100 Most Influential People in Psychedelics

How do we define influence in the psychedelics ecosystem?

Authored by: Maya Albert, Lilia Karimi, Tammy Sanders, Marik Hazan

Our team woke up on May 1st to see a list published by Psychedelic Invest of the 100 most influential people in psychedelics.

I was grateful to have my own work acknowledged (I was #96), but before even opening the article, our team was concerned by the fact that there were some serious names and faces missing. While all of the people in the cover art may have had significant influence on the development of psychedelics, there have also been hundreds of individuals who don’t fit the “majority” demographic who have had even more impact on the development of this ecosystem than many of the individuals mentioned.

Soon after the article was published the image was taken down and this statement was published by Psychedelic Invest.

Our work revolves around depolarizing this space. There were many people who were upset by the article and we hear you. To the folks at Psychedelic Invest, we don’t want to vilify your work. We want to be of service.

How can our organization be helpful to your own in drawing attention to the important work that is being done by BIPOC and female leaders all across the ecosystem?

We’re by no means perfect, but we want you to know that we’re available to you in the future. These lists hold weight and the more siloed off we are from one another, the poorer the results from all our efforts. Feel free to reach out to us and if you’d like our help or perspective we’d be happy to direct you toward people who know much more than ourselves about who has been most influential in the global rollout, accessibility, influence, and progress of psychedelic medicines and compounds.

Intention

Firstly, this is V1 of our own attempt at crafting such a list. We will continue iterating and want to hear from you. Who else deserves to be recognized below? Message us at team@psyched.studio.

The intention of our list was not to create one that featured every person Psychedelic Invest’s list didn’t include. It also isn’t intended to solely highlight activists, healers, or underrepresented groups. Instead, we wanted to create a list in the same vein as Psychedelic Invest created, but with what we believe is a more holistic understanding of how this ecosystem operates and runs.

The way we define influence is: Executing on actions today that already are or will influence the way millions of people interact with, understand, and adopt psychedelics into their own lives.

Is our list still White male-dominant? Yes. But we want that to serve as a reminder of how much work there is still to be done in providing greater access, more platforms, and more resources to BIPOC and female leaders whose work is noteworthy and already impacting millions of people.

Conditions

1. All of the people on this list are currently living and actively contributing to the psychedelics space. Contributors to the psychedelics ecosystem would number in the thousands if we didn’t have this boundary setting. María Sabina, Kilindi Iyi, Terence McKenna, and hundreds of others would have made it impossible to choose. Perhaps we’ll write a follow up post focused on all those who came before us.
2. The individuals we list are those who have translated the power of psychedelics into a language and framework that is more easily comprehensible to global, multicultural, and cosmopolitan society.
3. The individuals listed here have not necessarily been “positive” for the future of psychedelics, but they have indeed been influential in its unfolding on a global scale. We do not support or condone the approach of any individual on this list simply by naming them here. Instead, we chose individuals solely in accordance with their influence (in the way that we’ve defined it).

Methodology

The way in which this list was compiled was through informally surveying the ecosystem for individuals that community members believe have been most influential in the continued development of the space. There are definitely people that we have missed out on and so we encourage you to submit the names of individuals who you think should be featured here as well: team@psyched.studio.

Lastly, our list is alphabetized instead of numerical. We felt it was unfair to tier considering how different each individual’s influence is and wanted to prioritize collaboration instead of competition. Also, in specific instances, we included teams instead of a sole influencer.

Short List Here, Detailed Below

1. Amanda Feilding
2. Ancestors project — Charlotte James, Undrea Wright
3. Anne Philippi
4. ATAI — Christian Angermayer, Florian Brand, Lars Christian Wilde
5. Ben De Loenen
6. Ben Sessa
7. Bia Labate
8. Robert (Bob) Jesse
9. Bruce Tobin
10. Dr. Carl Hart
11. Chi Psilocybin
12. Chris Dyer
13. Colin Pugh
14. Compass — Ekaterina Malievskaya, George Goldsmith
15. CoSM — Allison & Alex Grey
16. Daiara Hori Figueroa Sampaio
17. Danny Motyka
18. Darren Springer
19. David Bronner
20. David Champion
21. David Nichols
22. David Nutt
23. Dawn D. Davis
24. Dennis McKenna
25. Deran Young
26. Dick Simon
27. DoubleBlind — Shelby Hartman, Madison Margolin
28. Duncan Trussel
29. Dylan Beynon
30. Fluence — Ingmar Gorman, Elizabeth Nielson
31. Francois Bourzat
32. Gabor Mate
33. Hamilton Morris
34. Intercollegiate Psychedelics Network (IPN) — Emily Cribas, Margaret Fleming, Rahul Sood, Victor Acero, Alex Zhao, Kenneth Shinozuka, Elin Ahlstrand
35. Ismail Ali
36. Jade Netanya
37. James Fadiman
38. Jamilah George
39. Janis Phelps
40. Jasmine Virdi
41. Jesse Gould
42. Joe Rogan
43. Journey Colab — Sutton King, Jennifer Pisansky
44. JR Rahn
45. Juliana Mulligan
46. Julie Holland
47. Kamya Buch
48. Kevin Matthews
49. Lucid News: Ken Jordan, Annie Oak
50. Kufikiri Imara
51. Kwasi Adusei
52. Lia Mix
53. Liana Gillooly
54. Lucia Huang
55. Luis Tamani
56. Lynn Marie Morski
57. Manuela Mahua
58. Mareesa Stertz
59. Matthew Johnson
60. Mendel Kaelan
61. Michael Pollan
62. Mike Margolies
63. Mike Tyson
64. Mohawk Greene
65. Molly Maloof
66. Dr. Monnica T. Williams
67. Natalie Ginsberg
68. North Star — Kat Conour, Dave McGaughey, Liana Gillooley, Shirelle Noble, Tim Chang
69. Oregon Initiative — Tom Eckert, Sheri Eckert (Posthumous), Sam Chapman
70. Paul Austin
71. Paul Stamets
72. Plant Medicine Law Group — Hadas Alterman, Adriana Kertzer, Serena Wu
73. Psychedelic Societies
74. Psychedelics Today — Joe Moore, Kyle Buller
75. Psymposia
76. Rachel Yehuda
77. Richard Skaife
78. Rick Doblin
79. Rick Strassman
80. Rob Laurie
81. Robin Carhart Harris
82. Roland Griffiths
83. Ronan Levy
84. Rosalind Watts
85. Saad Shah
86. Sandor Iron Rope
87. Sara Reed
88. Shlomi Raz
89. Simeon Schnapper
90. Sophia Rokhlin
91. Stanislav Grof
92. Tania De Jong
93. Tim Ferris
94. Todd Shapiro
95. USONA
96. Vine Ventures — Ryan Zurrer, Jesse Hudson
97. Yann Guignon
98. Yarelix Estrada
99. Zach Haigney
100. Zoe Helene

Posthumous Recognition:

These are individuals who would have been on our list, but passed in 2020.

Sheri Eckert
Kilindi Iyi
Jordi Riba

Thank you for your work and your prophecies, for everything you did to move this movement forward and help our societies take further steps towards the liberation of the heart, mind, soul, and conscious.

If you didn’t see your name on here, don’t worry. We have a list of 100 Prominent Voices that we’ll be releasing in the coming weeks.

