Reese Xavier, MS | Chief Executive Officer & Managing Partner
Reese Xavier, is a serial entrepreneur and CEO and managing partner of HT23 Growers. Prior to leading HT23, he spent over 25 years working as a Learning and Development leader in corporate America. He has partnered with executive leaders to drive organizational performance by leading high impact teams to achieve and surpass their strategic goals and objectives. Reese has received a Master’s of Science Degree and formal education in various aspects of the cannabis business including cultivation, extraction, infusion, career pathing, and cannabis law. He has also earned a Master Certification in Cannabis, is a cultivation enthusiast, and works with medical cannabis card holders to provide education on how to set up successful small ‘home grow’ operations in accordance with Illinois law.
Erik Chavez, MBA | Chief Financial Officer
Erik has over 20 years experience as a corporate financial professional both on Wall Street and working within industry. He serves as the CFO, providing fractional CFO services to clients across lower middle-market landscape. Mr. Chavez served as the Director of Finance – Capital at Caesars Entertainment where he oversaw more than $1 billion in annual global capex for the business. Prior to Caesars Entertainment Mr. Chavez worked on Wall Street as an investment banker where he focused on M&A and capital raising, both debt and equity. Mr. Chavez holds undergraduate degrees in Economics and Sociology from UCLA and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth Graduate School of Business where he focused on Finance, Accounting, and Economics.
Florence Hardy, Esq., MBA | Chief Compliance Officer
Florence has been a successful business consultant for over 15 years and was the Chief Executive Officer of Trucrowd Illinois, Inc., the first registered equity Crowdfunding platform in Illinois. A serial entrepreneur, she also operates her own law firm focusing on corporate, intellectual property, fundraising and cannabis law and owns/operates businesses in retail, racing, financing, and self-care. Florence is an Adjunct Professor of Business Ethics, Negotiation/Conflict Resolution and Entrepreneurship at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She is also a Certified Mediator with the Center for Conflict Resolution in Chicago. Her specialty in the cannabis space focuses on compliance, contracts, and capital.
Angelyn M. Anderson, EdD | Executive Vice President, Equity & Community Engagement
Angelyn developed her passion for equity and community engagement through the various roles held over her 20+ year career in higher education. She leverages her knowledge as a trained mediator, conflict coach, micro-aggression prevention facilitator, and trauma-informed care ambassador to examine the impact of policies and practices on marginalized groups. In addition to having earned a Doctorate in Ethical Leadership, she also holds a cannabis certificate in Dispensary and Patient Care as well as a Master degree in Social Justice. Angelyn combines her passion for social justice and equity with her commitment to creating spaces and opportunities for adversely impacted groups who have been left out of the multi-billion dollar cannabis industry.
Brian J. Foster, BS | Executive Vice President, Sales & Marketing
Brian has worked in the corporate communications sector with real estate giant Koenig & Strey and the largest car sharing company globally, Zipcar. He also has an extensive not-for-profit communications background with prestigious organizations such as The Ounce of Prevention Fund, and currently serve as the Managing Director of External Affairs and Communications for City Year Chicago. A serial entrepreneur, Brian has been the CEO of CollectiveQwest Marketing and Entertainment for over 15 years, owns and jointly operates Virtual Day Parties, is the former owner of In the Zone Sports (the first and largest Black-Owned intramural sports leagues for adults in Chicago).
Jordan Pancake | Lead Cultivator
Jordan has operated large scale commercial production facilities with over 10,000 plants. Over his tenure in the cannabis industry, he has successfully executed all tasks in the grow including; cloning, transplanting, feeding, defoliation, super cropping, topping, flushing, foliar and preventative sprays, trimming, packaging, waste disposal, and inventory management. Jordan’s skills in cataloging and analyzing individual strains from clone to flower to harvest will allow HT23 to produce superior cannabis, but also enable HT23 to analyze and continuously improve our go to market strains and products
Jordan is also well versed in various growing techniques including mastery of Ebb and flow, Deep Water Culture, Soil (including living soil), and Aeroponics (high pressure & low pressure). He also has in depth knowledge of determining the most appropriate PH, PPM and EC counts for the various growing techniques
Jordan is experienced in preventative maintenance including the elimination of all types of molds, powdery mildew, mites, aphids, fungus gnats, etc.
info@ht23growers.com
Chicago Heights, Illinois
HT23 was founded on the guiding principles of commitment to quality products, building valuable relationships, intentional community impact, and creating space for others. This is how we operate internally not only as a company, but for our customers, and community as well.
