Leafly solidifies board ahead of IPO (Photos)

Cassandra Chandler is one of six board members Leafly announced Tuesday.

Leafly

By Rick Morgan - Inno Senior Reporter

January 06, 2022, 12:04am PST Updated 01/06/2022 2:19 pm

Seattle-based online cannabis marketplace Leafly has formed its six-member board of directors ahead of the company's upcoming initial public offering on the Nasdaq.

According to Leafly, the board appointees will go into effect when the company combines with Merida Merger Corp. I, the special purpose acquisition company that will take Leafly public. The companies first announced the merger in August and initially expected the deal to close in the fourth quarter of 2021.

A Leafly spokesperson said the updated timeline for the merger is sometime this month.

Notably, Nasdaq introduced rules in 2021 that require companies on the exchange to have at least two diverse directors or explain why there isn't at least one woman and one member of an underrepresented community on their respective boards. Scroll through the slideshow below for more on the new Leafly board members.

Leafly's new board of directors

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Blaise Judja-Sato founded VillageReach, a nonprofit aimed at helping governments solve health care delivery issues. He also founded Resilience Trust, which is targeting cardiovascular care. Resilience Trust focuses on Africa for now but plans to expand its reach over time. Judja-Sato is also on the supervisory board of Jumia Technologies, a publicly traded online marketplace.

Leafly

Yoko Miyashita is Leafly's CEO, a position she has held since August of 2020. Before that, she was the company's general counsel. Miyashita spent 14 years at Getty Images prior to her time with Leafly.

Anthony Bolante | PSBJ

Cassandra Chandler is an almost 24-year veteran of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, where she directed white collar crimes, financial crimes, terrorism and cybercrimes investigations, according to Leafly. After her time with the FBI, Chandler was senior vice president for business operations at Bank of America. She is the CEO of Vigeo Alliance, which helps businesses grow leaders and retain diverse talent.

Leafly

Alan Pickerill was executive vice president and chief financial officer at Expedia for more than two years starting in September 2017. He joined Expedia in 2008, according to Leafly. Pickerill is on the board at Porch and the YMCA of Greater Seattle.

Leafly

Peter Lee is the president and chief financial officer of Merida Merger Corp. I, the special purpose acquisition company taking Leafly public. He has held the position since 2019. Before that, he spent more than a decade at a variety of hedge funds, including Sentinel Rock Capital, LLC, which he co-founded.

Leafly

Michael Blue co-founded Privateer Holdings, a private equity firm focused on cannabis businesses. Privateer acquired Leafly in 2011 before distributing ownership to Leafly stockholders in 2019. Blue has been a director at Leafly since 2011.

Leafly

Leafly posted $27.4 million in profit during the first nine months of 2021 and $31 million in revenue.

In addition to new board members, Leafly has made several key hires recently. Kimberly Boler became Leafly's general counsel in September, while Suresh Krishnaswamy became the company's first chief financial officer that same month. Leafly named Rebecca Warner vice president of sales in November.