Southern Hemp Expo 2019

Colleen Keahey Lanier coordinated the first state chapter of the Hemp Industries Association® (HIA®) in Tennessee as a citizen activist in 2013. The following year, she worked with elected officials in the State House and Senate to legalize hemp resulting in the passage of SB 2495. She served on the advisory committee to the Tennessee Department of Ag in the development of their hemp program. Her hemp centric educational campaigns reached 20 million social media users and are still circulating the world wide web today.

In 2014, Vote Hemp recruited Colleen as National Outreach Coordinator. She has worked with activists, policy writers, regulators, legislators, and industry stakeholders to identify pathways for the hemp industries nationwide. In 2017, she relocated to Arizona and was selected to serve on Arizona's Advisory Committee for the Hemp Program in the Summer of 2018.

In 2017, Colleen became Executive Director of the HIA. Under her leadership, the Association has benefited from restructured bylaws and an improved value proposition. Colleen is working with the Board to establish a subsidiary charitable organization and other strategic initiatives to benefit the hemp industries, including coalition building.

Colleen is named among 100 People You Should Know by Hemp Connoisseur 2018 as well as 40 Under 40 and also 11 Women to Watch by Marijuana Venture 2018.