Cannabis Control Board Members

Tremaine S. Wright is a former member of the New York State Assembly who thereafter, served as the first Director of the DFS Statewide Office of Financial Inclusion and Empowerment. Ms. Wright is an attorney, entrepreneur, and activist who is a second-generation Bedford Stuyvesant resident invested in preserving the rich legacy of her community and building a strong foundation for the future. She has dedicated her career to empowering and creating opportunities for her neighbors and her community.

Adam W. Perry serves as a board member on the NYS Cannabis Control Board. He is a partner at Hodgson Russ LLP where he focuses on employment litigation, and has represented nonprofits, government agencies, and businesses in state and federal courts. Mr. Perry has deep roots in Buffalo, having attended Buffalo public schools, Erie County Community College, and the University at Buffalo, and currently serves as a board member and Chair of the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority Aviation Committee, as well as Chair of the Citizen Planning Council for the City of Buffalo Capital Budget.  Appointed in September 2021, Mr. Perry assists with creating and implementing a comprehensive regulatory framework for New York's cannabis industry, including the production, licensing, packaging, marketing and sale of cannabis.

Jessica García serves as a board member on the Cannabis Control Board. She is Assistant to the President of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU), a national labor union representing workers along the food supply chain, as well as workers in non-food retail and healthcare. She previously served as Deputy Political Director for the RWDSU, where she worked to advance the union's legislative and political agendas. She currently serves as president of the board of directors of the New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health, vice-president of the Rural & Migrant Ministry board of directors, and chair of the advisory board of the Advocacy Institute. In 2021, she was appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Labor to serve on the National Advisory Committee on Occupational Safety and Health (NACOSH).

Dr Jennifer Gilbert Jenkins is an Associate Professor of Agricultural Science at SUNY Morrisville.  A product of the SUNY system herself, she graduated from the University of Buffalo with a B.S. in Environmental Science. Since earning her PhD, Dr Gilbert Jenkins has worked as an Agricultural Consultant, completed a postdoc at Villanova university focusing on Agroecology and Environmental Chemistry, and joined the faculty of SUNY Morrisville in 2015.  In this position Jennifer partnered with JD farms to receive the first hemp growers license in New York state in January 2016.  Since that time, Dr Gilbert Jenkins and her colleagues at SUNY Morrisville have continuously grown Cannabis for grain, fiber and flower both on campus and with partner farms across the state.   

Hope Knight is the President, CEO and Commissioner of Empire State Development, New York State’s economic development agency. She was nominated to the position by Governor Kathy Hochul in October 2021, and confirmed by the New York State Senate in May 2022. 

At ESD, Commissioner Knight is dedicated to policies that advance sustainable and inclusive economic growth. She has been instrumental in the creation of the state’s Office of Strategic Workforce Development, which will focus on improving New York's workforce development programs and practices to better align with the needs and priorities of today's employers. Knight has also focused efforts on supporting New York State’s small businesses, ensuring that they have the resources needed to grow and thrive, and growing the state’s Minority and Women-Owned Business community. 

Prior to her appointment, Commissioner Knight served as President & CEO of Greater Jamaica Development Corporation, one of the nation’s first community development corporations. In that capacity, she advanced economic growth, community-building, and sustainable real estate development that has immeasurably revitalized and strengthened the Southeast Queens region. Additionally, from 2015 to 2021 she was a Commissioner on the New York City Planning Commission. 

Commissioner Knight was Chief Operating Officer of the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone, overseeing more than $150 million in investments and leveraging over $1 billion in private capital. She also served as a Vice President at Morgan Stanley in domestic and international capacities. Earlier in her career, Knight worked at Accenture and in New York City government. She holds a BA from Marymount Manhattan College and an MBA from the Graduate School of Business of the University of Chicago.