Management Team / Advisory Board Bios
Brad Zerman
Founder & CEO
Brad Zerman founded Seven Point-Oak Park, one of the first 55 Illinois medical cannabis dispensary licensees, in 2014 where he was CEO for 5 years. The company was sold in 2019 to a publicly traded company. Mr. Zerman is also the founder of Seven Point of Massachusetts, Inc. and anticipates his first adult-use dispensary to open this year, with cultivation opening late 2023. Zerman was also recently awarded two Illinois Craft Grower licenses, two Illinois Transportation licenses, and an adult-use dispensary license in Danville, IL, near a new casino at the Indiana state line.
Zerman is also currently a pre-qualified applicant by the state of MI and approved by the City of Berkley to operate a marijuana retailer located at 28557 Woodward Ave., Berkley, MI. Zerman has extensive experience successfully doing business in highly regulated industries. He was a Director of the Illinois Cannabis Industry Association and founding Director of the Medical Cannabis Alliance of Illinois (currently CannaBizIL). Zerman was recently elected to the Board of Directors of the Illinois Independent Craft Growers Association. He presents at local level planning meetings, such as the McHenry County Council of Governments, to offer his invaluable insight into zoning for cannabis dispensing organizations, security, operations, and community benefits of cannabis regulation.
Zerman is the founder and CEO of COVID Diagnostics, a drive up and park COVID testing facility, which operated for 17 months located in Northbrook, Illinois. Zerman was also founder and CEO of Qualtex Corporation (dba Sky Processing), which was based in Chicago, prior to its sale, with ATM locations throughout the US and Puerto Rico. Sky Processing was one of Puerto Rico’s largest independent operators of ATMs and had dispensed over $5 billion in cash withdrawals since 2000. The ATM operations industry is considered “cash intensive” and requires strict adherence to numerous reporting guidelines, licensing, compliance, regulations, and oversight. For example, for 20 years, Sky Processing regularly submitted detailed reports to its sponsoring financial institutions and the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) regarding the 2200 individual ATM locations, including the source of funds and ownership of all cash held within the individual vaults of each ATM. These reports share similarities to the established reporting requirements of a cannabis dispensary in most regulated states. Zerman has 25 years of experience designing and implementing sophisticated security and risk mitigation practices. Zerman previously designed and manufactured secure outdoor-rated ATMS through his brand Qualtex. As an operator of more than 2200 ATMs, processing more than 6 million transactions per year, Zerman securely handled sensitive cardholder and customer data, including debit card numbers, credit applications, background checks, social security numbers and other personal data. Mr. Zerman has a proven and longstanding history of properly safeguarding customer data and other information. In addition, Zerman has extensive experience in the broader payment processing industry and oversaw all Sky Processing vendor relationships with transaction processors, vault cash providers, and national armored carriers. This background and his relationships within the armored carrier and payments industries and experience in the cannabis industry will be essential to running successful future cannabis operations. Given his extensive experience in the payments industry, Zerman will be a capable leader who can navigate many of the pending payment and banking issues facing the cannabis industry. Zerman was also the founder and CEO of Midwest Bancard Corporation, a regional independent sales and service organization providing credit card processing services to merchants located primarily in Illinois and Michigan. The company was sold in 2005 to a publicly traded company. Zerman and family live in Chicago with two daughters who are both attending universities.
Amy Lee
Founder & COO
Amy Lee, LCSW is an experienced contributor to the evolving world of cannabis. She spent years assisting hundreds of patients in a medical cannabis dispensary setting in Oak Park, providing medical cannabis education to the community, physicians, and other health care professionals. She has attended medical cannabis trainings including CannMed 2016 and 2017, and has completed professional medical cannabis certificate training programs including the University of Vermont Medical Cannabis Professional Certificate, Medical Cannabis Training Certificate through Healer, and The Medical Cannabis Training Institute. Amy has facilitated support groups and hosted a variety of educational events focused on utilizing cannabis therapeutically.
After receiving her Master’s in Social Work, Amy worked as a bilingual School Social Worker for six years. She was then recruited by the IL-PBIS Network (now the Midwest PBIS Network), a statewide training and coaching organization, providing training and coaching to school principals, clinicians, teachers and other professionals in the application of social, emotional and behavioral sciences. Amy’s social work background and her intensive medical cannabis studies, coupled with her daily interactions, provide her with invaluable knowledge, insight, and a unique perspective on effectively integrating cannabis into one’s life. Additionally, Amy provided coaching and consultation to loved ones battling conditions that were alleviated through her support.
Beth Ann Berger Zerman
Director of Compliance and General Council
Ms. Berger Zerman will oversee regulatory compliance, risk management and government relations for the entity. Ms. Berger Zerman is also a Partner in the Chicago office of the law firm Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP, a firm with more than 1300 lawyers and 47 offices coast to coast. She has been practicing law for more than 25 years.
Ms. Berger Zerman has more than 25 years of experience representing both public and private companies in a broad variety of industries. Ms. Berger Zerman serves as outside general counsel for a range of companies, including those in industries such as insurance, financial, media, importing and technology. Ms. Berger Zerman counsels her clients on insurance coverage and business matters, and negotiates on their behalf regarding transactions and legal relationships. Ms. Berger Zerman is also an experienced litigator with a string of successes nationwide. She represents her corporate and insurance clients in legal disputes including lawsuits, arbitrations and mediations.
