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.

Reuben R. McDaniel, III is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York (DASNY). Mr. McDaniel is responsible for the overall management of DASNY’s administration and operations. Mr. McDaniel joined DASNY in 2019 after a 30-year career as an accomplished investment banker with experience in public finance corporate finance, private equity and personal wealth management.  During his career, he participated in more than $75 billion in tax-exempt bond issuances throughout the country. In September 2021, Mr. McDaniel was appointed as a member of the New York State Cannabis Control Board to help the Board create and implement a comprehensive regulatory framework for New York's cannabis industry.

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.