Amanda Feilding

Amanda Feilding is Director of the Beckley Foundation, a UK-based think tank and UN-accredited NGO, which she founded in 1998. Its chief objectives are studying the mechanisms underlying altered states of consciousness and reforming global drug policy. She is dubbed the ‘hidden hand behind the renaissance of psychedelic science and drug policy reform.” Through the Scientific Programme, Amanda orchestrates collaborations with leading scientists worldwide, investigating cannabis, psilocybin, LSD, Ayahuasca, DMT and MDMA. Through the Policy Programme, Amanda advocates policy-making informed by scientific evidence. She has established a seminar series, Drugs & Society: A Rational Perspective, producing over 40 books and policy reports. Amanda advises world leaders on policy reform– most recently the Jamaican government on forming their cannabis industry.

Ancestors Project

Charlotte James, Undrea Wright

The Ancestor’s Project has pioneered the intersection of ancestral wisdom and modern journeying. Working mostly with Kambo and Rapeh, legal plant medicines used throughout the Amazon, Charlotte and Undrea (Dre), the two cofounders, have led the conversation around what it means to connect to ancestral knowledge in modern healing spaces. Ancestor’s project has also helped continue the diversification of the psychedelic ecosystem through their Mutual Ceremony Fund, allowing BIPOC individuals who may have previously not had access to Sacred Earth Medicine ceremonies to participate.

Anne Philippi

Anne Philippi was a journalist for Conde Nast and Rolling Stone, lived in Los Angeles and is now based in Berlin. She writes for Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, is a book author and now the founder/ CEO of The New Health Club, a lifestyle platform for the age of mental wellness and psychedelics, creating podcasts, newsletter and an upcoming show about modern healing stories.

ATAI

Christian Angermayer, Florian Brand, Lars Christian Wilde

As one of the most controversial companies in the psychedelics ecosystem, ATAI has led the psychedelic space through its acquisitions of drug development/pharmaceutical companies developing psychedelic compounds and moving these medicines through the FDA approval process.

Ben De Loenen

Benjamin De Loenen, M.A., is dedicated to making Ayahuasca, Iboga and other traditional plant practices valued and integrated parts of society. In 2009, he founded the International Center for Ethnobotanical Education, Research & Service (ICEERS), a charitable non-profit organization with United Nations consultative status, where he serves as Executive Director. Benjamin is the author of several publications and films, has presented at conferences around the world, and has participated in various leadership roles, including as a member of the Board of Directors of the Global Ibogaine Therapist Alliance (2012–2014).

Ben Sessa

Ben Sessa is an English psychiatrist, researcher, and author. Dr. Sessa is also the Chief Medical Officer of Awakn Life Sciences, and has been a part of scientific and clinical studies administering LSD, psilocybin, ketamine, MDMA and DMT to patients and volunteers.

Bia Labate

Bia Labate has a Ph.D. in Anthropology. Her main areas of interest are the study of psychoactive substances, drug policies, shamanism, ritual, and religion. Today, she is the Public Education and Culture Specialist at MAPS, and Adjunct Faculty at the East West Psychology Program at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS). She is also the founder of the Interdisciplinary Group for Psychoactive Studies (NEIP) in Brazil and Chacruna, a platform devoted to public education and cultural understanding about psychedelic plant medicines. She is an author, co-author, and co-editor of twenty-one books, two special-edition journals, and several peer-reviewed articles.

Robert (Bob) Jesse

Robert Jesse was instrumental in forming the psilocybin research team at Johns Hopkins and has co-authored several of its papers, including “Psilocybin can occasion mystical-type experiences having substantial and sustained personal meaning and spiritual significance” (2006). In 2017, Bob led the drafting of a public statement, now signed by numerous leaders in the field, raising Open Science as a psychedelic ideal. In 2005, he led the writing of an amicus brief for the U.S. Supreme Court in the União do Vegetal religious liberty case, decided 8–0 favoring the church. In 1995, he led the development of a Code of Ethics for Spiritual Guides (csp.org/code). Currently, he serves on the boards of Usona Institute and the George Sarlo Foundation. Earlier in life, Bob trained at Hopkins in electrical engineering and computer science, consulted for AT&T Bell Labs, and worked at Oracle, lastly as a VP of business development.

Bruce Tobin

Dr. Bruce Tobin is a clinical psychologist and Founder and Chair of the nonprofit organization TheraPsil based in Victoria, British Columbia, a coalition of healthcare professionals, advocates and stakeholders dedicated to helping Canadians receive therapeutic access to psilocybin. He received his Doctorate in Philosophy of Psychology and specializes in treating individuals with anxiety, depression, and emotional trauma. He has also taught clinical skills as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Victoria for 25 years. In 2020, TheraPsil began a program to help patients apply for their own Section 56 exemptions.

Carl Hart

Dr. Carl Hart is a professor of neuroscience and psychology at Columbia University. Hart is known for his research in drug abuse and drug addiction. Dr. Hart has appeared on multiple podcasts, radio and television shows including Real Time with Bill Maher, The O’Reilly Factor, and the Joe Rogan Experience. He has also appeared in several documentary films including the award-winning “The House I Live In.”

Dr. Carl Hart’s controversial view on drugs such as Heroine have quickly brought him to the forefront of the conversation around psychoactive compounds. Concepts such as psychedelic exceptionalism have been pioneered by his work and research.

Chi Psilocybin

Chi Psilocybin is a psilocybin guide, advocate, and retreat facilitator. He is the co-founder of Truffles Therapy, a psilocybin retreat organization that has guided hundreds of people on their journeys. He also helped form the founders of Global Alliance of Psilocybin Practitioners, which provides community, training, and mentorship for guides and connects those seeking the medicine with those providing safe access. They advise individuals and companies involved in the emerging psychedelic industry.

Chris Dyer

Chris Dyer is a Peruvian artist, currently living in Canada, and traveling the world half of his time. He experiences different cultures and then re-expresses them into his own oneness visions. He serves as a Bridge builder between different art movements from skateboard graphics, visionary paintings, street art murals and more. He wants to break boxes and see everything as one optimistic reality. Though his subject matters are as varied as his styles, his art is just a reflection of his personal spiritual journey. With hundreds of thousands of Instagram followers, Dyer’s unique art style combines visionary art and street art, creating one of the most extremely unique genres of painted media. Prolific in conversations around Ayahuasca, meditation, and other psychedelic plant medicines, Dyer continues to lead the conversation around visionary art and its evolution.

Colin Pugh

Colin Pugh is the President of the Brooklyn Psychedelic Society, a community that supports individuals who are pursuing transformative psychedelic experiences. They are sponsored by MAPS, and have a mission to make psychedelic healing a publicly accessible good through community, education, democratic ownership, and advocacy. Colin’s visionary approach to the role that psychedelic societies should play within our ecosystem has led to the formation of a co-op that will provide PAT to those in need of healing. This is the first initiative of its kind and will set an example for psychedelic societies globally regarding what can be done at the intersection of community, healing, support and distributed financial ownership.

COMPASS

While COMPASS has undoubtedly been the most controversial company to enter the psychedelic ecosystem, their existence has helped spark many of the foundational conversations around psychedelics and capitalism, patents on therapeutic treatments, and the intersection of nonprofits and for profits in the space. They have left a long lasting imprint on how psychedelic business will evolve and will continue to be a reference for activists, policy makers, and entrepreneurs for decades to come.

