About Us
Craig R. Frank – Chairman, CEO, Kaya Holdings, Inc., and Subsidiaries
Craig Frank has been Chairman of the Board, President, Chief Executive Officer, and a director of Kaya Holdings since January 2010. Craig has been a key architect in the development and implementation of KAYS’ vision, strategies, and business plan.
Prior to joining the Company, Craig served 11 years as CEO of The Tudog Group, a business advisory firm founded in Tel Aviv, Israel in 1999. During Craig’s tenure Tudog, worked with more than 200 companies from 19 countries and 22 sectors. Craig is a widely published author with articles on business matters featured in magazines and newsletters internationally, including the publications of the Guatemala American Chamber of Commerce, the Israel Export Institute, the Romanian Chamber of Commerce, and the World Association of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises. He is also an in-demand speaker at international conferences, including the Florida Sterling Council, the International Project Management Association, the Central American Center for Entrepreneurship, the Israel Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, and the Pino Center for Entrepreneurship at Florida International University. Craig has also spoken at a number of cannabis symposiums in Florida and Oregon.
William David Jones – Senior Advisor and Consultant – Business Development, Licensing and Financial Operations, Kaya Holdings, Inc., and Subsidiaries
David has been a business development advisor and financial consultant to the Company since early 2013. His contributions have included providing introductions to investment capital, advising on public company administration, working alongside the CEO to develop and implement the Company’s business plan and day to day operations, including assistance with obtaining cannabis and psychedelic business licensing and interfacing with banks and regulators on behalf of the Company. David was the leading advocate for the Company to enter the cannabis space and is leading the effort into psychedelics. David operates BMN Consultants, Inc, an advisory firm specializing in investment banking consulting. Through BMN Consultants, he maintains relationships with a unique network of institutional and accredited investors and serves as an advisor to CVC International LTD, a fund that has been a significant source of funding for KAYS, as well as Fifth Dimension Therapeutics, Inc. (KAYS’ Psychedelics subsidiary) and Kaya Brand International, Inc. (KAYS’ subsidiary for International Cannabis Projects).
Bryan Arnold – Vice President, Fifth Dimension Therapeutics & Managing Director of The Sacred Mushroom Psychedelic Centers
Bryan has the distinction of being one of the first 10 licensed psilocybin facilitators in the United States and has been central to developing the foundation and treatment principles of The Sacred Mushroom. Bryan has been with Kaya Holdings since the opening of the first Kaya Shack™ retail shop in July 2014, and has worked his way into management by combining his marketing and graphic skills with a deep understanding of cannabis. Prior to working with Kaya, Bryan grew cannabis with Rainforest Organix, an Oregon based cannabis grower. Bryan has been growing cannabis and operating cannabis businesses for more than 10 years.
Chad Craig – Vice President, Oregon Operations,
Chad came to Kaya Holdings after KAYS purchased his cannabis company OG Harley in 2015. OG Harley operated a cannabis farm and distribution company serving the cannabis industry in Oregon. Prior to founding OG Harley, Chad was a middle-management executive with an Oregon based logistics company. Chad has been growing cannabis and operating cannabis businesses for more than 15 years and is the glue that holds our Oregon Operations together.
Kaya Holdings, Inc. Board of Directors
Serving alongside Craig Frank are:
Carrie Schwarz
Carrie Schwarz, who became a director in January 2010, served as a Portfolio Manager at Metropolitan Capital, a New York based hedge fund until 2017 when she founded a hi-tech company. From 1999 to 2001, Ms. Schwarz was an executive at Bank of America Securities, where she built and managed a proprietary Risk Arbitrage Department. From 1991 to 1999 she founded and managed Athena Investment Partners, L.P., a hedge fund that focused on special situations. Prior thereto, she was with American Porters, L.P., a hedge fund that focused on risk arbitrage, which she joined as a junior analyst in 1995 and ultimately rose to become Head of Research and a partner. Ms. Schwarz serves on the board of directors of the American Friends of the Weizmann Institute of Science.
