Dale Sky Jones
Executive Chancellor and CEOOaksterdam UniversityDale Sky Jones has been focused on enhancing the debate for cannabis policy reform since 2007. Based in Oakland, California, she took over as president & CEO of Oaksterdam University in 2012 after a crippling federal raid to ensure OU’s legacy of cannabis education. Oaksterdam is proud of more than 110,000 alumni from more than 116 countries becoming the most engaged professional advocates and business leaders globally. Quality training for the cannabis industry is Dale’s passion and the Oaksterdam mission. She believes education is the foundation for establishing the political and social climate to encourage cannabis policy reform.
Dale created the blueprint for cannabis reform as the spokeswoman and legislative liaison for the first statewide legalization effort, the Proposition 19 campaign in California, which ignited international debate in 2010. Over the next seven years, she served as Chairwoman of the Board for the diverse Coalition for Cannabis Policy Reform, whose efforts led to legalization in California. She is a founding board member of the National Cannabis Industry Association, currently serving on the NCIA’s Education Committee. She also serves on the Cannabis Advisory Board for the Community College of Denver and the advisory boards of Minorities for Medical Marijuana and Cannabis Media Council.
Dale is focused on civil rights issues, ensuring social equity in the new cannabis economy. Dale is Program Manager for the Connecticut Social Equity Council Business Accelerator, New Jersey Economic Development Authority Seed Education Program, Los Angeles Social Equity Business Licensing and Compliance Program, Oakland Equity Program and Monterey County GET Program. She believes national cannabis policy needs to address the inequities created by Prohibition by protecting small businesses, which are vital to the industry’s success. Her time is often spent educating legislative and government entities, attending research and policy conferences, speaking at national and international conferences, and participating in debates to encourage descheduling cannabis.
Dale has appeared extensively in the media and in documentaries like American Pot Story: Oaksterdam. She is also the founder of Oaksterdam Nonprofit for Education (The ONE), Wise Education Technologies, Inc., and Oaksterdam Press, publisher of The Budtender’s Guide and Oaksterdam Cannabis Terminology Style Guide. Dale has contributed to The Cannabis Growers Handbook by Ed Rosenthal, Dr. Robert Flannery, and Angela Bacca, and Cannabis vs. Marijuana by David Paleschuck.
Lounge Ready: Mastering Cannabis Hospitality
Retail and service specialists, or “budtenders,” are consumers’ gateway to cannabis. While this role is often a minimum-wage entry-level hire receivi
Retail and service specialists, or “budtenders,” are consumers’ gateway to cannabis. While this role is often a minimum-wage entry-level hire receiving little training, the resulting compliance failures, poor company culture, unsafe and unqualified
Retail and service specialists, or “budtenders,” are consumers’ gateway to cannabis. While this role is often a minimum-wage entry-level hire receiving little training, the resulting compliance failures, poor company culture, unsafe and unqualified medical advice, or simply failing to meet customers’ needs clearly illustrate how uneducated teams can be your greatest liability. These risks are mitigated with quality training, which becomes any br
Retail and service specialists, or “budtenders,” are consumers’ gateway to cannabis. While this role is often a minimum-wage entry-level hire receiving little training, the resulting compliance failures, poor company culture, unsafe and unqualified medical advice, or simply failing to meet customers’ needs clearly illustrate how uneducated teams can be your greatest liability. These risks are mitigated with quality training, which becomes any brand’s greatest asset when your team knows what they are doing and has confidence in what they say.
Training frontline workers is becoming even more critical now as states begin to license social consumption lounges. This session will help you create informed strategies to ensure your team can effectively communicate (within their role and responsibilities) the law, types of products, ingestion methods, terminology, and titration information to guide customers to products that best meet their needs. This presentation takes a closer look at the role of the service and retail specialists, and how businesses can nurture their most critical—and costly—business assets, the team itself.