CoSM

The Chapel of Sacred Mirrors is a non-profit and interfaith church, formed in 1996 to create a permanent public exhibition of the Sacred Mirrors. Alex and Allison are American visual artists, authors, and teachers, known for creating spiritual and psychedelic paintings. They work in multiple forms including performance art, process art, installation art, sculpture, visionary art, and painting. Their art has influenced the lives of many by communicating an aspect of the psychedelics world that words cannot describe.

Daiara Hori Figueroa Sampaio

Born in São Paulo, Daiara is an artist, activist, educator and communicator. She has her Masters in Human Rights from the University of Brasília, and is a researcher on the right of the memory and truth of indigenous peoples. She is also a coordinator of Radio Yandê, the first indigenous web-radio in Brazil. She studies the culture, history and traditional spirituality of its people next to its family.

Danny Motyka

Danny is the CEO of Psygen, a manufacturer of pharmaceutical-grade psychedelic drug products for clinical research and therapeutic applications. He graduated from the University of Victoria with a degree in chemistry before becoming an early employee at Aurora Cannabis. His career with Aurora provided foundational experience in enterprise management, good manufacturing practices, and the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.

Darren Springer

Darren Springer is a mycologist and psychedelic researcher based in the UK. He is a member of the London Psychedelic Society and the Breaking Convention committee. Darren is a knowledgeable and dynamic speaker who is passionate about sharing his research and findings on ancient African plant medicines, the history, mythology and various applications. He is regular presenter at the Detroit Psychedelic Conference, Ozora, Noisily Festival, and numerous psychedelic gatherings around the world sharing his extensive research on psychedelics and how they can help support humanity in the here and now. His business efforts, community activism, online presence through his YouTube channel have all brought him into the hearts and minds of those seeking to understand psychedelics from dozens of perspectives provided by his guests and followers.

David Bronner

David Bronner is an American corporate executive and activist. As the top executive at Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps, he has become known for his activism around a range of issues, especially fair trade, sustainable agriculture, animal rights, and drug policy reform. In addition to significant funding initiatives, David also sits on the board of MAPS.

David Champion

David is the CEO of Maya, a psychedelic therapy intelligence platform designed to bring greater trust, transparency, and measurement to the participant journey. The platform is geared to become the world’s largest database of psychedelic health outcomes, fueling insights to help psychedelic healthcare scale safely. David also directs Unlimited Sciences, a psychedelic research nonprofit combining academia with data science to understand underground psychedelic practices and surface best practices to inform further research. In 2019, he served as a campaign-lead in the Denver Psilocybin Initiative, helping Denver become the first US city to reform psilocybin policy. Prior, David was Co-founder & CPO at Baker Technologies, which he exited after achieving a valuation of $250MM.

David Nichols

David Earl Nichols is an American pharmacologist and medicinal chemist. David is the founding president of the Heffter Research Institute, has published hundreds of research papers, and is considered to be one of the world’s top experts on psychedelics.

David Nutt

David John Nutt is an English neuropsychopharmacologist specialising in the research of drugs that affect the brain and conditions such as addiction, anxiety, and sleep. He is the chairman of Drug Science, a non-profit which he founded in 2010 to provide independent, evidence-based information on drugs.

Dawn D. Davis

Dawn D. Davis, M.A., is a tribal person belonging to the membership of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes of Fort Hall, Idaho. She holds a master’s degree from the University of Arizona where she completed her research on potential sustainability practices of peyote within its native range. She continues to discuss endangerment levels of peyote and preservation efforts among peyotists. Dawn is currently a Ph.D. student in the Water Resources Program at the University of Idaho with an emphasis in Law, Management, and Policy. Current research includes sustainability of ethno-significant plants, particularly medicinal plants and first foods, in addition to small-scale food and energy security. Previous research has led her to review Tribal policy through active participation by Tribal members in natural resource management from an Indigenous and community perspective. Dawn is a current National Science Foundation fellow under the Integrated Graduate Education and Traineeship (IGERT) program. In addition, she is a scholar of the Indigenous Program for STEM (ISTEM) research, including collaborative research funding from the Pacific Northwest Alliance. ­Dawn is married to Dr. Cleve Davis, is a mother, and a micro-farmer.

Dennis McKenna

Dennis McKenna is an American ethnopharmacologist, research pharmacognosist, lecturer and author. He has appeared on numerous media outlets, conducted a variety of research projects, and sits on the board of the Heffter Research Institute. He founded the McKenna Academy of Natural Philosophy in 2018, which the explores modern and traditional practices, ideas and technologies that foster the understanding of nature, consciousness, the cosmos and their interweavings with humanity.

Deran Young

Deran Young is the founder of Black Therapists Rock (BTR) which offers mentorship, knowledge sharing, and unity among professionals, and is now over 28k people strong. Deran has brought psychedelic education into the BTR community, an initiative that is becoming the largest global shift in who administers psychedelic healing with tens of thousands of diverse practitioners now exploring PAT as a result of her work.

Dick Simon

Dick Simon is an entrepreneur, social enterprise philanthropist and catalyst for change. He co-founded the Peace Action Network (PAN) of YPO, a network of over 29,000 international CEOs. PAN addresses conflict resolution on local and global levels. He launched the kNOw THEM Initiative to raise awareness about the most dangerous four-letter word in the English language, THEM. Currently, he is involved with organizations pursuing FDA and European Medical Association clinical trials for mental health (PTSD, depression) treatments using psychedelic medicines. He is working to shift public perspective and reduce stigmatization related to the use of these medicines and is also working with researchers studying psychedelic treatments for a wide range of indications as well as their possible use in conflict resolution.

DoubleBlind

DoubleBlind is a biannual print magazine and media company covering timely, untold stories about the expansion of psychedelics around the globe. Madison is the Co-Founder, Managing Editor, covering psychedelics, cannabis, drug policy, and spirituality. She has traveled extensively, exploring the role of plant medicine in religion, mental health, and conflict resolution. She got her start in journalism with a column on cannabis at the Village Voice, after having lived in south Tel Aviv working with Eritrean refugees.Shelby is the co-founder and editor-in-chief of DoubleBlind. Her work has appeared in VICE, Quartz, the Huffington Post, and Rolling Stone, among others.

Duncan Trussel

Duncan Trussell is an American actor, voice actor and stand-up comic, known for his podcast The Duncan Trussell Family Hour and as the co-creator of the Netflix series The Midnight Gospel. Duncan’s content has a wide reach and often discusses psychedelics, and their place in therapies and as medicine.

Dylan Beynon

Dylan is the founder and CEO of Mindbloom, a platform that helps licensed psychiatric clinicians achieve better outcomes for their patients with lower costs, greater convenience, and an artfully crafted experience. Dylan grew up with serious mental illness in his family, and he lost his mom to it as a teenager. In 2009, his journey of healing and growth led to psychedelic medicine, and ketamine therapy, and it’s still changing his life.

Fluence

Elizabeth Nielson, Ingmar Gorman

Founded by Elizabeth Nielson and Ingmar Gorman, Fluence offers a series of continuing education programs in psychedelic integration and psychedelic-assisted therapy. Their programs are interactive, engaging in discussion, demonstration, self-reflection exercises, and role plays. The therapeutic training program at Fluence has grown to become the gold standard in therapist training across the psychedelic world and many programs that are now under development have looked to Fluence to craft their own programs for PAT training and accreditation.

