Akerna Management
Jessica Billingsley
Jessica Billingsley serves as Akerna’s Chief Executive Officer. In June 2019 she became the CEO of the first cannabis industry company to be listed on Nasdaq. She co-founded MJ Freeway in 2010, where she served as President until April 2018, and later as the CEO until MJ Freeway was acquired by MTech to form Akerna. In 2015, she was named as one of Fortune’s Most Promising Female Entrepreneurs, in 2018, she was named one of Inc. Magazine’s 100 Female Founders, and in 2019, she was named to Entrepreneur’s inaugural list of 100 Powerful Women.
Jessica earned her degree in Communications and Computer Science from the University
of Georgia and later became CEO and founder of Zoco, a technology services firm with clients across the United States. With 20 years of technology and systems experience in rapidly scaling businesses, Jessica is a highly regarded executive in both the tech and cannabis space.
Dean Ditto
Dean is a dedicated and driven financial executive with extensive experience leading and elevating all aspects of the financial function, including SEC reporting, capital markets, cash management, business combinations and profit improvement initiatives. He is a trusted advisor to executive teams, the board of directors and shareholders.
Dean has served Fortune 50, mid-market, and early-stage companies in leadership positions, including twelve years in CFO roles. He began his career with a global accounting firm where he obtained his CPA certification and later earned an MBA from the Kelley School of Business, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, graduating in the top ten students in his class. He holds a BA in Economics and Management from Albion College, Albion, Michigan, where he graduated magna cum laude.
David McCullough
Prior to being appointed CTO of Akerna, David McCullough served as Akerna’s Executive Vice President of Product & Engineering for the last five years, overseeing all software development, development operations, quality assurance, automations, systems, and security operations. Before joining Akerna, he was the CTO of StudentPublishing.com, where he actively managed the technical aspects of Student Publishing’s sale to and systems integration with lulu.com. David has extensive government systems experience and has been a professor at New Mexico State University where he taught courses in data communications and networking.
Akerna Board of Directors
Jessica Billingsley
Jessica Billingsley serves as Akerna’s Chief Executive Officer. In June 2019 she became the CEO of the first cannabis industry company to be listed on Nasdaq. She co-founded MJ Freeway in 2010, where she served as President until April 2018, and later as the CEO until MJ Freeway was acquired by MTech to form Akerna. In 2015, she was named as one of Fortune’s Most Promising Female Entrepreneurs, in 2018, she was named one of Inc. Magazine’s 100 Female Founders, and in 2019, she was named to Entrepreneur’s inaugural list of 100 Powerful Women.
Jessica earned her degree in Communications and Computer Science from the University
of Georgia and later became CEO and founder of Zoco, a technology services firm with clients across the United States. With 20 years of technology and systems experience in rapidly scaling businesses, Jessica is a highly regarded executive in both the tech and cannabis space.
Barry Fishman
Barry Fishman is an entrepreneurial leader recognized as a change agent who drives growth during times of disruption, transformation, or turnaround. Most recently, he served as CEO for VIVO Cannabis (TSX: VIVO). Barry has an extensive global network and proven success in strategy development, performance enhancement, and public company governance.
Over the past two decades, Barry has been the CEO of four life science companies (two listed on public stock exchanges) and served as a director of five public and three not-for-profit organizations. In 2015, Barry was inducted into the Canadian Healthcare Marketing Hall of Fame for his contributions to healthcare and service to the community.
Matt Kane
Matt Kane is the co-founder, board member, and former Co-CEO from 2005-2019 of Greenshades Software. He is also a co-founder and board member of Welltality, where he served as CEO from 2014-2018. Matt’s background is in building, growing, and scaling software companies. Matt earned his MBA from Warrington College of Business at University of Florida and B.S. in Computer Information Systems from Jacksonville University. He has been a member of the MJ Freeway Board of Directors since 2015.
Tahira Rehmatullah
Tahira Rehmatullah is a Partner at Highlands Venture Partners, CEO of Commons, and member of the board of directors for Akerna Corp., Ceres Acquisition Corp., Good Works Acquisition Corp., and Superette. Tahira has previously held positions at Hypur Ventures, MTech Acquisition Corp., Marley Natural, Privateer Holdings, City First Enterprises, Perry Capital, and Ernst & Young. She is an investor and advisor to numerous cannabis and hemp businesses and entrepreneurs. She also serves on the board of directors of the Last Prisoner Project and is dedicated to developing female and minority leadership in industry. Tahira earned her MBA from the Yale School of Management and B.S. in Finance from Ohio
State University.
Scott Sozio
Scott Sozio serves as Head of Corporate Development for Akerna. He was the CEO of MTech Acquisition Corp., a Nasdaq-listed special purpose acquisition company that merged with MJ Freeway to create Akerna. He is the co-founder and Managing Director of Hypur Ventures, a cannabis-focused venture fund, and a Partner at Van Dyke Holdings, a family office investment firm. Scott is also on the Board of Directors of Hypur Inc., a banking compliance technology business, and a Director of Simplifya Holdings, LLC, a cannabis compliance technology business. He received his B.A. in Architecture from Columbia University.