Norhawa (Bee) Mohamed

• Bee Mohamed is the Head of Patient Advocacy & Engagement of Astrid, the first female-led dispensary in Australia. She made her mark in the medicinal cannabis industry in 2019 when she joined Canopy Growth Asia Pacific as the Stakeholder Relations and Advocacy Manager (Asia Pacific) and saw the regulatory barriers patients faced in Australia in accessing medicinal cannabis.  Prior to the cannabis industry, Bee was the inaugural Chief Executive Officer of ScriptWise, a not for profit organisation dedicated to prevent the harms associated with prescription medication dependency and overdose. Working closely with both patients and families affected by this issue, the organisation was successful in bringing changes around the issue such as: commitment by the Federal Government to implement a nation-wide Real Time Prescription Monitoring system (RTPM), rescheduling of codeine-based medications (in 2018) and to introduce best practice in prescribing opioids.  She holds a Master in Social Science (International Development) and has worked in both the public and community sector for close to 8 years. Her true passion is to influence health policies through patient-led advocacy and engagement in improving access to progressive medicines.

Gary Roberts

• 17 Year veteran firefighter/paramedic for the City of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, currently still active.  Co-Founder of Promises Recovery Centers with my wife, Pamela Roberts.  President Promises Integrated Recovery.  President of Pure Body Zen Hemp CBD.  Host of Good Dudes Grow Podcast.From my physical pain to the emotional pain of losing my daughter and father in the same year to opioids. From losing brothers and sisters in the fire services to mental health and suicide.  I realized that more needed to be done to change how addiction was being treated and that first responders needed more than just a hotline to call.  Promises Recovery Centers is that solution. I have already helped countless individuals quit their dependencies on pain medication through plant-based medicine like hemp CBD and changed firefighters’ lives by removing them from the darkness they felt.  But still, more needs to be done. Through Promises Recovery Centers, we are creating plant-based and psychedelic treatments centers. These centers will provide therapy and have the ability to provide innovative research and clinical trials with cannabis and psychedelics. Allowing us to bring better therapies for TBI, CTE, PTSD, Addiction, and so much more to the forefront.
• Company Bio: Promises Recovery Centers.  Fully integrated Clinical Trial and Treatment Centers for CTE, TBI, PTSD, and SUDs through innovative therapies using Cannabis and psychedelics. These facilities will treat each individual’s mind, body, and soul through a comprehensive mental and physical holistic based protocol using state-of-the-art wellness therapies and plant-based medicine.

Matt Johnson, M.Ed.

• Matt is a full-time professional firefighter and mental health clinician from Vancouver, British Columbia. Since 2012, he has attended over 3,000 calls as a medical responder, hazardous materials technician, emergency vehicle operator and firefighter. Combined with 20 years experience in counselling psychology Matt offers a unique, in-depth understanding of paramilitary mindsets within stoic workplace cultures.  In 2017, Matt co-founded a popular educational series titled the Occupational Awareness Training Program©. In under three years, he trained over 400 psychologists/counsellors, human resource specialists and medical doctors on how to enhance the delivery of services for first responders and their family members. The Occupational Awareness Training Program© has garnered international attention for solving complex barriers to care while offering streamlined service access to an extensive network of culturally competent healthcare professionals.  Matt is also Chief Executive Officer of First Responder Health Services Inc. (FRH), a company that combines technological innovation with an extensive network of subject matter experts to provide customized e-learning opportunities and telemedicine services. FRH is also broadening its focus through expansion of online services to include military personnel and veterans through partnerships with well-established national stakeholder groups. The goal of FRH is to deliver simplified, culturally competent healthcare services in a fashion that alleviates the mental health crises facing those who protect society.  Matt is a nationally recognized a subject matter expert in the field of public safety mental health. Recently, he has been appointed to a federal committee in charge of implementing Canada’s National Framework on PTSD Surveillance. He is also a panel member for the Canadian Institute for Health and Research. His clients are numerous and have included the Canadian Border Services Agency, large unions/associations, and various Worker Compensation Boards.