Francois Bourzat

Françoise Bourzat has been bridging the divide between western psychology and indigenous wisdom in collaboration with healers in Huaulta de Jiminez, Mexico for the past 30 years. She is a co-founder of the Center for Consciousness Medicine, which trains people to become guides in a holistic method of psychedelic assisted therapy. She is also the co-author of Consciousness Medicine, published by North Atlantic Books. Françoise served on the advisory board for the Oregon Prop 109 initiative and is currently collaborating with the Pacific Neuroscience Institute in an FDA-approved research study on psilocybin-assisted therapy for Covid-related grief. She has a Master of Arts in Somatic Psychology and is trained in the Hakomi Method. Françoise has taught at CIIS in San Francisco, is a counselor, and runs online courses and lectures in various institutions.

Gabor Mate

Gabor Maté CM is a Hungarian-Canadian physician. He has a background in family practice and a special interest in childhood development and trauma, and in their potential lifelong impacts on physical and mental health, including on autoimmune disease, cancer, ADHD, addictions, and a wide range of other conditions. A renowned speaker, and bestselling author, Dr. Gabor Maté is highly sought after for his expertise on a range of topics including addiction, stress and childhood development. While some of his therapeutic approaches and beliefs around mental illness have been the subject of controversy, he has undoubtedly influenced many practitioners looking for a more accessible way of understanding how trauma arises and exists within the human mind and body.

Hamilton Morris

Hamilton Morris is an American journalist, documentarian, and scientific researcher. He is the creator and director of the television series Hamilton’s Pharmacopeia, in which he investigates the chemistry, history, and cultural impact of various psychoactive drugs.

IPN

Emily Cribas, Margaret Fleming, Rahul Sood, Victor Acero, Alex Zhao, Kenneth Shinozuka, Elin Ahlstrand

The Intercollegiate Psychedelics Network (IPN) is a youth-led umbrella organization dedicated to the development of students into the next generation of diverse and interdisciplinary leaders in the field of psychedelics. Co-created by 7 friends from Harvard, Penn, and Princeton, IPN has grown to a team of 33 volunteers all around the world, from the US to Canada to London to New Zealand. All of the founders started the respective psychedelics clubs at their schools, the Intercollegiate Psychedelics Summit (IPS), and this network. They share a vision of a future where safe, legal, and equitable access to psychedelic healing creates a more just, peaceful and connected world.

Ismail Ali

Ismail Ali is the Policy and Advocay Councel at MAPS. He helps develop sensible drug policy that will create alternatives to the failed war on drugs. He also serves on the board for Sage Institute and is a founding board member and current co-chair for the recently launched Psychedelic Bar Association.

Jade Netanya

Jade Netanya Ullmann has been the Major Gifts Maven, Officer and Connector at MAPS for several years. She is a member of the Threshold Foundation’s Psychedelic Research Education & Policy funders circle. She has been Pipeline Fellow angel investor that has supported female entrepreneurs who are running social ventures. Jade is a member of the Ullmann Family Foundation, Jewish Funders Network and serves on the board of Jewish Renewal Organisations Romemu and ALEPH.

James Fadiman

James Fadiman is an American psychologist and writer, and very well know for his microdosing protocal. He is acknowledged for his extensive work in the field of psychedelic research. He co-founded along with Robert Frager the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology, which later became Sofia University, where he was a lecturer in psychedelic studies.

Jamilah George

Jamilah George is a a psychedelic-assisted therpaist specializing in Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Discrimination and Ethnic Identity, and MDMA-assisted Therapy. She obtained her Masters of Divinity degree from Yale University and the Yale Institute of Sacred Music. She received intensive training in the Yale OCD Research Clinic on the Clinical Neuroscience Research Unit in the Yale Department of Psychiatry.

Janis Phelps

Janis Phelps, PhD leads The Center for Psychedelic Therapy & Research at the California Institute for Integral Studies. She developed the first academically accredited, professional certificate training program for legal psychedelic-assisted therapy and research. The Center also provides harm reduction workshops, webinars on psychedelic research and public educational programs. A licensed clinical psychologist and LMFT, she has held faculty positions in the East-West Psychology and Clinical Psychology doctoral programs. Her theoretical orientations include transpersonal and wellness therapy models; Buddhism and Eastern disciplines; and phenomenology/existential philosophies. Her research and scholarly writing has focused on psychedelic therapy, entheogens, and mind-body wellness. Dr. Phelps teaches graduate courses in quantitative and qualitative research methods, mindfulness, Buddhism and psychotherapy, spiritual counseling, and principles of healing. Janis serves on the board of the Holos Institute and maintains a private practice.

Jasmine Virdi

Jasmine is an experienced freelance writer, editor, and proofreader. For the past two years, she has been working for the fiercely independent publishing company, Synergetic Press, where her passions for ecology, ethnobotany, and psychoactive substances converge. She is passionate about the healing potentials of psychoactive plants and substances as well as their capacity to help us connect with the with the natural world around us. Her goal as writer, advocating psychoactive substances is to raise awareness of the socio-historical and cultural contexts in which these substances emerged in order to help integrate them into our modern-day lives in a safe, grounded and meaningful way. Her involvement with numerous publications, texts, and media have made her a trusted voice within the ecosystem.

Jesse Gould

Jesse Gould is a pioneer in psychedelic therapies. As Founder and President of the Heroic Hearts Project, he has spearheaded the research and acceptance of ayahuasca therapy programs for military veterans. Jesse has raised over $200,000 in scholarships from donors including Dr. Bronner’s, partnered with the world’s leading ayahuasca treatment centers and is researching psychiatric applications with the University of Colorado Boulder and the University of Georgia. His mission is to help military veterans struggling with mental trauma and spread awareness of the benefits that ayahuasca therapies offer as an alternative treatment to pharmaceuticals. Jesse has spoken globally about the benefits of psychedelics on mental health and has been recognized as one of the Social Entrepreneurs To Watch For In 2020 by Cause Artist.

Joe Rogan

Joe Rogan is an American comedian, podcast host, and mixed martial arts color commentator. Joe frequently interviews important psychedelics experts on his podcast, which has been ranked as one of the most popular in the world for the past decade. Many of his guests have subsequently gained significant traction from new audiences who are learning about psychedelics, mental health, and the role of plant medicines in modern society.

Journey Colab

Sutton King, Jennifer Pisansky

Journey Colab is developing FDA-approved, psychedelic therapies, starting with synthetic mescaline. They are pursuing FDA approval of psychedelic therapies to heal individual mental health and strengthen communities, and are working to build a portfolio of plant-identical compounds. In addition to drug development, they will partner with therapists to build and support locally-owned centers that can best serve their communities.

JR Rahn

JR is a former Silicon Valley tech executive who realized that transformational solutions to mental illness and addiction might lie in psychedelic medicines. He spent 2 years researching and began personally investing in psychedelic research through his investment company. JR partnered with drug development veteran Stephen Hurst to start Mindmed in 2019, assembling a leading clinical drug discovery and development team with vast experience conducting clinical trials and research on drug candidates derived from psychedelics. Before starting Mindmed, JR worked in market expansion and operations at Uber.

Juliana Mulligan

Juliana Mulligan has been an active member of the Ibogaine community for eight years and holds a B.A. in Psychology. She has worked in three Ibogaine clinics, trained under Dr. Andrew Tatarsky, and is a certified EMT. Under her current business Inner Vision Ibogaine, she works therapeutically with people supporting them in preparation for, and in integration after, Ibogaine treatment. Previously she was an opioid dependent person for seven years during which she served time in county jail, experienced overdoses, was homeless, and tried most mainstream forms of treatment. In 2011 with the help of Ibogaine she left opioids behind. Although her treatment was a success, the clinic was practicing unsafely and she narrowly survived six cardiac arrests and two weeks on a pacemaker in the ICU. This experience led her to focus much of her work on safety and proper clinical practice. She is also currently working to create new systems of accountability and responsibility amongst Ibogaine practitioners. She has been featured in Double Blind magazine, Woman’s Day magazine, and Psymposia.

