Natalie Darves, Mba Email & Phone Number

Portland, Or, Us

Portland, Oregon, United States

Excited to begin my journey as a 1L at Lewis & Clark Law School, with an anticipated graduation in 2027. My focus is on wills, estates, and trusts, and I'm eager to apply my prior experience in business strategy and social justice advocacy to this important legal field. Looking forward to deepening my knowledge and building connections in the legal community.

Portland, Oregon

As Founder and Managing Partner, I founded and developed a consulting company that specializes in supporting aspiring entrepreneurs in the cannabis industry and other analogous industries. Through partnerships with various government entities like the City of Los Angeles and the State of Connecticut, I have assisted their business development initiatives. Additionally, I manage a range of strategic and entrepreneurial projects from beginning to end and provide solutioning across startups and large multinational conglomerates.I created Cougar Acres with the goal of supporting aspiring entrepreneurs to understand the opportunities and risks associated with launching a highly regulated business and formulate a strategy for a successful launch. Through my company, I prepare clients to manage change in a constantly evolving marketplace by providing actionable guidance and creating educational content that raises awareness of best practices across multiple industries.

Los Angeles Metropolitan Area

As a subcontractor, I work on various projects to support social equity entrepreneurs. I partner with the more than 2,000 individuals in the social equity community in L.A.to provide them with comprehensive business services including helping them develop business plans, go-to-market strategies, and new revenue opportunities. I also manage a coaching program that delivers these wraparound business services directly to social equity licensees. Additionally, I collaborated with the City of Los Angeles to create education programs that train aspiring social equity participants in cannabis business operations. These programs consist of both synchronous (webinars) and asynchronous (self-paced coursework) learning to deliver actionable curriculums.

Oakland, California

As Chair of Business, I lead a team of 15 faculty members with a focus on improving and evaluating the curriculum to increase student retention and facilitate growth within the program. In addition, I introduce contemporary ideas of business strategy by emphasizing the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion in all departmental curricula.

As Dean of Faculty, I supported over 60 faculty members with team development, hiring, onboarding, and training of new team members. Additionally, I designed and implemented a new curriculum methodology that focused on building successive learning outcomes, benefiting Oaksterdam’s 3,000 active students. Furthermore, I was involved in vetting and securing partnerships with other institutions, such as The Arcview Group, Minority Cannabis Business Association, and Golden Gate University.

As Lead Outdoor Horticulture Instructor, I designed and taught outdoor cannabis cultivation curriculum focused on sustainability and land stewardship to over 3,000 students from diverse backgrounds. I also developed and implemented strategies to promote sustainable cultivation practices in local and global communities and worked with environmental regulators to bring awareness of cultivation practices to state governments.

Connecticut, United States

As a subcontractor for the State of Connecticut, I worked with an extensive coalition to develop and deliver one of the most robust cannabis business accelerator programs for social equity applicants in the United States. Providing curriculum and content support, as well as delivering informative webinars, I assisted the coalition with helping them guide the launch social equity-owned cannabis businesses.

As an Industry Analyst, I was integral in delivering comprehensive strategic reports and compliance assistance to businesses operating in or entering the growing hemp industry. I also offered business mentoring, marketing strategies, and BU launch and consultation services.

Covelo, California

Cougar Acre Farms cultivated high-quality, medical-grade cannabis grown using permaculture techniques. Cougar Acres Farms was women-owned and provided internships and opportunities to women and marginalized communities. As Founder, I provided complete wraparound support to affiliated farms and landowners and promoted forward-thinking best practices that met or exceeded the current compliance standards and pest-management techniques used today. Cougar Acres farms were some of the first to participate in regulatory efforts put in place by local and state regulators at the advent of cannabis decriminalization in California.

Sebastopol, Ca

Help clients create solid business plans that can drive immediate and long-term success. Support clients as they build capable teams through training, coaching, and recruitment.

Mendocino County, California

As an Assistant Inspector, I conducted inspections of Mendocino County cannabis farms to assess their compliance and land-stewardship practices. My role also focused on outreach and community development of the program, which was instituted by the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors and administered by the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office and had the distinction of being the first government-agency regulatory effort in the United States of cannabis.

Master Of Business Administration (M.B.A.), Wine Business Management, 3.91 Gpa

Bachelor’S Degree, Honors Ba In Sociology, 3.95 Gpa

Admission into University of Oregon Honor's College; Dean's List all terms; one of two recipients of Honor's degree in graduating class.

Coursework Toward Ba In Sociology, 3.99 Gpa