Board of Directors

John F. Keohane , Chair

Retired Police Chief

Chief (Ret.) John Keohane has 36 years of police experience and currently serves a part-time Deputy with the Powhatan County Sheriff’s Office and as a consultant with the Virginia Police Chief’s Association. He retired from full-time law enforcement in September, 2018. He served as the Chief of the City of Hopewell Police Department and retired after eight years of service. His major projects and accomplishments include obtaining Virginia State Accreditation, reduction in crime, and improved relationships with the community and all criminal justice agencies. Hopewell had a 21% reduction in total major crime during the Chief’s tenure.

Prior to becoming Chief, he served in the Richmond Police Department for 28 years and retired as a Major. In his last assignment he commanded over 200 personnel within the Support Services Division. His favorite assignment with RPD was serving as a Sergeant at the Police Training Academy for over five years.  

He holds a Master’s Degree in Criminal Justice from Virginia Commonwealth University. He is a graduate of the Senior Management Institute of Police, Session #44. He also is a State certified general, firearms, and defensive tactics law enforcement trainer.

He has been married for 35 years and has three children and one grandchild.

 


Neil Amin , Vice Chair

Chief Executive Officer, Shamin Hotels

Neil Amin started his career at Goldman Sachs & Co. where he advised public and private technology companies on merger and acquisition transactions and capital markets activities. Since 2008, he has served as Chief Executive Officer of Shamin Hotels, which owns and operates over 60 hotels under the Hilton, Marriott, Intercontinental Hotels, and Hyatt brands. He has previously served on the Virginia Treasury Board, Virginia Small Business Financing Authority, and the Governor’s Advisory Council on Revenue Estimates. Mr. Amin graduated summa cum laude from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics and a Master of Business Administration.


Bette Brand , CCA Board Member

Founder and CEO of Strategic Consulting, LLC

Bette Brand has served in several roles at the United States Department of Agriculture, including: Deputy Under Secretary for Rural Development, Administrator of Rural Business Cooperative Service, and Acting Administrator of Rural Utility Service.  Prior to her federal service, Bette held senior leadership positions at Farm Credit of the Virginias for more than 35 years. She is currently Founder and CEO of Strategic Consulting LLC. Bette earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Agriculture from Virginia Tech and a Master of Business Administration from Virginia Tech.


Michael Jerome Massie, Esq. , CCA Board Member

Owner of Michael Jerome Massie, PC

Michael Massie, Esq. is a trial lawyer with experience at every level of Virginia’s courts and federal courts. He is currently the owner of Michael Jerome Massie, PC. He started his practice of law as a Commonwealth’s Attorney for the City of Portsmouth and has served as a Substitute Judge. Michael earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in American Government from the University of Virginia, a Juris Doctor from the University of Colorado, and a Master of Divinity from Virginia Union University.


Anthony D. Williams , CCA Board Member

Retired, Chief of Operations, DEA

Anthony D. Williams is a 34-year career public servant, including 30 years in the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). He served as Chief of Operations for the DEA from January 2016 through January 2019. As Chief of Operations he was responsible for DEA’s global drug enforcement efforts in 222 domestic offices and 91 foreign offices in 70 countries, as well as DEA’s Special Operation and Aviation Divisions. As Chief of Operations, Mr. Williams also served as the principal advisor to the DEA Administrator and Deputy Administrator on all matters pertaining to the daily worldwide operations of DEA.

During his distinguished career Mr. Williams served in many leadership positions, both domestic and foreign. In 1988, after he began his career with DEA at the Philadelphia Field Division, he held domestic assignments at the New Orleans, Washington D.C., and Houston Field Divisions as well as at DEA’s headquarters in Arlington, Virginia. Internationally he has served in Mumbai, India as DEA’s Resident Agent-in-Charge, and for two years as Assistant Country Attaché at DEA’s Kingston, Jamaica office.

From 2005 to 2009 Mr. Williams was DEA’s Assistant Special Agent-in-Charge of the Honolulu District Office, in DEA’s Los Angeles Field Division. In that position he was responsible for DEA operations in Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas, the Federated States of Micronesia, Republic of Belau, and the Republic of the Marshall Islands.

