jesce horton
ceo, lowd
Visionary leader Jesce Horton is Chief Executive Officer at LOWD, an award-winning cannabis company that embodies the art of urban craft cultivation. Headquartered in Portland, Oregon, LOWD exists effortlessly at the intersection of urban culture and epic nature unique to the city and the Pacific Northwest. An engineer by education, energy management and automation expert through certification, and horticulturist by passion (plus plenty of time in Amsterdam), Jesce founded LOWD after experiencing successes in medical cannabis cultivation, where he began growing medical cannabis in his home for two elderly patients who were suffering with cancer, pain and insomnia. Jesce then co-founded the Minority Cannabis Business Association (MCBA), the first and largest non-profit organization developed to create equal access and economic empowerment for cannabis businesses, their patients, and the communities most affected by the war on drugs. In 2016, Jesce was appointed by Oregon Governor Kate Brown to the Task Force for Cannabis Environmental Best Practice and continues this work today through the Resource Innovation Institute (RII), an organization building the central platform for creating energy efficiency solutions and standards for the global cannabis industry — Jesce is on the board of directors and has served as chairman at RII. Jesce’s on the board of directors for the Oregon Cannabis Association and he’s an advisory board member at Marijuana Business Daily and Ben’s Best, the new venture by Ben Cohen of Ben & Jerry's fame aimed at funding Black-owned cannabis companies and further supporting the Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition and Last Prisoner Project. Jesce's also served on numerous federal, state and local cannabis regulatory advisory committees to help shape the legal cannabis markets in both Oregon and California. Along with his wife Jeannette Ward Horton, also a cannabis industry pioneer, Jesce and Jeannette founded the non-profit organization Nu Leaf Project, a historic initiative financially seeded in-part by the City of Portland since 2019. Nu Leaf Project delivers grants, loans, educational resources, job matching assistance and entrepreneurial services to cannabis business owners and career hopefuls. To keep up with Jesce and LOWD, please visit: https://www.lowd.com