Fresh Leadership For Greenfern

Greenfern Industries (NZX: GFI), a trailblazer in New Zealand’s medicinal cannabis industry, is thrilled to announce the appointment of two exceptional women to pivotal leadership positions within the company. This progressive move signals a bold step forward as Greenfern positions itself for its next phase of growth and innovation.

Kirsten Taylor has been appointed the new board chair, bringing with her extensive experience of governance, business, marketing and product innovation.

Dan Casey stepped aside in time for Elizabeth Plant to take the helm as CEO in August. Elizabeth initially joined the GFI board as an independent director in January 2024 in alignment with the board strategy to usher in a new era for Greenfern as it transitions from a startup business to a more established medicinal cannabis and biotechnology company.

Kirsten is an experienced company owner, CEO, specialist consultant, author, and board member for multiple organisations. She is a qualified medical herbalist, naturopath, nutritionist, and naturopathic sleep specialist. Seven years of clinical practice experience led Kirsten to develop an award-winning range of science-based sleep and stress formulations sold under the brand SleepDrops International. SleepDrops is the top selling sleep category brand in NZ pharmacies and health stores for 15 years in a row, and winner of multiple awards. Kirsten’s extensive experience of governance, business, marketing and product innovation enables her to bring a wealth of expertise to this role

Elizabeth is an experienced clinician and senior manager. She was formerly Chief Medical Officer of EQALIS Pharmaceuticals Ltd (now Cannasouth), a position she held for 4 and a half years. In this role she was responsible for the delivery of education packages and clinical information to health professionals and consumers, as well as coordinating licences to operate through Medsafe. She set up and worked closely with a group of senior clinicians on a Clinical Advisory Board for the company and has produced a series of medicinal cannabis prescribing and dosing publications for New Zealand GPs and education presentations for both the public and medical professionals.

Elizabeth also held various roles at Taranaki District Health Board over 20 years: Chief Pharmacist, Director of Medication Management and Pharmacy Portfolio Manager. She was the President of the NZ Pharmaceutical Society for 5 years and held a Ministerial appointment to the National IT Board for 8 years.

Elizabeth’s first priority has been to undertake a review of the company’s medical cannabis cultivation operations to enhance our standard operating procedures for our grow rooms.

“Learnings from our previous successful harvests in which we ascertained volume capabilities of the facility mean we will now fine tune our ability to influence the quality of product,” Kirsten said.

Following Kirsten’s visit to the International Cannabis Business Conference in Berlin in April this year the company is on an expansion drive to meet demand coming in both domestically and internationally.

“The board will be working with Elizabeth to maximise opportunities to diversify the company’s revenue streams and identify opportunities to complement the company’s existing bioscience and health product business,” Kirsten said.

“We see an opportunity to continue the evolution of our existing medical cannabis cultivation facilities, the commercialisation of our hemp protein IP and development of other bioscience and health product opportunities.”

Both leaders are committed to ensuring there is access to this valuable medicine for all who need it, share a passion for innovation and sustainability and the values that underpin Greenfern’s commitment to creating positive outcomes for patients and the environment.

Greenfern Industries remains dedicated to delivering cutting-edge medicinal cannabis products and hemp wellbeing products, and fostering innovation in the rapidly evolving healthcare landscape.

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