Mindy Galloway
Organization: Yolo Cannabis Coalition
Title: Director of Operations
Age: 31
For the past 12 months, the editorial staff at Marijuana Venture has compiled a list of candidates for our third annual 40 Under 40 feature. This year, we narrowed our list down from hundreds of worthy candidates to come up with a cross-section of personalities across the U.S. and Canada, from salt-of-the-earth farmers to tech savants. All of them have unique stories, successes and ambitions and all represent the excitement and promise of the cannabis business. We feel honored to share their stories and look forward to watching them push forward in our ever-evolving industry.
When Mindy Galloway isn’t working as the chief financial officer at A Therapeutic Alternative, a cannabis retailer in Sacramento, California, she serves as the director of operations for the Yolo Cannabis Coalition, a non-profit corporation composed of industry members like herself.
“One of my passions is to help build community,” Galloway says. “I saw a really good opportunity here to help a lot of the people who legalized cannabis and the people who own businesses. To bring those people value and benefit is something that makes me happy.”
The Yolo Cannabis Coalition has organized and hosted events in coordination with the Yolo County Cannabis Task Force to better promote the industry and community. The coalition hosted the county’s first Cannabis Buyer’s Day, in which growers, distributors and retailers came together for a buying and selling event. The group also donated $10,000 to Meals on Wheels, worked with a consultant to cut in half a proposed local tax for cultivators and launched a Yolo County job fair, which connected more than 300 industry hopefuls with representatives from local cannabis companies.
Now after eight years in the industry, Galloway is preparing to help launch Khemia, a manufacturing company, in January 2019. She is also starting a group for “heart-centered leaders” to help people launch their businesses with a positive culture.
“All the stories you hear about how cannabis impacts people, it’s something that adds value to your life and warms your heart to the point where you can’t deny it,” Galloway says. “I think when you can go to work happy every day, that can change so many things in your life.”