Cresco Labs has appointed longtime trial lawyer and Executive Director of the National Basketball Players Association Michele Roberts to its board. She is the first woman and person of color to sit on the Chicago-based cannabis company’s board.

Roberts, a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, has served as the executive director of the NBAPA since 2014, and previously worked with law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. She also served for eight years in the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia and was named chief of the trial division.

“I look forward to advancing Cresco Labs’ distinctive brands of high quality products and services, particularly those focused on the promise held by medicinal cannabis to treat conditions and illnesses where more traditional protocols have not met the patients’ needs, and I am also committed to supporting Cresco’s Labs’ social responsibility efforts which are focused on the industry’s first national Social Equity and Education Development initiative to better both individual lives and underrepresented communities.” – Roberts in a statement

Tom Manning, Cresco Labs’ Executive Chairman, said Roberts is “an outstanding addition” to the company’s board.

“Drawing on her experience in leading one of the most important player organizations in the sports world and her expertise in law and litigation as a highly-accomplished trial attorney and educator, Michele will provide a unique perspective at a critical time of continued growth and expansion in the industry,” he said in a press release.

Roberts is the 10th director on Cresco’s board. Roberts’ appointment comes on the heels of Cresco co-founder and former president Joe Caltabiano’s resignation from the board. The news of Roberts’ addition to the board also surfaced around the same time as reports suggesting that the NBA would stop testing players for cannabis use, medical or recreational.

Jason Ortiz, president of the Minority Cannabis Business Association, told the Chicago Tribune that the move is a “concrete” improvement that separates “those that are committed to making sure the future of this industry looks different than the past, and those that aren’t.”

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