MJBizMag July 2022 - 52

INDUSTRY PLAYERS New Hires & Promotions by Omar Sacirbey
Former Kanye West Manager Joins Cannabis Platform
Music industry veteran John Monopoly, perhaps best known for discovering
and managing rapper Kanye West, will try managing something even more
difficult: a cannabis company.
Monopoly will serve as CEO of Washington DC-based Urban Aroma, a
platform that works to connect consumers with cannabis brands, delivery
services and dispensaries that support legalization, social equity and fair access.
Before joining Urban Aroma, which was founded in 2020, Monopoly worked
in marketing and music promotions for Busta Rhymes and Missy Elliott as well
as brands such as Guff, Pheed and Zumani.
One of Monopoly's first priorities as CEO is to organize a series of
fundraising events in New York to benefit cannabis- and social equity-related
philanthropic organizations, the company said in a news release.
Tyneeha
Rivers
in Ann Arbor, Michigan, hired Valay
Shah as chief financial officer.
Shah will oversee the company's
finance, treasury and accounting
departments.
Before joining C3, Shah spent
12 years at New York-based Apollo
Global Management, an alternative
asset-management company.
Before Apollo, he worked as an
analyst for financial services firm
Moelis & Co., where he met C3 CEO
Ankur Rungta.
Curaleaf Creates New Post:
Chief People Officer
Massachusetts-based multistate
operator Curaleaf Holdings
appointed Tyneeha Rivers as its
chief people officer, a newly created
position. Rivers most recently held
the same role at Curio Wellness,
an Oregon cannabis company that
Curaleaf acquired in 2020.
Rivers also held executive and
managerial HR posts with the
Greater Philadelphia YMCA, Harris
Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, the
Philadelphia 76ers of the NBA, The
Galman Group as well as Morgan
Properties.
Michigan MSO Nabs
Apollo Veteran as CFO
C3 Industries, a multistate, vertically
integrated cannabis company based
52 July 2022 | MJBizMagazine
Emulsion Enterprise
Bolsters Board
Vertosa, a California-based business
that creates emulsions and other
ingredients for infused cannabis
products, appointed Manon
Daoust and James Pelligrini to the
company's board of directors.
Daoust most recently served as
executive vice president of strategy
and custom flavor solutions at
spice manufacturer McCormick &
Co. She also spent nearly 17 years
combined at Fona International
and Originates, two beverage
companies where she held highlevel
managerial positions.
Pelligrini joins Vertosa's board of
directors with extensive finance
and brand-development experience
from the alcoholic beverage
industry. He currently serves as the
co-founder and managing partner
at Goat Rodeo Capital, a Vertosa
investor and venture capital firm
that specializes in the beverage
sector. Pelligrini started his career
at E. & J. Gallo Winery, where he
held various finance and branddevelopment
roles.
Tom
Regan
Massachusetts Operator
Hires Cisco Vet as CEO
Root & Bloom, a cannabis
cultivation, extraction and
manufacturing operation in
Massachusetts, appointed Tom
Regan as CEO. Regan had been
working as a strategic adviser to
the company, which expects to have
products in stores this summer.
Regan's early career was spent at
startups and tech companies, and
he worked 10 years as a director
at Cisco Systems. Most recently,
MJBizMag July 2022

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