Saphira Galoob is the Principal and CEO of? The Liaison Group?(TLG).? The Liaison Group was the first – and remains the only – Washington, DC-based lobbying firm focused exclusively on the cannabis industry.? She was the driving force for the creation and launch of the?National Cannabis Roundtable.? As the coalition’s Executive Director, she oversees the organization and leads federal policy initiatives for the country’s leading cannabis operators, including Cresco, Trulieve, Pura Vida, and others.? Other clients include the California Cannabis Industry Association, the most influential state-based cannabis trade association, which currently counts more than 500 businesses and 670 brands among its membership.?

A keen strategist who prioritizes transparency and collaboration, Saphira works closely with the both the House and Senate Cannabis Caucus and Working Groups.? She was recently selected by POLITICO as?Who to Know on K Street?for cannabis lobbyists and was named the 2020 Influencer of the Year by the Industry Power Women Awards.? Saphira received her Juris Doctorate from the Oklahoma City University School of Law and a Master's in International and Comparative Law (L.L.M.) from Georgetown University School of Law. She regularly speaks on US cannabis policy at events in the US and internationally. She lives in the DC-area with her family. 

Amber Littlejohn has served as a lawyer, strategist, and advocate for businesses in emerging markets for more than 15 years, providing government and business affairs services to businesses, nonprofit organizations, and lawmakers in regulated industries. She creates innovative legislative, regulatory, and public engagement strategies to access and grow markets, stabilize supply chains, and reduce crisis frequency and reach.

Named a Top Cannabis Lobbyist by Business Insider, Amber is a nationally recognized voice for the cannabis industry and related policy initiatives appearing regularly in national media outlets. She has testified before Congress on issues including small business capital access and cannabis legalization. She engages regularly with lawmakers and regulators at all levels of government. Prior to her work in cannabis, she was a business owner, strategist, and advocate for specialty consumer packaged goods and consumer health products including dietary supplements and sports nutrition products. 

Prior to joining Ice Miller, Amber was president and chief strategic officer for a public affairs firm that served to provide solutions in the areas of legislative and regulatory policy development, as well as government and regulatory affairs. She has also served as policy counsel and a consultant for several organizations in Washington, D.C.

John Hudak is deputy director of the Center for Effective Public Management and a senior fellow in Governance Studies. His research examines questions of presidential power in the contexts of administration, personnel, and public policy. Additionally, he focuses on campaigns and elections, legislative-executive interaction, and state and federal marijuana policy.

John’s 2016 book, Marijuana: A Short History, offers a unique, up-to-date profile of how cannabis emerged from the shadows of counterculture and illegality to become a serious, even mainstream, public policy issue and source of legal revenue for both businesses and governments. In it, he describes why attitudes and policy have changed, and what those changes mean for marijuana's future place in society.

His 2014 Presidential Pork: White House Influence over the Distribution of Federal Grants demonstrates that pork-barrel politics occurs beyond the halls of Congress. Presidents capitalize on their discretionary funding authority to target federal dollars to swing states in advance of presidential elections. His other work explores how agency staffing, expertise, and institutional structure facilitate or hinder presidential power and influence. This research explores the balance between political control and bureaucratic expertise in the delivery of public policy.

John’s work has been recognized for its quality and contribution by the Midwest Political Science Association and the American Political Science Association’s Presidency Research Group. His work has been supported by institutions including the National Science Foundation.

Prior to joining Brookings, John served as the program director and as a graduate fellow at the Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions. He holds a B.A. in political science and economics from the University of Connecticut and an M.A. and Ph.D. in political science from Vanderbilt University.