Julie Holland

Julie Holland is an American psychopharmacologist, psychiatrist, and author. She is the author of five books, including Weekends at Bellevue: Nine Years on the Night Shift at the Psych ER, a memoir documenting her experience as the weekend head of the psychiatric emergency room at Bellevue Hospital in New York City. An advocate for the appropriate use of consciousness-expanding substances as part of mental health treatment, she is a medical monitor for MAPS studies, which involve, in part, developing psychedelics into prescription medication.

Kamya Buch

Kamya founded the Psychedelic Society of India to bring more research-led dialogue around the huge potential of entheogenic medicines in trauma healing, de-addiction, consciousness expansion, and spiritual growth. In partnership with the Spirit Plant Medicine Conference (SPMC), the CS EVA increases visibility for talented women in psychedelics and cannabis who work tirelessly in behind-the-scenes roles, as well as newcomers who bring unique voice and talent to the community and/or who shine in spotlight positions.

Kevin Matthews

Kevin Matthews spearheaded the campaign that decriminalized psilocybin mushrooms on May 7, 2019 in the City and County of Denver. He currently serves as the President of the Denver Psilocybin Mushroom Policy Review Panel and is the Founder of Vote Nature. He believes access to psychedelics is a human rights issue and that no person should be criminalized for their possession, use, or cultivation. He approaches his professional advocacy through a grassroots lens and works to bridge the needs and desires of the psychedelic community to the nation’s elected officials and policymakers in order to promote and ensure people-first psychedelic reform.

Kevin is a US Army Veteran and combines the skills he obtained while studying at the United States Military Academy with his 3+ years of experience as an advocate to advise campaigns and network internationally. He lives in Arvada, CO with his wife and 6 year old son, relies on safely exploring the innerverse with plant medicine, meditation, and mindfulness practice, and enjoys creating epic meals for his family and friends, fly-fishing, and hiking in the Colorado wilderness.

Lucid News

Lucid News provides informed, honest and transparent journalism that covers the growing integration of psychedelics into society and their broad implications for human wellness. Founded by longtime participants of psychedelic communities who bring discernment and a healthy skepticism to their work, they offer news and opinion from a wide range of perspectives to help readers navigate this pivotal moment of innovation and transformation.

Kufikiri Imara

Kufikiri Hiari Imara was born and raised in Oakland, California. He grew up in an Oakland very different than the one we see today, it was an Oakland with a broader and more embodied sense of community. He grew up the youngest in a household with parents who are both Bay Area natives, both of them born in San Francisco. As well, both his parents growing up were active in the Civil Rights and Black Power Movements of a San Francisco of the 1960’s & 70’s. He grew up in a home and a community environment that strongly emphasized social awareness and social responsibility. Play that forward to an older, wiser individual who unfolded his path through a love of the arts, and his own personal healing/spiritual journey. That path lead him to volunteer work with Green Earth Poets Society bringing poetry to incarcerated African-American youth. He is one of the early members of the Entheogen Integration Circle, a support group in NYC with a focus on marginalized communities within the psychedelic community. He is currently involved with Sacred Garden Community, having completed their facilitator’s workshop, which aids him in deepening his work as a ceremonial facilitator working with ethnically diverse communities. One of the reasons he got involved with the Decriminalize Nature Oakland (DNO) initiative was to support effective access. As the former head of the DNO committee focused on Outreach, Education, Access, & Integration he worked to encourage broad access to the education and opportunity to profoundly change one’s life for the better through working with entheogens. Paying special attention to Oakland’s ethnically diverse and marginalized communities, he is actively working with individuals and organizations doing the work in these communities for a better tomorrow. Access has always been his message and was the focus of his talk when he spoke at the CIIS/Chacruna Symposium Cultural and Political Perspectives on Psychedelic Science, August 2018 in San Francisco. As well as his talk hosted by the San Francisco Psychedelic Society, March 2019. He continues to work towards accessible choices for ethnically diverse and marginalized communities in their ability to heal themselves.

Kwasi Adusei

Kwasi dedicates his work in the psychedelic movement to altering the stigma in mainstream channels by promoting the science, the healing potential of psychedelics, and civic engagement. He is the founder of the Psychedelic Society of Western New York and project manager for Psychonauts of the World, an initiative to share meaningful psychedelic stories, with the ultimate goal of publishing them in a book as an avenue to raise money for psychedelic research. He is also one of the administrators for the Global Psychedelic Network, a conglomerate of psychedelic groups and individuals from around the world. Born in Ghana and raised in the Bronx, New York, Kwasi hopes to bring psychedelic therapy to communities of color.

Lia Mix

Lia Mix, MS, MFT, is the founder and CEO of Enthea, a non-profit organization working to expedite health insurance coverage for psychedelic therapies. Lia is a licensed marriage and family therapist with a master’s degree in counseling and multicultural populations. She has over twenty years of diverse experience in the behavioral health field, including fifteen in managed care organizations. Lia earned her Certification in Psychedelic Therapies and Research (CPTR) Program from the California Institute for Integral Studies (CIIS) in 2016. She continues as an adjunct faculty for the CIIS CPTR program. Lia is a systems-thinker who has helped organize the emerging field of psychedelic medicine towards the integration of psychedelic-assisted therapy into the US healthcare system, including achieving insurance coverage post FDA-approval. Lia’s mission is safe, affordable access to PAT for all who can benefit. Her purpose is to create a more compassionate world. She is dedicated to a path of inner healing.

Liana Sananda Gillooly

Liana Sananda Gillooly the Development Officer for MAPS, and is a lifelong advocate for social justice, drug policy reform, ending war, and environmental protection. Liana has worked as a gallerist, art curator, event producer, and held management positions at Greenpeace and Essential Living Foods. She co-found the non-profit North Star, working to integrate psychedelic wisdom into emerging industry surrounding the field of psychedelics, and Auryn Project, non-profit incubator for organizations building equitable, affordable, and accessible psychedelic medicine for all. She has been a featured speaker at numerous events, lobbied Congress, lectured MBA students, given a TedX talk, and is a member of the Summit and TED communities. She a trained death midwife, vipassana meditator, and immersive artist.

Lucia Huang

Lucia is the co-founder and CEO of Osmind, a Public Benefit Corporation (PBC) committed to improving mental health care for those who need it most. She previously worked to help find cures for ALS and Parkinson’s at Verge Genomics, an AI-driven neuroscience biotech startup. Lucia graduated Yale with a B.S. in Chemistry and earned an MBA at Stanford Graduate School of Business, where she was also awarded a Certificate in Public Management and Social Innovation. At Stanford, Lucia focused her studies on healthcare and co-led the GSB Healthcare Club.

Luis Tamani

Luis Tamani is an artist from the Amazonian rainforest of Peru. Tamani first started exhibiting his art in the city of Iquitos in the Loreto region of Peru. His art represents and speaks to the fusion of human beings and the vegetal and animal kingdoms. He has since exhibited his work across Europe and is emerging world wide as a highly regarded visionary artist. His art is on display across Europe, the United States, South America and digitally across the world.

