In June, 2016, Charisse Harris was hired as the Director of Compliance for Lightshade Labs, which is one of the top five marijuana companies in the state of Colorado. As Director of Compliance, Charisse monitors any changes in state and local regulations along with developing and maintaining records, policies and procedures so that there are no illegal unethical or unprofessional behavior practices among the employees. The protocols and policies set in place by Charisse serves as a safeguard against any potential compliance infractions. If and when a compliance infraction does occur, in her role as the Director of Compliance, she is responsible for investigating when it happened, how it occurred, and who was working at the time of the violation. Once the issue has been pinpointed, the compliance manager must then consult with upper management on how to proceed.
In January 2020, Charisse was promoted to Vice President of Compliance and Auditing for Lightshade. In this position, Charisse is responsible for the coordination and implementation, monitoring and auditing, enforcement, and reporting of the compliance activities at Lightshade. This position oversees the company’s compliance, auditing and testing programs and is responsible for assuring that appropriate compliance policies and procedures designed to prevent illegal or unethical conduct are established and regulated; compliance policies and procedures are communicated throughout the company; appropriate company employees are periodically trained with respect to compliance policies and procedures; and compliance with policies and procedures is monitored, audited and enforced.
Prior to coming on board at Lightshade Labs, Charisse was employed for five years for the City & County of Denver. She began her career at the City as a 3-1-1 Operator providing assistance to constituents who reside in the City of Denver requesting information on City services, procedures, activities, resources, and programs. After 5 months she quickly moved to the Department of Excise and Licensing Division where she worked as a Licensing Technician and quickly advanced to a position as Business Licensing Inspector. As a Licensing Technician, Charisse processed all licenses required for businesses to operate within the City and County of Denver. Charisse then became the main point of contact for marijuana businesses within the City and County of Denver, providing support and assistance to members of the marijuana industry by ensuring marijuana companies possessed the appropriate licensure(s) and were also in compliance with all governing City and State rules and regulations. She worked as the liaison between Mayor Michael Hancock’s office, the State of Colorado, other departments within the city and companies & organizations within the marijuana industry. In her capacity as a Business License Inspector, Charisse was involved in conducting administrative investigations involving all regulatory aspects of the marijuana industry, training new technicians and inspectors, creating and disseminating manuals and Standard Operating Procedures and providing information relating to revisions and updating of rules and regulations. Charisse was an active member of various committees, which were formed and operated to improve processes relating to the marijuana industry.
Charisse attended the University of Colorado at Denver and majored in Behavioral Science. In December, 2016, Charisse founded her own private consulting company, Green Spoke Consulting, LLC.