Sarah Kiah Morton
Sarah is an entrepreneur, educator, and nationally recognized speaker focused on cannabis safety, compliance, consumer awareness, and entrepreneurship.She has advocated for cannabis law reform in Virginia since 2018 and is passionate about engaging the local and national community in advocacy and normalizing cannabis through community conversations and education. She often moderates panel discussions and speaks on stages across the country about cannabis laws and a range of hot topics.
Over Sarah’s 20+ year career, she has led many new business development efforts in Corporate America, including a past role as Vice President at one of the largest consulting firms in the country where she built a multi-million dollar book of business from scratch, and her role as Operations Executive for a national insurance agency where she provides guidance and support to the owner and over 40 independent insurance agents.
Sarah has a passion for small businesses and entrepreneurs and has received several awards and recognitions, including being nominated by her peers for the Women in Cannabis Expo’s ‘Best East Coast Woman Trail Blazin’ Startup’ and being named as one of Southeast Virginia’s Top 40 under 40 Professionals.
Sarah was born and raised in Cincinnati, OH and is a graduate of the University of Virginia. She currently lives in Virginia Beach, VA with her husband and 3 kids with ages ranging from 6-19. She enjoys the beach, traveling, singing, and live music.
Ron Morton, MS
To overcome the life-changing challenges he experienced from having obtained simple, non-violent cannabis convictions in college, Ron joined the cannabis industry over 15 years ago and has since gained a rare and unique perspective from having worked across several states and in multiple aspects of the industry nationwide.
A professionally trained HVAC technician, he is the CEO of LOCKGREEN Consulting serving as a Commercial Equipment Consultant for cultivation facilities in legal states across the country. He also has his Master of Science in Medical Cannabis Science and Therapeutics from the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy, the first graduate program in the United States that is dedicated to the study of medical cannabis. Ron is also a board member of Virginia’s Cannabis Small Business Association.
Ronald believes that cannabis companies should understand the culture of the people within the communities they serve just as much as they focus on the bottom line. Ronald was born and raised in Trenton, NJ, and he attended undergrad at the University of Virginia. He enjoys glass art, football, and live music.