Lynn Marie Morski

Dr. Lynn Marie Morski is a physician, attorney, and lifelong “quitting” enthusiast. She practices medicine at the Veterans Administration and shares her love of strategic quitting through speaking, coaching, and her podcast, Quit Happens. Dr. Morski is also the President of the Psychedelic Medicine Association, a society of physicians, therapists, and healthcare professionals dedicated to advancing education regarding the therapeutic uses of psychedelic medicines.

Manuela Mahua

Maestra Manuela comes from a long-standing and well-respected family lineage of Shipibo healers in the Ucayali region of the Peruvian Amazon. She is 70 years old with nearly 50 years of experience working with the medicine. She began drinking Ayahuasca with her father at age 13. Even today she heals and teaches, both Shipibo and foreigners, and she continues to undertake diets to learn more and gain more healing power. She has a vast knowledge and understanding of the natural pharmacy. Manuela is an incredibly generous and positive force, and in each ceremony she always makes sure to work on each participant individually in ceremony through singing her incredible variety of healing songs (ikaros).

Mareesa Stertz

Mareesa Stertz is an LA-based Director/DP and who’s spent much of the last decade shooting documentaries unraveling the impact of emotional experiences on the psyche. Her quest has taken around the world, filming the stories of shamans in Peru to holy men in India. She programs speakers and events at psychedelic salons and has screened her work at numerous conferences internationally. Her films have ‘gone viral’ and been featured by Viceland, NBC Universal, 60SecDocs, IFC, SPIN, Participant Media, and at film festivals around the world.

Matthew Johnson

Matthew W. Johnson, Ph.D., is Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He is one of the world’s most published scientists on the human effects of psychedelics. Dr. Johnson earned his Ph.D. in experimental psychology at the University of Vermont in 2004, and has published 120 peer-reviewed articles. Working with psychedelics since 2004, Dr. Johnson published psychedelic safety guidelines in 2008, helping to resurrect psychedelic research. As Principle Investigator he developed and published the first research on psychedelic treatment of
tobacco addiction in 2014. Dr. Johnson and colleagues published the largest study of psilocybin in treating cancer distress in 2016. His 2018 psilocybin abuse liability review recommended placement in Schedule-IV upon potential medical approval. He is Principle Investigator on funded studies investigating
psilocybin in the treatment of opioid dependence and PTSD, and LSD in the treatment of chronic pain. In psychedelic research he also published the first blinded research showing effects of salvinorin A, and research examining psychedelic effects on mystical experience, personality change, meditation, and naturalistic addiction recovery. Dr. Johnson is also known for his behavioral economics research, including decision-making underlying addiction, tobacco regulatory science, and drug effects on sexual
risk behavior. He has published studies on nearly all psychoactive drug classes. Dr. Johnson was 2019 President of the Psychopharmacology and Substance Abuse Division of the American Psychological Association, and is the 2020–2021 President of the International Society for Research on Psychedelics. He has received continuous NIH funding as Principal Investigator since 2009. He has reviewed for journals and has served as guest editor on special issues on psychedelics in two peer-reviewed journals.
Dr. Johnson has reviewed grants for NIH, NSF, the US Military, and multiple governments outside of the USA. He has provided invited presentations in 13 nations. Dr. Johnson has been interviewed widely including by Anderson Cooper on 60 Minutes, Fox Business News, CNN, NPR, BBC, New York Times,
Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, and Michael Pollan.

Mendel Kaelan

Mendel is the founder and CEO of Wavepaths, a company that researches and develops methods that leverage the psychotherapeutic potential of music. Prior to Wavepaths, Mendel worked as a PhD student and post-doctoral neuroscientist at Imperial College London, where he pioneered a central of role of music in psychedelic therapies. He consults on the therapeutic use of music, publishes and speaks frequently on this topic, and has been featured in Nature News, San Francisco Chronicles, Vice Motherboard, Rolling Stone, TEDx, Wired, GQ, Even Standard a.o. Mendel lives and works in London (UK).

Michael Pollan

Michael Pollan is an American author and journalist, who is currently the Knight Professor of Science and Environmental Journalism at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. Michael’s New York Times #1 selling How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence has exposed large new audiences to the world of psychedelics. Michael has also appeared on dozens of media outlets, including Tim Ferriss and Joe Rogan.

Mike Margolies

Mike is the Founder of Psychedelic Seminars, an educational conversation series deepening awareness of the benefits, risks, and complexities of psychedelics. Mike is also one of the Co-founders of Crypto Psychedelic and has helped to tie many of the formerly disconnected Psychedelic Societies together.

Mike Tyson

In 2019, boxing legend, Mike Tyson, smoked a drug derived from toad venom (5-MeO-DMT). Ever since this earth-shattering experience with the psychedelic drug, Tyson has leveraged his large following to help advocate for psychedelic experiences in several interviews and podcasts. Tyson says his 5-MeO-DMT experience is what led him into becoming a more open person and is what ultimately inspired his return to boxing. Tyson and his partners recently formed The Ranch Companies, which owns and operates Tyson Ranch, The Ranch at Palm Desert, the KIND Music Festival.

Mohawk Greene

“Phoenix AKA Mohawk “”The Rebel Educationist”” (they/them: formerly known as Mohawk the Educator) is a black, trans educator and technologist, who leverages vast multimedia and platforms to do advocacy and outreach for people who use drugs. They provide education and alternative, radical perspectives about drugs, drug policy, and related topics through a comedic, restorative lens. They are a harm reductionist, drug policy reform advocate, activist, and community organizer that participates in mutual aid. They are also a skilled technologist, writer, and educator.

Phoenix is the technical program manager at Next Distro, a Youth RISE board member, and the regional outreach coordinator and president of New York DanceSafe, Inc., a nonprofit that started off as DanceSafe’s New York-based Chapter. As a longstanding member of music and nightlife communities, they organize and oversee harm reduction and health-and-safety outreach, centering the marginalized, in these communities within the northeast. They have collaborated with global harm reduction agencies such as ANKORS, Safe ’n’ Sound, and Unity and organizations such as the Drug Policy Alliance and Harm Reduction Coalition. Phoenix gives lectures at Berkeley College and spreads awareness as “”The Rebel Educationist”” on multiple social media platforms.”

Molly Maloof

Dr. Molly Maloof is a lecturer within the Wellness Department of the Medical School at Stanford University. Since 2012 she has worked as an independent advisor or consultant to over 45 companies throughout the world needing help with clinical strategy, scientific marketing, medical & market research, & product development. She is also the co-host of Psychedelic News Hour, a clubhouse room dedicated to bringing together the brightest minds in the burgeoning field of psychedelic medicine.

Dr. Monnica T. Williams

Monnica T. Williams, Ph.D., ABPP, is a licensed clinical psychologist and associate professor at the University of Ottawa in the School of Psychology, where she is the Canada Research Chair for Mental Health Disparities. She is the foremost leader in psychedelics for the healing of racial trauma, an area of study that could result in healing for hundreds of millions of individuals worldwide. Dr. Williams has published over 100 book chapters and peer-reviewed articles, focused on anxiety-related disorders and cultural differences.

Natalie Ginsberg

Natalie is the Director of Policy & Advocacy at the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), where she works to disentangle science from political partisanship, and to create safe, equitable and regulated access to psychedelics, and all criminalized substances. She is also partnering with Israeli and Palestinian colleagues to develop a psychedelic peace-building study. Natalie is particularly inspired by psychedelics’ potential to assist in healing intergenerational trauma, for building empathy and community, and for inspiring creative and innovative solutions. Before joining MAPS in 2014, Natalie worked as a Policy Fellow at the Drug Policy Alliance, where she helped legalize medical cannabis in her home state of New York, and worked to end New York’s race-based marijuana arrests. Natalie received her B.A. in history from Yale, and her master’s of social work (M.S.W.) from Columbia.