Mitch Chupak
Mitch resides in Israel since 1972. Throughout the years, since 1980, Mitch has been involved with development and management of incoming tours and conferences to Israel. The tours and conferences are developed for special interest groups, non-profit fundraising organizations, religious tours, the arts, and regular touring. Mitch is the Director of Development for the Jaffa Institute, the largest social service agency serving Jaffa, South Tel Aviv and Bet Shemesh. For the past 25 years Mitch has grown the organization extensively and is responsible for development of major social service, educational and community projects by securing millions of dollars in funding. Mitch developed funding sources worldwide and created major donors in the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia, and South America. In 2005 Mitch created the Israel Fundraisers Forum to assist other non- profit organizations better understand methods of fundraising. The forum promotes professionalism in fundraising and development and assists both organizations and individual fundraisers to improve methods of the profession. Today the Israel Fundraisers Forum includes over 100 organizations and meets once a month. Mitch is active in his community and serves on several organization committees.
Glenn Murphy – Board Member, Fifth Dimension Therapeutics
Glenn is a founding board member of Fifth Dimension Therapeutics, and with 25 years of private and corporate law practice, including ten years in-house with the Henkel Group and more than fifteen years in private practice, Glenn’s experience brings a unique skillset to our team.
An intellectual Property Attorney, Glenn’s current practice primarily focuses on building and managing domestic and international utility and design patent portfolios and opining on the validity and infringement of U.S. patents. In addition to drafting and prosecuting patent applications filed in the U.S. and foreign patent offices, Glenn has briefed and argued before the U.S. Patent Office Board of Appeals, assisted with the preparation and argument of appeals before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and assisted with the conduct of bench and jury trials in the U.S. District Courts and the U.S. International Trade Commission. He has provided due diligence and advice in acquisitions, divestments, licenses, and other transactions involving intellectual property rights. He has particular experience in building and managing domestic utility and design patent portfolios for non-U.S. clients. Mr. Murphy is a member of RatnerPrestia’s Biotechnology, General Chemistry and Polymers and Pharmaceutical Chemistry Groups.
Joseph Gayer – Board Member, Fifth Dimension Therapeutics
Joseph is a founding partner of the international law firm Zysman, Aharoni, Gayer. Joseph is a prominent expert in a number of legal fields, including commercial litigation and contract law, representing clients on both domestic and international matters.
United States Operations
Ben Temer – U.S. Brands Ambassador
Ben has been involved in the healthcare sector most of his professional career. He has served as an administrator for Brooklyn, N.Y. based Amerihealth Medical Corp. and was a service representative for New York Medical Imaging. Ben co-founded Florida based Total Holistic Center, a chain of medical offices offering cannabis based and other alternative treatments to remedy a wide range of pathologies and discomforts and is the founder and Chairman of the International Jewish Cannabis Association.
Greek Operations
Ilias Kammenos
Ilias is co-founder of Greekkannabis, our Greek joint venture partner. Ilias is the CEO of I. Kammenos Group of companies, with holdings in the automotive, real estate and tourism sectors. He is the scion of a prominent Greek family active in business and politics, including his father, Panagiotis “Panos” Kammenos, who recently competed his service as the Greek Minister of Defense. Ilias brings his family’s generations’ old commitment to business excellence to the newly legalized cannabis sector in Greece, continuing a tradition of his grandparents – being at the vanguard of new and exciting industries. Ilias gained experience as a management consultant while completing his master’s degree in management studies at Boston University in Massachusetts, United States, where he provided service to Fidelity Investments and Thermo Fisher Scientific in areas of revenue improvement through technology and human resource tactics to improve employee mobility. In Greece Ilias has both worked for his family’s group of companies as well as outside companies, balancing obligation with opportunity. In this spirit, Ilias has worked with the Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company, FAGE Dairies (a family owned international food enterprise), and the KLW Import-Export Company.
Panagiotis “Panos” Kininis
Panos is a co-founder of Greekkannabis, our Greek joint venture partner. While studying for his Bachelor of Science degree in Agricultural Sciences and Master of Science degree in Biotechnology (both at the Agricultural University of Athens), Panos became aware of and excited by the medicinal and commercial potential of cannabis. Panos began his entrepreneurial path as the Managing Member of Zogopoulos Bros., a distinct enterprise serving the construction and interior design sectors. Turning his attention to melding his academic pursuits with his instinctive business drive, Panos served as a Scientific Advisory to Ambrosia Pet Foods, where he assisted in developing recipes for dry pet nutrition. As a student Panos also Co-founded and managed AgroOperations, Ltd., which developed an innovative hydroponics project to extract higher yields. Panos is a veteran of the Greek Armed Forces, where he served with honor as Assistant of the Directorate of the Press and Public Information.