WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP
Nicole Elliott
Director , California Department of Cannabis Control
by Dakota Morlan
Nicole Elliott never thought she would have a career in cannabis . But now her job is to oversee the licensing and regulation of a multibillion-dollar industry without a roadmap .
When California ’ s Proposition 64 legalized recreational use and sale of marijuana in 2016 , the state became the nation ’ s largest testing ground for future legislation around this new industry . In 2021 , Gov . Gavin Newsom combined three regulatory agencies into one — the California Department of Cannabis Control — and appointed 36-year-old Elliott as its director .
“ The work that we ’ re doing in this space is a massive social experiment , and I think the state of California is probably one of the largest cannabis social experiments because we have such a large market ,” says Elliott , who leads 400 employees throughout the state . “ We ’ re creating something that is really solely reserved for the state of California . … If we ’ re doing our jobs right , we ’ re seeing the creation of legitimate businesses that don ’ t have to operate in fear of enforcement . We ’ re seeing tax revenue invested into things that matter for people and communities .”
In 2021 , the cannabis industry generated over $ 1 billion in state tax revenue , Elliott says , and those dollars were invested back into communities in “ really laudable ways .” That includes $ 50 million annually for community mental health treatment , substance abuse treatment and youth services .
Prior to her current position , Elliott had served as the governor ’ s senior adviser on cannabis since 2019 , and before that she was director of the Office of Cannabis for the General Services Agency of the City and County of San Francisco from 2017 until 2019 .
Raised in Meadow Vista in Placer County and graduated from the University of San Francisco with a degree in sociology , Elliott got her start at San Francisco City Hall in 2009 , interning at the office of then-mayor Newsom while bartending to make ends meet .
“ We ’ re seeing tax revenue invested into things that matter for people and communities .”
From there , Elliott “ meandered ” up the career ladder to arrive at a leadership position implementing new cannabis legislation in San Francisco .
“ That process happened in such a short period of time . In hindsight , it ’ s incredible it all got done ,” says Elliott , who remembers spending nights at City Hall “ living , eating and breathing ” her work . “ I was passionate and wanted to see it be successful . It ’ s incredible moving something so enormous through such a large bureaucracy .”
Now , the scale is even more massive , though the job is largely the same .
It was Elliott who advised the governor to merge several cannabis departments into one , though she didn ’ t initially envision herself as the director .
As with most leaders , the pandemic has forced Elliott to forge new paths to efficiency . One aspect of that has been setting aside minutes to meet with employees at all levels and spotlighting input from those who work in the field . As a leader , she hopes her team would describe her as human , someone who makes time to carve out connections and prioritizes integrity . Much of Elliott ’ s education in leadership came from her time working for former San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee , who died suddenly while in office in 2017 .
“ Obviously , it still impacts me today . It was just a really visceral example of how we take for granted moral leadership and what we lose when it ’ s taken away ,” Elliott says . “ It ’ s a good lesson that some leaders are special , and the work that we do can be fleeting .”
Dakota Morlan is a freelance contributor for Comstock ’ s and other publications , as well as editor of the Calaveras Enterprise , a newsweekly in the Mother Lode region . She has won California News Publishers Association awards for her investigative reporting on crime and the COVID-19 pandemic . Read more at dakotamorlan . com . On Twitter @ DakotaNMorlan .
44 comstocksmag . com | March 2022