Ms. Berger Zerman is a former Director of Litigation for a Chicago-based national property, casualty and specialty lines insurer. In that position she focused on regulatory concerns and oversight of litigation against health care industry professionals. During Law School, Ms. Berger Zerman was selected as a Judicial Extern for the Honorable Harry D. Leinenweber, United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
Eric German
Founder, Co-Security Director
Founder and President of E.G. Security Services, Inc., a security guard company and a Disabled Veteran owned and minority owned business. Eric consults with Seven Point on the hiring and utilization of on-site security guards.
Communications Radio Operator for the Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Kaneohe Bay HI
Debra Moore German
Founder, Co-Security Director
Founder & CEO of Moore Security, Inc, a security guard company and a minority- and woman-owned business (MBE / WBE / DBE supplier). Debra consults with Seven Point on the hiring and utilization of on-site security guards.
Debra holds a Master of Management & Public Service from DePaul University
Shane Miller, PharmD
Founder, Director of Dispensing
Shane is currently a pharmacist at Blessing Health Services in Quincy, IL
Brings public awareness of the effects of CBD through education. Interests include researching cannabis, the molecular compounds the plant yields, and the effects of various concentrations and routes of administration. Shane consults with Seven Point on safe dispensing practices.
Presents to medical professionals and the public about the uses, benefits, and challenges regarding the medical use of CBD and cannabis.
Shane’s strong advocacy of cannabis and its role in harm reduction is rooted in a life-changing event in which Shane’s brother-in law became addicted to harsh drugs, ended up in prison, and lost custody of his child. Shane and his wife adopted the child, so he is well cared for, but Shane can’t stop thinking about how different his brother-in-law’s trajectory might have been had cannabis been legal at the time of his brother-in law’s heavy drug addiction. Shane is confident that his brother-in law and child would not have suffered as much.
Vanessa Dotson
Founder, Hospitality Consultant
Vanessa has over 5 years experience in restaurant management and sales throughout the Chicagoland area. Vanessa is ready to consult with Seven Point on development of an on-premise cannabis consumption lounge Seven Point has been lobbying the City of Danville to approve.
Founding member of Stericycle’s equity and inclusion group
Seven Point previously held cannabis education events in the restaurant in which Vanessa managed, Nandos Peri Peri, and was our liaison for coordinating the food and space at our education events
Vanessa earned an Associates Degree in Applied Sciences
Renee Lugo
Founder, Diversity & Inclusion Consultant
Renee is currently a Program Specialist with the American Bar Association in Chicago where she manages day to day organization and implementation of several projects, including planning and budgets. Renee consults with Seven Point on its current Social Equity and Diversity practices at every level, including ownership, management, staffing, and vendors.
Renee oversees the Diversity Initiatives such as the Men of Color Project and Embracing Diversity.
Ozzie Porter
Founder, Fire Suppression Consultant
Ozzie has been a Chicago Fire Fighter since 2004
Ozzie was a Wrestling Coach and Mentor with Beat the Streets in Chicago. The Beat the Streets Wrestling Program (BTS Chicago) has been dedicated to improving the lives of children and has helped hundreds of Chicago’s youth for over 20 years to build character, discipline and self-esteem through their participation in the great sport of wrestling. Ozzie consults with Seven Point on fire prevention and suppression.
Nina Grondin
Director of Design
Nina Grondin is a Partner and co-founder of Curioso in Chicago, where she focuses on creating meaningful, smart projects that impact the way humans interact with physical space. She approaches each project from a business perspective but with a storyteller’s eye, constantly looking to evoke an emotive human connection.
Nina’s relationship with the restaurant and hospitality industry has been enduring and deep rooted. With a degree in business administration an economics Nina began her career in financial marketing, but her path quickly led her to hands-on operational experience, a third degree in design and early work experience focused on strategic design planning for a number of brands. This background gives Nina a unique appreciation and knowledge of the industry’s day-to-day flow with a business-minded eye that views design as a creative opportunity for grassroots community building. Because community engagement is at the core of Nina’s business principles, she is proud to be a member of the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority (MPEA) Board of Directors. In this role, Nina leverages her experience to help bring trade shows, conventions and public events to Chicago as part of an ongoing effort to strengthen the state and city economies.
Luther Syas
Founder, Drug Education & Prevention Consultant
Luther is a Community Outreach Specialist for Prevention Partnership's Communication Campaign for Healthy Lifestyles. This organization provides drug and alcohol prevention education to the students in Chicago Public Schools
Currently the Director of Outreach Westside Heroin/Opioid Task Force
Luther will consult with Seven Point and assist in developing its drug prevention program and partnerships.
Edwin Reyes
Founder, Community Outreach Consultant
Edwin is a Native Chicagoan who has worked for the City of Chicago, The County of Cook, the State of Illinois and is a proud United States Air Force Veteran.
Edwin Reyes held the position of Chicago District Community Violence Prevention Officer, developed curriculum for Gang Avoidance Initiative Network (GAIN) and served as Instructor for this city-wide initiative.
Served as Lead Instructor for (GAIN) at several CPS high schools to reduce gang activity in the high schools and surrounding communities.
