Rachel Elaine Kurtz

Rachel is a senior attorney at Gleam Law with a focus on cannabis business and nonprofits.  She serves as a board member for both the Center for the Study of Cannabis and Social Policy and for the People’s Harm Reduction Alliance.  Rachel is also a member of the Seattle Hempfest speakers committee.

Rachel is a longtime drug policy analyst through her work as the former deputy director of both the King County Bar Association Drug Policy Project (Seattle) and the Voluntary Committee of Lawyers, which led nationwide efforts to work with lawyers and judges by encouraging examination of the consequences of the drug war.  Subsequently, as acting Executive Director for the Cannabis Defense Coalition, Rachel was in the trenches during the landmark 2011 legislative session that saw then-Gov. Gregoire veto a comprehensive regulatory framework for medical marijuana that left the collective garden system Washington State now has today.

Rachel spent many years working directly in the medical marijuana industry in Washington State, at the Northwest Patient Resource Center and Greenworks Cooperative, and as co-owner of both the Hope Clinics, a medical marijuana authorization clinic, and the Care Wellness Center, and educational, advocacy, and therapeutic center.

She studied music and English at Auburn University (Alabama), graduated from The Evergreen State College in 1997 where she studied political science and pre-law, and graduated from the University of Washington School of Law in 2003.  Prior to law school she worked in the Olympia office of former Congressman Brian Baird.

In her free time, Rachel enjoys snowboarding, hiking, reading, gardening, and live music.

Rachel is a member of the Washington State Bar Association, the King County Bar Association, the American Bar Association, and the Marijuana Business Association.  She serves as of counsel for Henry G. Wykowski & Associates.