Our People

Matthew Christopherson is Higharchy’s Chief Executive Officer, President and Founder, leading the company along the path of highly original possibilities.

Matt has over a decade of leadership experience in the cannabis industry which includes growing and expanding Keirton Inc. – a company that provides growers with medical cannabis harvesting machines under the brand “Twister Trimmer”, where he was partner and VP of Business Development. Matt is also co-founder of Lift & Co., Canada’s largest cannabis education and technology platform. Earlier in his career, Matt was co-founder of SteviaOne Peru – the largest owned stevia plantation committed to both social and environmental sustainability.

Matt has a deep commitment to community. He is an active director of Ruben’s Shoes, a non-profit organization that delivers kids from around the world access to education. He is also sits on various boards in the cannabis industry, including Bevcanna and Vencanna.

Wendy is our Vice President of Marketing and Communications who is passionate about connecting people and bands in relevant, meaningful and highly original ways to unlock transformative growth and action.

Wendy brings over two decades of strategic brand marketing and corporate communications experience across a broad range of industries spanning consumer packaged goods, technology, financial services, automotive and environmental for such brands as Coca-Cola, Cummins, CIBC and most recently at Nature’s Path Organic Foods – North America’s first and largest organic breakfast food company.

As a creative strategist and storyteller for both the brand and corporate function her expertise is expansive. She has led diverse teams and omnichannel campaigns involving such areas as brand reputation and executive thought leadership, brand and corporate message positioning, consumer insights, issues/crisis leadership, digital advertising and online content creation, email marketing, employee and community relations, media and influencer relations, experiential events and tradeshows with a keen ability to map creative outputs to business strategy.

Wendy is accredited with the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) where she has served as a mentor, international and national award judge plus Past-President for its Canadian, BC Chapter.

Steve is our Vice President of Retail and leads and oversees the development and growth of Higharchy’s retail consumer brands, such as our flagship West Coast Cannabis Store. He is obsessed with the consumer’s shopping journey and creating curated, and one-of-a-kind experiences.

Steve has over 15 years’ experience in retail with time at Lush and Best Buy Canada and lululemon where he played an integral role to grow the company from 90 to 210 stores and over $1.3 billion in sales. His experience in concept development and customer experience has resulted in his ability to grow BC companies into internationally recognized consumer brands. Prior to joining Higharchy, Steve was with Keirton Inc – a company that provides growers with medical cannabis harvesting machines under the brand “Twister Trimmer”, where he was VP of Marketing.

Carolyn Haley is our Director of Finance. For the previous fourteen years, Carolyn held the position of CFO of Haley Automotive Group, helping with the growth and vision of the dealership consortium. Managing full cycle accounting, payroll, human resources and promotional events, Carolyn was also responsible for regulatory and licensing compliance, as well as international currency movement, Canadian cash flow and vehicle inventory.

Previous to working in the automotive field, Carolyn pursued a career in real estate, including eight years with Ulinder Rennie Project Marketing, ultimately serving as VP Operations. She continued with Sudweeks Development in Las Vegas and Salt Lake City before returning to Canada to enter the automotive industry.

Carolyn studied at McGill University and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Simon Fraser University. She has taken the Canadian Securities course and studied AutoCad. Carolyn has performed as a professional pianist at various Club Med venues as well as working as a Tennis GO.

Mary is our Corporate Controller, overseeing Higharchy’s financial functions including reporting, compliance, and internal controls.

Mary is a CPA, CA with seven years of accounting experience. She articled at Deloitte LLP, working with public and private clients primarily in the telecommunications and mining industries, and since leaving the firm has worked in progressive accounting roles with public companies such as CHC Helicopter, Cardiome Pharma Corp., and Colliers International Ltd. She has led diverse teams and has mentored and coached accounting students working through the CPA PEP program (and it’s precursor, the CASB program). She is passionate about optimizing processes to ensure efficient and effective internal systems utilizing the simplest and most innovative solutions.

Mary is committed to giving back to the community and has served on the board of directors as Treasurer for two local Vancouver not-for-profit entities (the Society for Children and Youth of BC and Fugue Theatre Society), as well as volunteering with the Vancouver Chapter of the University of Alberta Alumni Society.

Kim is the Executive Assistant at Higharchy supporting our CEO and Founder plus team members to deliver on its vision to create purpose-led brands.

Prior to joining Higharchy, Kim spent the last 20 years working in the hospitality industry most recently as Executive Assistant and Manager of corporate Initiatives with Cactus Restaurants Ltd. where she supported the senior executive team through its national expansion.

Prior to her role at Cactus Restaurants, Kim spent many years with a franchise restaurant operator supporting six restaurants back end operations. She has extensive multi-unit, customer facing industry experience and couldn’t be more excited to join the Cannabis space and work along side the best in the industry.