Trying to name the most influential people in cannabis is inevitably subjective. You will no doubt see names in the GCT100 that you think don’t belong. You’ll wonder why certain names are missing from the list. We get that.
But we also set out to make the process of determining our inaugural list of cannabis influencers as rigorous as possible. We created 10 different categories of influence so the list wouldn’t be dominated by a group like corporate CEOs or big-name celebrities, but would also include chefs and scientists and activists. We scoured the Internet and consulted our own and other cannabis and business publications to discover who is making headlines across the cannabisphere. We used our own editorial judgement to select nominees but we also gave credit to people named on third-party influencer lists. We laboriously tallied the social media follower counts of our nominees. And we invited a select group of cannabis experts and insiders to participate in a two-week closed vote on more than 500 nominees for the GCT100.
Cultivation & Manufacturing
Here is where it all begins. The growers, breeders, extractors and their lighting, equipment and materials suppliers are literally the people who germinate and carefully cultivate the plants that make the cannabis industry go round.
Equipment & Materials Nominees
- Ali Ahmadian – CEO, Heliospectra | Gothenburg, Sweden
- A.C. Braddock – Co-Founder & CEO, Eden Labs | Seattle, WA, United States
- Scott Campbell – CEO, Aroya – Pullman | WA, United States
- Raymond Chang – Chair & CEO, Agrify | Boston, MA, United States
- Matthew Ellis – Founder & CEO, ExtractionTek Stainless | Denver, CO, United States
- Jill Ellsworth – Founder & CEO, Willow Industries | Denver, CO, United States
- Ash Ganley – Senior Advisor, HighMont Advisors | Denver, CO, United States
- Jim Hagedorn – CEO, Scotts Miracle-Gro | Marysville, OH, United States
- Darren Lampert – Co-Founder & CEO, GrowGeneration | Armonk, NY, United States
- Brian Malin – Co-Founder, Vital Grown | Nevada City, CA, United States
- Bradley Nattrass – Chair & CEO, Urban-gro | Lafayette, CO, United States
- Eric Rondolat – CEO, Signify | Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Michael Straumietis – CEO, Advanced Nutrients | Palm Springs, CA, United States
Equipment & Materials Winners
- Jill Ellsworth – Founder & CEO, Willow Industries | Denver, CO, United States
- Eric Rondolat – CEO, Signify | Amsterdam, Netherlands
See the full list of categories, nominees, and winners of the GCT100: The Most Influential People in Cannabis below.