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Meet Our New Team (and more coming soon...)
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| Because of generous support from people like you, SAM and SAM Action are rapidly expanding. We're excited to announce Phase 1 of this expansion with our new state teams. We have identified the five focus states of Michigan, Illinois, Vermont, New Jersey, and Rhode Island for 2018 (though we are not neglecting others!). At our national offices, we have a new Chief of Staff and Senior Policy Advisor from the healthcare tech field, and we will announce new positions and national team members soon. Please familiarize yourself with some of the new team members and don't hesitate to reach out to us! |
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Chief of Staff & Senior Policy Advisor
Prior to SAM, Luke spent his career working in nonprofit community healthcare. Luke worked for and consulted with many behavioral health-integrated, Federally Qualified Health Centers throughout the state of Colorado, improving efficiency and implementing new regulations as well as IT infrastructure. After several years of success in management and driving over $30 million in revenue at hospitals such as Centura Health, Luke founded two digital health companies. Having lived in Colorado during legalization, he has seen firsthand the disastrous effects of lax marijuana policies. Luke graduated from the University of Denver and now resides in Virginia with his wife and daughter.
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President,
Marijuana Accountability Coalition
Justin Luke Riley serves as the head of SAM and SAM Action's Colorado efforts, in his capacity as the founding president of the
Marijuana Accountability Coalition (MAC). In active recovery since 2007, Justin is a leader in the recovery community and was a Youth & Community Engagement Pastor as well as a private life coach. He graduated cum laude from the University Colorado at Denver in the University's Honors & Leadership Program in 2013, receiving a Bachelor of Arts in Communication, Mediation, and Public Relations. He recently completed his Executive MBA from the University of Colorado. As a natural leader and gifted public speaker, Justin has been featured in many media outlets for his involvement in youth leadership and community engagement.
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SAM Action Lobbyist, Partner,
Ellis-Mills
An award-winning former journalist, Kevin Ellis and his firm Ellis-Mills, represents SAM Action in Vermont. Ellis-Mills provides strategic counsel to companies and nonprofits nationwide in message development, crisis management, PR and social media. Kevin was an award-winning newspaper reporter, including stints as the Washington correspondent for The Tennessean in Nashville and as the environmental reporter for the Burlington (VT) Free Press. He serves on the board of directors of Chelsea Green Publishing, a leading environmental and sustainability publisher and the Green Mountain Film Festival in Montpelier, VT. Kevin lives with his family in Cambridge, MA and East Montpelier, VT.
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President,
Healthy & Productive Michigan
Lifelong Michigan resident Scott Greenlee is the President of
Healthy and Productive Michigan, an organization opposed to the legalization of marijuana in Michigan. Scott has a long history of being active in community causes as a Member of and/or President of several Non-Profit organizations including being elected to serve as the Worldwide President of Junior Chamber International (the global arm of the Jaycees) in 2007, and having worked on the Board of Directors for the Project Rehab Foundation in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Additionally, he served as Vice Chairman of the Michigan Republican Party in 2009-10, Export Director for the Michigan Economic Development Corporation in 2001-12, and on the Executive Staff of the Michigan Attorney General from 2013-15.
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Tim McAnarney is our voice in Springfield, and helps direct
Healthy and Productive Illinois, a coalition of concerned citizens. Tim has been a registered lobbyist in Illinois since 1988. After working 8 years in state government he worked 8 years running the Illinois U.S. Senate office for Alan J. Dixon, and also ran dozens of political campaigns for statewide candidates in Illinois. McAnarney Consulting also provides public relations advice for numerous public and private entities.
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Jamie leads our grassroots efforts in the great state of Illinois. She has a MBA in non-profit management and has worked or volunteered in the field for the past 20 years. She is currently the founder and Executive Director of Stand Strong, dedicated to the prevention of underage drinking and drug use for the youth in IL-District 125, a large suburban high school in Lincolnshire, Illinois.
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SAM Action Lobbyist
John Tassoni is a former member of the Rhode Island Senate serving from 2001-2012 and is associated with the
Substance Use Mental Health Leadership Council.
Additionally, John is a community activist, a businessman and former union executive. He has over 30 years of experience in the private sector and labor community, and represents SAM Action proudly in Rhode Island!
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