In 2009, Mr. Williams was promoted to the position of Special Agent-in-Charge (SAC) of the San Francisco Field Division where he served until his appointment in 2012 as the SAC of DEA’s Los Angeles Field Division, where he remained until his appointment as Chief of Operations in 2016. As SAC of the Los Angeles Field Division, Mr. Williams managed operations conducted by DEA personnel assigned throughout seven California counties, the states of Nevada and Hawaii, and the areas covered by the Honolulu District Office.

Mr. Williams is a veteran of the U.S. Air Force and received a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice from Wilmington College in Wilmington, Delaware. He previously served as a Boys and Girls Club board member for Southeastern Virginia, and state of Virginia congressional district volunteer for AARP.


Leadership

Jeremy Preiss

Acting Head and Chief Officer - Regulatory, Policy and External Affairs

Jeremy Preiss joined the Virginia Cannabis Control Authority (“CCA” or “Authority”) as its second employee in January 2022. He serves as the Authority’s Chief Officer - Regulatory, Policy, and External Affairs, leading the CCA’s work on policy, legislation, regulation, and public affairs.  He also currently serves as the Acting Head of the CCA. 

Before joining the CCA, Preiss worked as an executive attorney on ethics, compliance, and international business matters for over 20 years for two aerospace and defense companies, United Technologies and Raytheon Technologies. Prior to that corporate experience, Jeremy was international trade counsel for the U.S. Senate Finance Committee and an attorney with the firm Sidley Austin.

Jeremy has Bachelor's and Master's Degrees, respectively, from Johns Hopkins University (JHU) and JHU's School of Advanced International Studies, and a law degree (Magna Cum Laude) from the University of Pennsylvania's School of Law. He is married and has two adult children.


Jamie Patten

Chief Administrative Officer

Jamie Patten is an accomplished public servant whose 21-year career includes numerous leadership roles that span across different state agencies within the Commonwealth of Virginia. Previously, she was at the Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) as its deputy director of administration and finance. During her tenure, Patten was critical in developing the strategy for funding and sustaining a seven-year transformation effort for the agency. While at DJJ, she also served on the department’s Future Planning Group, which was formed to address its most pressing administrative challenges.

Jamie received her Master of Business Administration and Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Longwood University. She is a graduate of the Virginia Executive Institute and the Virginia Public Safety Leadership Institute.


Shawn Casey

Deputy Chief Regulatory, Policy & External Affairs Officer

Shawn serves as the Deputy Chief Regulatory, Policy & External Affairs Officer for the Virginia Cannabis Control Authority. At the CCA she leads a team tasked with developing regulations, analyzing legislative proposals, and preparing resources to support the CCA’s public safety and public health initiatives. Before joining the CCA, Shawn practiced law for a decade, most recently as a Senior Assistant Attorney General in Colorado, where she advised the state’s Marijuana and Liquor Enforcement Divisions for five years. Shawn holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia and a law degree from the University of Arizona Rogers College of law.


Robin Hollenbeck

Director, Human Resources

Robin Hollenbeck is a veteran of the United States Air Force. Once out of the military she continued her role as a servant leader and began a career in Human Resources. In her 10 years of human resources experience, Robin has worked in both private and government sectors. She has experience in a variety of facets, ranging from talent acquisition, classification and compensation, employee relations, benefits administration, policy administration, training and development, employee engagement, data analytics, organizational development, and payroll. Robin has a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and a Master of Science in Management with a concentration in Information Technology and Project Management.


