PAC Spring Seminar Speaker Bios
Moderator:
Andrew Ittleman, Esq. is a Founder and Partner of Fuerst Ittleman David & Joseph, PL. He concentrates his practice in the areas of White Collar Criminal Defense, Anti-Money Laundering compliance, and Food and Drug Law, providing comprehensive representation to highly regulated businesses. Andrew also litigates extensively against the United States government in civil and criminal matters. Andrew received his Bachelor’s Degree from Emory University and his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Miami School of Law.
Panelists:
Jeffrey S. Block, M.D. is an American Board Certified Anesthesiologist and is Fellowship trained in Pain Management. He achieved his bachelor’s degree in analytical chemistry from Emory University in 1978 and Medical Doctorate from the University of Miami in 1982.
Appointed as the Designated Expert on Botanical Medicines by the Florida Medical Association (FMA), Dr. Block structured the framework and authored the introductory chapter for physician education as mandated by The Compassionate Medical Cannabis Act of 2014. He was subsequently selected by the Director of the Office of Compassionate Use and the Surgeon General to serve as the only physician appointed to Florida’s Department of Health’s Negotiated Rule-Making Committee concerning “Charlotte’s Web” Senate Bill 1030, Florida’s first and only existing medical Cannabis law. Dr. Block currently serves as the President of the University of Miami’s Miller School of Medicine’s Medical Alumni Association. He is honored and privileged to administer the Oath of Medicine to all new medical doctors at each Spring’s Commencement and is a popular lecturer in his voluntary service as Assistant Professor within the University’s Department of Anesthesiology.
Dr. Block’s unique background further includes his being an internationally awarded horticulturist who owns Block Botanical Gardens (APGA): A leading Institutional Member of the American Public Gardens Association. He is also a Certified Master Gardener and Master Gardener Course Educator through the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) from the Florida Department of Agriculture. As a nationally regarded expert in both of the botanical and the health sciences concerning endocannabinoid medicine, his consultancy group, Nurturing Nature™ provides professional services to the industry.
Nial C. DeMena is the Founder and CEO of Manna Molecular Science, LLC, a Massachusetts-based company designing “evolved cannabis medicines” for large-scale adoption in national and international medical and recreational cannabis markets. Manna Molecular Science applies pharmaceutical methodology and drug design expertise to the legal cannabis industry, introducing novel cannabinoid delivery systems to an ever-growing spectrum of consumers. His previous work as Community Development Director for The Greeneway Wellness Foundation and Director of Operations for Manna Wellness – two cultivation/dispensary operator candidates – enabled him to develop a respected voice in the national marijuana industry. On the cultivation and retail fronts, Nial was an early advocate for LEED accreditation and renewable energy uptake, as well as smart, scalable and modular controlled-growth facilities and business models. Originally from Maine, he is a graduate of Colby College (B.A.) and Virginia Tech (M.A.), where designed and taught writing courses and edited doctoral engineering dissertations.
Hank Levy, CPA is the founder and majority owner of The Henry Levy Group (HLG), which has its main office in the Rockridge section of Oakland, California and has been in existence since 1990. Hank also helped to found Bridge West, CPAs a national network of accounting firm dedicated to the cannabis industry in 2013. HLG firm specializes in income tax planning and tax compliance for individuals, corporations, partnerships, LLCs, trusts, estates and non-profit clients. It also does bookkeeping/training/consulting on QuickBooks and Xero Accounting software products as well as provides back office services and prepares financial disclosure reports for political campaigns. It is also a member of Euro-Audit, an international accounting association. HLG obtained its first medical cannabis client in 1998, and now has over 200 clients in this industry in California, Arizona, Colorado, Washington, Nevada, D.C. and Michigan. The firm offers all of its services to our cannabis clients, including political campaign services. Hank is a nationally-known speaker on accounting for cannabis clients, speaking on the 280E Reform Team with Steve DeAngelo (Harborside Health Center, Oakland) and Henry Wykowski, Attorney in the Champ and Olive tax court cases). Hank was an expert witness in the Olive Case in 2012. Hank has also been a speaker at other cannabis-based conferences and is often quoted in trade publications.
Ted Rebholz is the President of Temescal Wellness, a portfolio of cannabis companies that is currently raising its first fund. Previously, Ted was Chief Financial Officer for Harborside Health Center, the industry’s best-known brand and one of the largest cannabis operating companies. Prior to working in the cannabis industry, Ted was CFO for Beyond Meat, a vertically-integrated health food company backed by Kleiner Perkins and Bill Gates, and CFO for WhipTail Technologies, a VC-backed technology company sold to Cisco in 2013 for $415 million in cash. Earlier in his career, Ted held management positions with Ports America, a PE-backed company in the highly-regulated ports sector, and for VISA, the consumer payments company. Ted splits time between Fort Lauderdale, FL and Oakland, CA, and has an MBA from Wharton and a BA from Columbia University.
