Executive Management

George Archos is the Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Verano. He entered the cannabis industry in 2014 when he was the first in Illinois to receive authorization to grow medical cannabis out of 21 recipients of the state's coveted medical licenses.

George's successful entrepreneurial ventures span a multitude of industries, and he is dedicated to talent development, operational quality and efficiency, entrepreneurship, and leading with integrity as one of the cannabis industry's most respected and influential leaders. A veteran of the logistics and operations sectors, he has extensive experience coordinating complex freight delivery operations and designing and operating successful restaurants.

Leveraging his devotion to quality and a unique results-oriented approach, he has overseen the development of some of the cannabis industry's most successful operations and trusted portfolio of powerhouse brands including Verano™, Bits™, Avexia™, Encore™, Savvy™ and MÜV™.

Mr. Weiss is deeply involved in the organization at every level and applies his well-honed management and analytical skills across the business to help streamline processes, standardize operations, and bolster performance. From conceptualization to design and implementation, he leverages his many years of regulatory and corporate experience to bring professionalism and efficiency across the company. A cannabis industry veteran and seasoned operations leader and corporate attorney, he is also a frequent author and speaker on legal and operational issues affecting the commercial cannabis industry and is widely viewed as a cannabis industry thought leader.

Mr. Weiss joined Verano as General Counsel and Chief Legal Officer in 2017 and rose to Chief Operating Officer after leaving his position as Principal at a large law firm, where he headed up the firm's cannabis practice. Instrumental in the formation and organization of cannabis companies across the U.S., he has worked with privately- and publicly-held cannabis companies on corporate financing, drafting, and negotiating investment documents, licensing agreements, and vendor contracts and providing business advice and counsel on competitive licensing applications and cannabis business design and strategy. Mr. Weiss has been counsel to both investors and cannabis businesses and has helped close multi-million-dollar transactions and provided counsel in the creation of multi-state brands and products. Prior to law school, he worked as a business consultant providing performance management and business operational consulting services for public and private-sector clients.

Mr. Weiss currently sits on the Executive Committee and Board of the Maryland Wholesale Medical Cannabis Trade Association, was named to the Baltimore Business Journal's 40 Under 40 List, was awarded the 2016 Innovator of the Year prize, and is identified as a 2017 People to Know in the Law. He received his bachelor's degree from Washington University in St. Louis and his Juris Doctorate from George Mason University School of Law.

Ms. Kalesnik is Chief Legal Officer, General Counsel and Secretary for Verano, where she is responsible for overseeing all Verano's legal activity and policy within the Company.

Ms. Kalesnik brings over 30 years of legal experience advising public and private companies across varying sectors with robust practice leading organizations through transformational moments, such as mergers and acquisitions, strategic restructuring and reorganization, financings, divestitures, spin-offs, securities offerings, and corporate governance.

Ms. Kalesnik joined Verano as Executive Vice President and Deputy General Counsel in 2021 after leaving her position as Partner at a large law firm where she supported corporations with governance and fiduciary duties, public reporting and disclosure obligations. She spent much of her legal career as Partner at several prestigious law firms, where she gained invaluable knowledge on general corporate matters.

Ms. Kalesnik received her bachelor's degree from University of Oklahoma, her master's degree from Thunderbird School of Global Management and her Juris Doctorate from Southern Methodist University. She was named a Texas Top Rated Lawyer by LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell for 2013-2015 and a Texas Super Lawyer by Thomson Reuters for 2010-2019.

Mr. McDermott oversees the breadth of Verano's operations, including all cultivation and processing facilities and retail locations under the Zen Leaf and MÜV brands. He and his team are responsible for the development of standard operating procedures and processes, logistics and day-to-day operations to deliver Verano's suite of high-quality products to patients and consumers across its operating footprint.

Mr. McDermott joined Verano as Executive Vice President of Operations in 2021, where he actively collaborated with the executive leadership team and leaders from across all functions of the organization to drive excellence in standard operating procedures.

Prior to joining Verano, he spent nearly seven years as Vice President of Corporate Development & Strategy at BellRock Brands, a Denver-based cannabis company, where he played an integral role in expanding the company from one to eight markets, completed a merger with Mary's Medicinals, executed and managed multiple third-party licensing transactions and the company listing on the Canadian Securities Exchange.

Mr. McDermott received his bachelor's degree in finance and entrepreneurship from Boston University.

Mr. Miles leads the organization's investor relations, capital markets, corporate development and communications departments. He has distinguished himself as a cannabis industry leader in the financial and investor relations space, having notably assisted in taking both Cresco Labs and Verano Holdings public on the Canadian Securities Exchange in 2018 and 2021, respectively.