Northstar

Kat Conour, Dave McGaughey, Liana Gillooley, Shirelle Noble, Tim Chang

Northstar has been one of the most influential organizations in leading the conversation around what a “psychedelic business” should look like. Their dialogues around ethics within the psychedelics ecosystem, the North Star pledge, and the We Will Call it Pala story have paved the road for many crucial conversations at a time where psychedelic capitalism is only gaining greater traction.

Oregon Initiative

Tom Eckert, Sheri Eckert (Posthumous), Sam Chapman

Those involved in the Oregon Initiave helped pass Measure 109, allowing for the manufacture, delivery, administration of psilocybin at supervised, licensed facilities. Their efforts laid the groundwork for policy across the country, and will help to create great change in the public perception of psychedelic therapies.

Paul Austin

Paul F. Austin is a pioneer in the 21st century responsible use of psychedelics for healing, leadership and personal transformation. He has been featured in BBC, Forbes, and Rolling Stone for his accomplishments in entrepreneurship regarding social awareness towards the benefits of microdosing psychedelics. Paul is the author of the book “Microdosing Psychedelics: A Practical Guide to Upgrade Your Life” and the founder of two companies in the emerging psychedelic space, Third Wave and Synthesis.

Paul Stamets

Paul Stamets is an American mycologist and entrepreneur who sells various mushroom products through his company, Fungi Perfecti. He is an author and advocate of medicinal fungi and mycoremediation. Written in 2019, Fantastic Fungi: How Mushrooms Can Heal, Shift Consciousness & Save the Planet, Paul has had significant impact in the adoption of psychedelic medicines.

Plant Medicine Law Group

The Plant Medicine Law Group is working to expand equitable and legal access to plant medicine and help companies in the psychedelic and cannabis industries succeed in a complex, emerging market. They provide strategic expertise to successfully launch, fund and grow psychedelic businesses.

Psychedelics Today

Psychedelics Today is a news source dedicated to exploring and discussing the important academic, scientific and other research in the field of psychedelics. They show how psychedelics and other non-ordinary states of consciousness relate to the human potential as well as the healing potential that they can foster.

Psychedelic Societies

Psychedelic societies have been the foundation of harm reduction, community support, and shared psychedelic wisdom in the underground long before the psychedelic renaissance began to take bloom. Their devotion to helping local communities integrate, understand, and be supported through psychedelic journeys has created an all around safer ecosystem and has allowed for harm reduction, set and setting, and integration education to be the foundational layers of the changes that are happening above ground today.

Psymposia

A news outlet known for their fierce independent journalism, scathing critiques of psychedelic influencers, and combative stance towards all things capitalism, Psymposia has continued to be the center point of thought provoking content as well as a polarizing approach to psychedelic media creation.

Rachel Yehuda

Rachel Yehuda is a professor of psychiatry and neuroscience, the Vice Chair for Veterans Affairs in the Psychiatry Department, and the Director of the Traumatic Stress Studies Division at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine.

Richard Skaife

Richard is a founding partner at The Conscious Fund and a board member of MicroDose and Hive Bio. A twenty year veteran of technology operating and investing. His sole focus is now plant based investing and it’s enablement by technology.

Rick Doblin

Rick Doblin, Ph.D, is the founder and executive director of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), which he founded in 1986. Rick, and MAPS, have published hundreds of research papers, articles, and reports over the past several decades in addition to participation in dozens of clinical trials and international studies. Rick has appeared on countless media outlets and has been a speaker at dozens of major events, resulting in MAPS raising tens of millions of dollars to further develop the future of psychedelic studies.

Rick Strassman

Rick Strassman is an American clinical associate professor of psychiatry at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine. He has appeared on a variety of media outlets, including The Joe Rogan Experience, and is the author of DMT: The Spirit Molecule, which summarizes his academic research into DMT.

Rob Laurie

“Robert W.E. Laurie is an international lawyer, qualified in England and called to the British Columbia Bar. Robert founded AD LUCEM LAW CORPORATION in Vancouver in 2013 and his legal practice focuses on commercial business, government regulatory and constitutional issues surrounding cannabis and psychedelic plant medicines.

Robert serves as a Board Advisor to the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) Canada, Steve DeAngelo’s Last Prisoner Project, SPORE Denver and a Legal Advisor to the Heroic Hearts Project UK. Robert is one of the Founding Partners with Dr. Dennis McKenna of the McKenna Academy of Natural Philosophy. He serves as a Director with Jay DeMerit and Ashleigh McIvor’s Rise and Shine Foundation and Rex Weyler’s Ecuador Amazon Restoration Project. Robert holds an M.A. (Hons) Juris from the University of Oxford (St. Edmund Hall) and B.A. (Hons) in Political Science and International Relations from the University of British Columbia.”

Robin Carhart Harris

Dr Robin Carhart-Harris moved to Imperial College London in 2008 after obtaining a PhD in Psychopharmacology from the University of Bristol and an MA in Psychoanalysis from Brunel University. At Imperial, Robin has designed human brain imaging studies with LSD, psilocybin, MDMA and DMT, a clinical trial of psilocybin for treatment-resistant depression, an ongoing trial
comparing psilocybin with escitalopram for major depressive disorder and a multimodal imaging study in healthy volunteers receiving psilocybin for the first time. Robin founded the Centre for Psychedelic Research at Imperial College London in April 2019, the first of its kind in the world.

Roland Griffiths

Roland Redmond Griffiths is an American psychopharmacologist. He is professor of neuroscience, psychiatry and behavioral science, and director of the Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Ronan Levy

Ronan Levy is the founder of Field Trip Ventures, a psychedelic therapy clinic with several locations in Canada and the US. In 2018, he cofounded Grassfed Ventures Inc., a venture capital and advisory firm focused on the cannabis, life sciences, and eSports industries.

Rosalind Watts

Dr. Rosalind Watts is a clinical psychologist, and the clinical lead of the Psilocybin for Depression trial at Imperial College London. She is interested in the theme of ‘connectedness to Self, others, and the world’ as an important aspect of psychedelic treatment.

Saad Shah

Sa’ad Shah is the co-founder and managing partner of Noetic, a venture capital firm that seeks to invest in emerging and early-stage psychedelic-based wellness, therapeutic and pharmaceutical companies around the world. Sa’ad has spent the last 22 years in capital markets and asset management industry with a focus on alternative investment strategies. Prior to co-founding Noetic, Sa’ad was a managing director at The Carlyle Group. Sa’ad is also a the co-founder and managing partner at Grey House Partners, venture partner at Alpha Partners, an affiliate partner at Lindsay Goldberg LLC, and a venture advisor to Learn Capital LLC.

Sandor Iron Rope

Sandor Iron Rope is an enrolled member of the Oglala Lakota Oyate (Oglala Sioux Tribe) from Pine Ridge South Dakota. He received his baccalaureate in Human Services and American Indian Studies from the Black Hills State University in 2007. He has worked for Sanford Health Research as a data collector on community health disparities from 2007. In 2013 started working with the Special Diabetes Program for Indians as a Health technician/fitness trainer. He has donated most of his life to various Native American Churches, Family and Wellness nonprofit organizations. He has supported Tribes throughout Canada and Mexico on religious preservation. He has served as the Chairman for the Native American Church of South Dakota and the Native American Church of North America. He continues to support the conservation efforts of the sacred plant of peyote. He continues to bridge communities and promote healing with his involvement in the Fatherhood Initiatives, Cultural Educational activities.

