Jesse Burns is a cannabis marketing veteran who served as the long-time marketing director for Sweet Grass Kitchen—Colorado’s leading edible in the baked goods category—before joining Grasslands as Chief Marketing Officer in 2020. He believes that product design and a deep understanding of customer journey are the driving forces for exceptional brands; that marketers must strive to understand what emotions customers experience in order to craft a meaningful product and build lasting relationships.
Jesse has received multiple awards for marketing and product design, including Colorado’s THC Classic and a Gold Clio. An experienced public speaker and thought leader, Jesse has spoken at numerous national and international conferences, covering topics such as how to apply user-centered design principles to cannabis products and services, and how to build a culture of innovation within an organization.
Additionally, Jesse serves as a mentor for the CanopyBoulder incubator and sits on the MBA Alumni Board for the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder). He is a co-chair of the programmatic committee for the Cannabis Entrepreneurship Academy—an executive education program sponsored by the Leeds School of Business and the Wolf School of Law at CU Boulder. Jesse holds a BA in French Literature from Wittenberg University and an MBA from CU Boulder.