Each year, NCF presents the Kevin Cross Community Changemaker Award to a member of the community who goes above and beyond to help others without any expectation of recognition or reward. This year, we are delighted to present the 2021 Community Changemaker Award to Losia Nyankale, owner of #GrowithLisa and Executive Director of Maryland NORML.

Losia is a successful home grower and educator through her small business #GrowithLisa. She frequently sponsors small-business oriented trade shows that help aspiring independent operators find professional resources. For the past few years, she’s been a leading voice and advocate for small business-friendly public policy.

 As a member of the Ward 7 community, Losia iworked to ensure her neighbors has access to information and education about the regulated cannabis industry through the Cannabis Business Development Group, an organization she helped form. The organization produced educational events for patients in Ward 7 to learn about the cannabis plant and how to obtain safe, legal products.

In 2019, Losia agreed to serve as the Maryland NORML chapter Deputy Director, applying her years of cannabis advocacy experience to the legalization cause and helping organize the 2020 Maryland Cannabis Policy Conference. Losia now serves as the state chapter Executive Director and is diversifying the organization by recruiting more local-area leaders, demonstrating her commitment to a community-led public policy conversation and laws that address the needs of those most harmed by prohibition. Outside her work in drug policy, Losia’s generosity in the community is known far and wide. For years, she has been hosting a pumpkin patch fundraiser to benefit children in Ward 7.

Losia Nyankale is a beloved member of our region’s cannabis community and we are proud to award her this year’s Cannabis Community Changemaker Award for representing our voice and priorities as a leading advocate for personal freedom, justice, and equity.

You can see Losia receive the 2021 Changemakers Award on the main stage at NCF!