Over the course of his more than 20 years of financial and capital markets experience, Mr. Miles has served in leadership roles across a variety of Fortune 500 companies and industries. His background and expertise spans investor relations, in large and diversified corporations that include Abbott Laboratories, CME Group, Navigant, Tribune Publishing Company, the New York Stock Exchange, and Cresco Labs.

A native of Michigan, Mr. Miles graduated from Central Michigan University with a bachelor's degree in economics and obtained his master's in finance from Walsh College.

Mr. Spreckman oversees all aspects of the organization's marketing, creative, and brand communications across all business units. He and his team are responsible for connecting Verano products, services, and experiences with consumers to build brand equity while driving demand and retention across all channels.

Mr. Spreckman leads ongoing efforts at Verano to develop and refine its CPG brand portfolio, in order to expand distribution and adoption of its product catalogue across its operating footprint, while scaling a sustainable marketing platform for its retail business aimed at educating and empowering consumers at every stage in their journey from discovery to purchase.

In his previous role with Verano, he served as vice president of marketing and corporate communications. In addition to leading the company's retail marketing arm, he was responsible for authoring Verano's external communications and leading media engagement during its go-public phase in 2021. Today, as the company continues to deliver on its growth strategy, he oversees brand integration and consolidation across the portfolio to optimize brand performance and commercial efficiency.

Before joining Verano in June 2019, Mr. Spreckman held several roles in the advertising business as a leader of brand and creative strategy on the agency side. His responsibilities included driving market differentiation, consumer engagement, revenue growth and market-share capture for a diverse roster of B2B and B2C clientele that included legacy brands Philips Norelco, Solo Cup, STARZ Entertainment, Nissan, and TransUnion, as well as early-stage start-ups, offshoots, and niche products.

Mr. Spreckman graduated from Indiana University with a bachelor's degree in journalism, public relations and Spanish.

Brett Summerer serves as Chief Financial Officer of Verano, where he manages the finance and information technology functions, and is responsible for delivering one of the industry's leading margin profiles while ensuring continued investment in the business's internal and external production and service platforms. His key responsibilities include building and maintaining a strong balance sheet; providing financial outlooks and guidance; maintaining capital availability for growth; providing secure high-speed process and system automation and data driven decision capability to support investment; and delivering efficient, transparent, and credible forecasts, results and reporting.

Prior to joining Verano, Mr. Summerer held leadership positions of increasing responsibility across multiple information technology, manufacturing, and CPG companies. Most recently, Mr. Summerer served as Vice President, Head of Supply Chain Finance and CFO of The Kraft Heinz Company's U.S. Operations, where he led all aspects of the CPG company's financial activities across its extensive national manufacturing footprint in its largest market. He began his career in the IT and Supply Chain service sector at Modern Engineering, and ultimately rose to VP of IT Position, where he managed the firm's budget, vendor contracts, and operational integration for four acquisitions. He then spent 10 years at General Motors in Financial Planning and Analysis, Controllership and business unit CFO positions in the U.S., European, and Asian markets. After leaving GM, he served as the head of Financial Planning and Analysis and Supply Chain Finance for Corning Incorporated, and subsequently gained pharmaceutical industry experience as the Head of Finance for their pharmaceutical business.

Mr. Summerer holds a Master of Business Administration from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan and holds a master's and two bachelor's degrees in electrical engineering and computer science from Michigan State University, where he also graduated with an additional major in computer engineering. He is a CPA in the state of Illinois.

Ms. Thompson is responsible for leading Verano's overall people strategy, which includes workforce planning, talent management, learning and development, diversity, equity, and inclusion, acquisitions and integration and overall employee engagement to support the future growth of the company.

Ms. Thompson has over 20 years of human resources experience in professional and financial services firms. Her expertise is leading and transforming companies in various industries through their next evolution of supercharged growth, building and scaling the People function to align to the overall business long-term strategy and revenue goals while also maintaining a People First philosophy and culture through continual innovation and change. She has experience in various industries, including technology, higher education, life sciences and financial services.

Prior to joining Verano, Ms. Thompson served as the Chief Human Resource Officer at Stout, an investment banking and financial services firm where she served on the executive team leading Stout's people strategy as well as 15 years at Huron Consulting Group leading and scaling many businesses globally for transformative growth.

Ms. Thompson is a member of Chief, a private network of C-level women that share and cross-pollinate ideas across many industries, and also serves on the Expert Council for Hacking HR, leading and contributing to conversations about the future of Human Resources and the evolving workforce. She received her bachelor's in English literature at Purdue University.