Rob Hyndman

• Rob Hyndman is a twenty-one-year veteran of the Ontario Fire service with fifteen years advocating for professional firefighters, including four years as the president of the Ontario Professional Firefighters Association, the largest provincial organization in Canada.  During his tenure Rob was responsible for advocacy at all levels of government with multiple legislative and regulatory changes to his credit with a focus being on public safety personnel health and safety.   Rob has worked with stakeholders from across the public sector on government appointed committees, pension boards and international standard setting bodies. Transitioning out of organized labour Rob’s focus has been on innovation in the public safety personnel mental health space including plant-based treatment options for occupational stress injuries.  Rob’s experience comes with a vast network of connections throughout the public safety personnel community that expands beyond national borders.

Natasha Fearnley

• Natasha Fearnley is a Registered Nurse and the Clinical Intake Director at TheraPsil, a non-profit coalition dedicated to helping those in medical need access legal psilocybin assisted therapy.  Natasha lives and works on the unceded Traditional Territories of the Lək̓ʷəŋən peoples, also known as Victoria, BC.  Before working at TheraPsil, her nursing career has provided her valuable experience in facility management and clinical leadership. She has also had the honour of providing direct care to patients at the end of their lives, often holding space for those experiencing dementia.  Natasha now builds and enacts TheraPsil’s clinical protocols to ensure patient safety. She educates and guides each patient through a detailed assessment process, assisting patients who meet inclusion criteria to apply for section 56 exemptions to the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. Patients are then referred to trained therapists to provide their psilocybin assisted therapy. She is currently working with TheraPsil’s research department to collect observational data to detail the effectiveness of these treatments.  Natasha is trained to provide psilocybin assisted therapy to those in medical need, and in May of 2021 became the first Nurse in Canada to legally consume psilocybin for training purposes. She assists in the development and delivery of TheraPsil’s health care practitioner psilocybin assisted therapy training program.  Natasha is very grateful to be in a position to help the public gain safe and legal access to this medicine. She views psychedelic assisted therapy as a powerful tool to relieve suffering, not only for individuals facing end-of-life distress, but for all patients in medical need. She believes this treatment should be widely accessible and through her work is continually advocating for Psilocybin Regulations to be created in Canada.

Noah Starr

• Noah Starr first joined the Canadian forces in 2005. He is a rare breed of modern day veterans that spent minimal time training, and in the unit, before being thrust into combat. Noah achieved the rank of Corporal and was trained as a Combat Engineer whose duty was to ensure that the roadways in Afghanistan were & remained Improvised Explosive Device (IED) free; while also responding to explosive attacks against International Security & Assistance Forces (ISAF). He served in Afghanistan in 2007 where he was awarded the Sacrifice Medal for PTSD. After his diagnosis in 2008 and subsequent relapse in late 2011, it became apparent in Noah’s mind that the pharmacology route & traditional talk therapy did not have the effect needed to clear his mind of the trauma experienced. Facing demons from his tour, suicidal, and with no support from his family/friends & co-workers, it became apparent that his continued career as a Combat Engineer was unlikely. Upon release from the Canadian Forces, it became clear to Noah that without an effective treatment, he would become a statistic. Since becoming a patient on what was the MMPR (Cannabis), Noah has not only found his wellness, but has managed to start and run multiple companies; CanStar Property Management, Vice President of Patient Outreach with CannaConnect, & Fredericton Towing Company.

Ming Bérubé-Sam

• Ming’s mission is to educate and empower others on their own path to wellness and to destigmatize plant medicine use for all Canadians. She does this through deep knowledge of the science behind the plant medicine and her extensive background in holistic wellness.  After experiencing a series of traumatic brain injuries Ming spent three years searching for relief and this led her to discover the medical benefits of cannabis and psychedelics. This has transformed Ming’s life and informed her career. Through both her career and her own experience Ming has developed a deep respect for the cannabis and psychedelics and their vast healing and wellness capacities. In her work as business development specialist at Knowde Group, Ming spends her days working tirelessly to inform on the benefits of plant and progressive therapeutics while decreasing the stigma surrounding their uses.  Ming has had the pleasure of speaking and educating at many industry events such as Lift&Co, the Hemp and Cannabis expo and Flora.