Department Information

General Information

Data Requests

Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)

Information Technology

Medical Cannabis Program

Cannabis Public Health Advisory Council

The Cannabis Public Health Advisory Council is established as an advisory council to the CCA Board of Directors. The purpose of the Advisory Council is to assess and monitor public health issues, trends, and impacts related to marijuana and marijuana legalization and make recommendations regarding health warnings, retail marijuana and retail marijuana products safety and product composition, and public health awareness, programming, and related resource needs. §4.1-603

  • John Littel

    Chair, Secretary of Health and Human Resources

  • Ngiste Abebe

    Vice Chair, VP of Public Policy, Columbia Care (Cannabis Industry)

  • Arne Owens

    Director, VA Dept of Health Professions

  • Karin Addison

    Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth

  • Vacant

    Virginia Pharmacists Association

  • Dr. Kyzwana Caves

    Virginia Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics

  • Dr. John Whyte

    Medical Society of Virginia

  • Rev. Dr. Jerome Barber

    Social or health equity background

  • Teresa Elder

    Experience in disability rights advocacy

  • Michael Krawitz

    Experience in veterans health care

  • Vacant

    CEO of the Cannabis Control Authority

  • Dr. Michael Gillette

    Expertise; substance use disorder prevention

  • Jimmy Christmas

    Expertise; substance use disorder treatment and recovery

  • Dr. Karen Shelton

    Commissioner of Health

  • Nelson Smith

    Commissioner of Department of Behavioral Health and Development Services

  • Joseph Guthrie

    Chair, Commissioner of Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services

  • Linda Jackson

    Director, Department of Forensic Science

  • Larry Keen

    Associate Professor, Virginia State University (Cannabis Academic Researcher)

  • Dr. Cynthia Morrow

    Director, VDH Roanoke City and Alleghany Health Districts (Representative of a Local Health District)

  • Marcus Treiber

    Chief Executive Officer, EMT Holdings, LLC (Registered Medical Cannabis Patient)

  • Vacant

    Community Services Board Representative

Cannabis Equity Reinvestment Board

The Cannabis Equity Reinvestment Board (the Board) is established as a policy board in the executive branch of state government. The purpose of the Board is to directly address the impact of economic disinvestment, violence, and historical overuse of criminal justice responses to community and individual needs by providing resources to support local design and control of community-based responses to such impacts. Although the Board is an executive branch body and not a formal part of the CCA, the CCA collaborates with the Board on cannabis policy, regulation, and initiatives. The CCA’s CEO, moreover, serves as an ex officio member of the Board. § 2.2-2499.5

  • Teresa Elder

    Experience in disability rights advocacy

  • Joseph Guthrie

    Chair, Commissioner of Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services

  • Dr. Rosa Atkins

    Chair, Director, Office of Diversity, Opportunity, and Inclusion

  • Vernon Green

    Vice Chair, Virginia Attorney General

  • The Honorable Jason S. Miyares

    Virginia Attorney General

  • The Honorable Aimee Rogstad Guidera

    Virginia Secretary of Education

  • The Honorable John Littel

    Virginia Secretary of Health and Human Resources

  • The Honorable Robert “Bob” Mosier

    Virginia Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security

  • Megan Healy PhD

    Virginia Chief Workforce Advisor

  • Vacant

    CEO of the Cannabis Control Authority

  • Jorge E. Figueredo

    Falls Church, Edu-Futuro

  • Amari S. Harris

    Richmond, Virginia Indigent Defense Commission

  • Paul McLean

    Hampton, Virginia Minority Cannabis Coalition

  • Dr. Cassandra Newby-Alexander

    Hampton Roads, Norfolk State University

  • Benjamin Peterson

    Hampton, Kraven Kharachters LLC

  • Michele Riddick Hamilton

    Hampton, Hampton High School

  • Keisha Smith

    Henrico, Virginia Health Workforce Development Authority

  • Dr. Penni Sweetenburg-Lee

    Central, Virginia Union University

  • William West

    Roanoke, Virginia CARES (Community Action Re-Entry System)

  • Sheba Williams

    Richmond, Nolef Turns, Inc.

  • Vickie R. Williams-Cullen

    Hampton, OPN Outdoor Communications LLC

Interested in Joining CCA?

The CCA employs a diverse workforce to carry out its mission. To view job opportunities, click the link below to enter the Virginia Jobs website and view current openings at the CCA.

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Upcoming Meetings & Events

The CCA Board of Directors meets throughout the year. To view upcoming board meetings and other CCA events, click the link below to view our calendar.

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