Sara Reed

Sara received her undergraduate degree in Bioethics and Philosophy from the University of Louisville in Kentucky, and her M.S. in Marriage and Family Therapy from Valdosta State University in Georgia. Prior to her move to Connecticut, she worked as a licensed marriage and family therapist associate at the Behavioral Wellness Clinic in Louisville. Sara Reed is a Marriage and Family Therapist at Behavioral Wellness Clinic in Tolland, CT. She is also a Study Therapist on the Psilocybin-Assisted Therapy research study for Major Depression at Yale University. As a socially-minded therapist, Sara works to advance health equity and upward social mobility for Black Americans.

Shlomi Raz

Shlomi is the founder and CEO of Eleusis. Since founding Eleusis in 2013, Shlomi has overseen the company’s corporate and clinical development efforts. Prior to founding Eleusis, Shlomi was a Managing Director at Goldman Sachs, and held a similar role at JPMorgan where he began his corporate career. Shlomi holds an MA in psychology from New York University and a BS in finance from Georgetown University.

Simeon Schnapper

Simeon is a life-long student of Psychedelics and has a keen awareness of the cultural regulatory and the nascent venture landscape of the mushrooming industry. He has traveled the globe participating in psychedelic conferences to living with indigenous communities. He co-founded the High Art Collective in 2008 the world’s first Psychedelic Art Gallery and MMJ Dispensary praised as a paradigm shift at the very beginning of the end of prohibition. Simeon advises several psychedelic startups, is a founding partner at JLS a plant medicine fund, is an Aspen Institute Fellow and a member of NYMS (New York Mycology Society).

Sophia Rokhlin

Sophia Rokhlin is an author, speaker and nonprofit organizer dedicated to supporting the conservation of Indigenous wisdom and territories. She currently serves as Technical Secretariat of the Amazon Emergency Fund.She holds a BA in Anthropology and Religious Studies from The New School and a M.Sc. in Ecological Economics from the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology at the Autonomous University of Barcelona. She has worked with the Environmental Justice Atlas mapping grassroots activism related to commodity extraction in the Americas. She previously served as a Program Coordinator at the Chaikuni Institute, supporting regenerative agriculture in the Peruvian Amazon.

Stanislav Grof

Stanislav Grof, M.D., is a psychiatrist with over 60 years of experience in research of non-ordinary states of consciousness and one of the founders and chief theoreticians of transpersonal psychology.

Dr. Grof’s early research in the clinical uses of psychedelic substances was groundbreaking and highly influential. In 1969, Dr. Grof became Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins University and is currently Professor of Psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) in the Department of Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness.

He has written over 160 articles and books, including LSD: Gateway to the Numinous; Beyond the Brain; LSD Psychotherapy; The Cosmic Game, and many more.

Tania de Jong

Tania de Jong is an award-winning social entrepreneur, philanthropist and angelic soprano. She is the Co-Founder (with her husband Peter Hunt) and Executive Director of Mind Medicine Australia, a registered charity acting as the central node for regulatory-approved and research-backed psychedelic medicines to assist with the treatment of mental illness in Australia.

Tim Ferris

Tim Ferriss is an American entrepreneur, investor, author, and lifestyle guru. Through his social media outlets, podcast, blog, and interviews, Tim has educated hundreds of millions of people about psychedelics. He has also donated significant sums of money to several different research centers and non-profits, and has influenced the funding of several large psychedelics initiatives.

Todd Shapiro

Todd Shapiro, after being a top rated Radio Show host & a brilliant Marketing Entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience, has recently moved on from mainstream media to concentrate his efforts on being the CEO of Red Light Holland.

USONA

Usona Institute is a 501(c)(3) non-profit medical research organization dedicated to supporting and conducting pre-clinical and clinical research to further the understanding of the therapeutic effects of psilocybin and other consciousness-expanding medicines. Our focus is on alleviating depression in people for whom current medical treatments fall short in offering relief and a better quality of life.

Vine Ventures

Vine Ventures is an NYC-based, early stage, software-focused venture capital fund that invests in the U.S., Latin America, and Israel. Jesse Hudson is an anthropologist and attorney working in the psychedelic space since 2007. He is a member of the Chacruna Council for Protection of Sacred Plants, board member at Sage Institute for Psychedelic Therapy, advisor to Enthea Health, and mentor in the SSDP Psychedelic Pipeline. He has worked with the Matsigenga and the Shipibo-Conibo tribes in the Peruvian Amazon, published peer-reviewed papers on the legal frameworks for psychedelics, and counseled several psychedelic-assisted therapy clinics. He helped ICEERS launch and develop the Ayahuasca Defense Fund. Ryan Zurrer is a venture investor and entrepreneur for 16 years. He has also been an avid biohacker and early contributing member to the Quantified Self Movement in the early 2000s.

Yann Guignon

Originally from France from a multicultural family background, Yann has spent over 10 years practicing and studying the traditions of the Gabonese Forest people. As a direct result of his work, iboga was integrated into the Nagoya Protocol (ratified by Gabon in 2012) which provided a major international legal instrument for the protection of this tree and the traditional knowledge surrounding it. The Gabonese Minister of Culture recognized Yann Guignon as a benefactor of Gabon’s Cultural Heritage and gave him the mandate to represent Gabon at the 4th international conference on iboga.

Yarelix Estrada

Yarelix Estrada straddles many drug worlds. With a Masters in Public Health from Johns Hopkins, she works in New York City as a city research scientist studying harm reduction. On the activism side, she founded a chapter of Students for Sensible Drug Policy. On the nightlife side, she’s volunteered as a lead for DanceSafe in DC. As an organizer, she’s currently the head of the New York City Psychedelic Society as well as an organizer of the first People of Color and Psychedelics conference in Washington D.C. On social justice, she gives lectures about issues like psychedelic intersectionality and treating trauma in underrepresented populations with psychedelics. Today, she discusses working with people in drug crisis, the importance of harm reduction in different fields and how race and income can mark the difference between a psychedelic dream and a paranoid police-state nightmare.

Zach Haigney

The Trip Report is a newsletter for the builders of the emerging psychedelic ecosystem that covers the business, policy, and impact of psychedelics. Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, Zach writes an email newsletter about what’s happening in psychedelics that actually matters, and what it means. He picks out the news and ideas that you don’t want to miss in all the noise and give them context and analysis. Zach’s been writing it since May of 2019.

Zoe Helene

Zoe Helene is an artist, environmentalist, and cultural activist best known for women’s empowerment and sacred plants such as cannabis, ayahuasca, peyote, and psilocybin mushrooms — our co-evolutionary allies — and for PSYCHEDELIC FEMINISM, a concept she originated and a term she coined and popularized in support of women in psychedelics.

Again, we understand that we are not all-seeing and that there are individuals who deserve to be on this list as well. We started with close to 250 names and had to narrow it down. We will continue to find better ways of identifying influence and impact within this space and improving our list in the years to come.

For now, thank you for the all the work contributed and to all the people that have helped guide us in our work to date. We look forward to intersecting, pushing for equity, justice, peace, and continuing to build community together.