Sherri Franklin is the founder of Think & Grow Lab, an accelerator working to drive inclusion and green solutions in agricultural and manufacturing industries, co-founder of GoVerde Incubator, LLC, www.goverde.com, one of the largest operating cannabis incubators for social equity ventures in the country, Chief Visionary Officer of Ujima Tribe Enterprises, LLC founded to foster social equity brand and retail ventures marketed under www.verderoad.com and a founding partner in a cannabis consumption lounge venture in the City of West Hollywood.  During Sherri’s foray into the strategy to position social equity front and center as part of cannabis legalization, she has developed a formidable knowledge of cannabis regulation and public policies impacting access to ownership and employment opportunities. Sherri has leveraged her knowledge of organizational development, land-use, construction and community development to help social equity applicants create licensed entities and to structure their ventures for vertical integration within the industry.  Sherri is also the CEO of Urban Design Center, www.urbandesigncenter.com, which over the past 30 years, has managed the planning and land-use entitlement, proposal development and project management for over $140 million in government subsidized affordable housing, infrastructure and economic development projects.

Sherri is a board member of the West Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, a board member and partner of Integrated Equitable Solutions, a property management subsidiary of Concerned Citizens of South Central Los Angeles, a thought leader for the Leimert Park Village 20|20 Vision Initiative, a 15 year member of the Pacific Coast Regional - Small Business Development Corporation loan committee and the Co-Chair of Mayor Eric Garcetti’s Parking Reform Working Group.  In 1992, Sherri was appointed by Mayor Tom Bradley to the City Los Angeles Department of Planning Board of Zoning Appeals and served as Vice Chair. Subsequently, in 1993, she was appointed by Mayor Richard Riordan to the City of Los Angeles Department of Transportation Commission where she served as President and, thereafter, to the Los Angeles Housing Department's Rent Stabilization Commission in 1995 as a board member.