LEADERSHIP

Executive Vice President
Karalynn Sprouse

Karalynn, who joined Emerald in 2013, serves as executive vice president with responsibility for five Emerald sectors including the Gift and Cannabis Group. Karalynn is responsible for increasing market share, building new revenue streams through strategic partnerships and creating a solution-based sales and client success approach. With more than 25 years of experience in the media and event sales and marketing industries, Karalynn has ample experience mentoring and guiding top-tier companies to success.

Senior vice president of marketing and content strategy
Emilie Lewis

Emilie is senior vice president of marketing and content strategy. She has more than 20 years of experience spanning brands such as Nike, Adidas and Brookfield as well as iconic events including Coterie, Project and ComplexCon. A seasoned entrepreneur, she founded Room4 Agency and Please & Thank You. Emilie also serves on the board of Ally2Action, is a member of the Downtown Women’s Center in Los Angeles, the Alliance of Moms as well as the International Association of Exhibitions and Events.

Vice president of sales
Sarah Wilson

As vice president of sales at Emerald, Sarah leads sales and event experience for MJBizCon, a globally renowned trade show that draws tens of thousands of cannabis professionals to Las Vegas each fall. Drawing experience from more than 15 years in the events industry, Sarah has been recognized as one of Trade Show Executive’s “Women to Watch in 2022” and was among the “20 Under 30 Event Professionals” chosen by the International Association of Exhibitions and Events in 2016.

EDITORIAL

EDITORIAL DIRECTOR
Kate Lavin

Kate previously served as editor of MJBizMagazine, which provides tips and actionable advice to marijuana business executives. She brings to the MJBizDaily team more than 20 years of editorial experience, including a decade managing a wine industry trade magazine in California. Kate graduated from the University of Colorado at Boulder with a degree in print journalism, and her career has seen her working in newsrooms of daily newspapers across the United States.

MANAGING EDITOR
Kevin "Moose" Huhn

Moose has worked as an editor for several decades at numerous newspapers and websites across the country, including the Rocky Mountain News, the Boulder Daily Camera, the San Jose Mercury News, the Knoxville News-Sentinel and FoxSports.com.

MAGAZINE EDITOR
Omar Sacirbey

Omar has been a professional journalist since 1998, covering everything from international business and Wall Street to politics and religion. His stories have appeared in Newsweek International, The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Today and other major outlets. Omar graduated from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in 1998, and before that, he was a Bosnian diplomat. He is based in Boston.

Staff Writer
Chris Casacchia

Chris is an award-winning journalist, editor and media consultant based in Los Angeles. He was formerly a staff writer at the Orange County Business Journal and Phoenix Business Journal. His newspaper career began in his native Chicago as a general assignment reporter. His work has appeared in MSN Money, Los Angeles Business Journal, The Sporting News and other major outlets. He earned a master’s from Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, where he served as an adjunct professor.

Staff Writer
Margaret Jackson

Margaret is an award-winning journalist with more than 30 years of experience covering everything from real estate and technology to transportation and local governments. She has written for The Denver Post, St. Louis Business Journal and other outlets. Her awards include best reporting from the Colorado Press Association and best business and investigative reporting from the Society of Professional Journalists. Margaret earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Missouri.

DATA JOURNALIST
Andrew Long
Andrew is a visual and data journalist based in Mesa, Arizona. He previously worked as a news artist at the Arizona Republic, where he developed informational graphics for the newspaper’s front-page team. During that time, he was an adjunct professor at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. In 2012, Andrew co-founded the Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting.
Lead Conference Content Programmer
Chris Olson

For the past seven years, Chris has produced educational programming for the cannabis and psychedelics industries, most recently for MJBizCon. Previously, he developed conference programming and webinars for the National Cannabis Industry Association, where he helped the Community College of Denver develop a cannabis business associate degree. Additionally, Chris produced programming at Jage Media for cannabis retailers and brands. He also served as a field manager on the campaign to decriminalize psilocybin in Denver.

Staff Writer
Chris Roberts

Chris has covered cannabis since spending a few months in Humboldt County in 2009, with bylines in The Guardian, VICE, Daily Beast, SF Weekly, Forbes.com, Leafly and many others. He won an investigative reporting award for a Curbed SF series revealing fraud at a radioactive U.S. Navy shipyard in San Francisco. He lives in New York City.