Guide”. In 2010 he became a speaker for Law Enforcement Against Prohibition and served as a spokesman for the Yes on Prop 19 campaign to legalize cannabis in California. In 2011 Nate founded Lawmen Protecting Patients, a non profit advocacy organization dedicated to protecting the rights of medical cannabis patients. He has personally influenced numerous pieces of legislation in the California State Capitol. Nate has been interviewed by numerous media outlets and has appeared in several documentaries on the topic of marijuana policy reform including the upcoming movie "Legalize It". He has been quoted in numerous publications including the New York Times, as well as authored opinion pieces for newspapers and websites all over the country including the Huffington Post.
Nate is best known for founding the California Cannabis Industry Association in 2013. In 2015 he assembled a never-before seen coalition of cannabis advocates, local government, law enforcement, and other advocacy organizations to establish a statewide regulatory system for medical marijuana in California. That achievement precipitated a profile by Buzzfeed News that dubbed Nate California’s “Most Effective Pot Lobbyist”
In 2016 Nate served as a spokesman and strategic advisor to the Prop 64 campaign to legalize cannabis for adult use in California. In 2019 Nate created a social justice based non-profit organization, the Cannabis Consumer Policy Council, where he works to protect cannabis consumers in today's “post legalization” era. Since 2020 Nate has also consulted numerous nonprofits in building their organizational structures.
An-Chi Tsou - Senior Policy Advisor - An-Chi Tsou is the principal and owner of Tsou Consulting, LLC, specializing in helping clients understand and navigate the state’s complex laws and regulations related to healthcare and cannabis policies.
Prior to starting the firm, An-Chi worked as the Senior Policy Advisor for the Bureau of Medical Cannabis Regulation (BMCR) under the Department of Consumer Affairs, the agency responsible for implementing the Medical Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act. In this capacity, An-Chi helped develop and negotiate regulatory policies, created informational materials for the public, interacted heavily with other state agencies and the Legislature, and prepared fiscal analyses for BMCR. She actively engaged with the public as the lead organizer for BMCR’s pre-regulatory stakeholder meetings and informational sessions, which were attended by well over 3,300 members of the public.
Her political and policy career began in the California State Legislature, where she held numerous positions that provided her with a wide range of political and policy experience. She started in the office of Assemblymember Rob Bonta as a Science and Technology Fellow and was quickly promoted to Legislative Aide and then Legislative Director. She was the lead staffer on the Medical Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act, actively negotiating with other legislative offices and stakeholders through the state on California’s first medical cannabis law. She also served as Senior Consultant for the Assembly Health Committee, where she focused heavily on issues related Medi-Cal, long-term care, consumers’ rights, and cannabis.
An-Chi speaks both Mandarin Chinese and Spanish, and is a national and world champion in ultimate Frisbee. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering Science at Smith College. She later completed her doctorate at the Joint Graduate Program in Bioengineering at the University of California at Berkeley and the University of California at San Francisco.