Ava Callender Concepcion

Acting Chair / Commissioner

Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission

See Ava speak on this panel

Ava Callender Concepcion was appointed to the public safety seat of the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission in 2021 by then-Attorney General Maura Healey and was voted Acting Chair by her fellow Commissioners in 2023. Acting Chair Concepcion has an extensive background in public safety and experience working with a range of stakeholders including law enforcement, advocacy organizations, and constituents on important policy matters.

While serving on the Commission, Acting Chair Concepcion created an Executive and Legislative Outreach Strategy that was instrumental in the agency’s successful advocacy for the creation of the Cannabis Social Equity Trust Fund and other equity-focused reforms. During the Commission’s 2023 regulatory review process, she was the only Commissioner to serve on every regulatory working group tasked with reviewing and updating regulations to comply with Chapter 180 of the Acts of 2022: An Act Relative to Equity in the Cannabis Industry, and as Acting Chair, she oversaw the final approval of the agency’s counterpart regulations that were subsequently promulgated by the Secretary of the Commonwealth. As part of that process, Acting Chair Concepcion also spearheaded changes to suitability regulations that will create more opportunities for CORI friendly employment. She also co-sponsored the December 2023 policy change that Commissioners approved to ultimately allow delivery operators to have just one agent in a delivery vehicle, instead of the current requirement of two agents.

As a lifelong resident of Boston, Acting Chair Concepcion has dedicated her career to social justice. Prior to her tenure at the Commission, she served as the Director of Governmental Affairs and External Partnerships for Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins. As Counsel to State Senator William Brownsberger, she served as staff to the Chair of the Joint Judiciary Committee and the Conference Committee on the Criminal Justice Reform Act of 2018, a comprehensive legislative package designed to reduce crime and improve public safety. There, Acting Chair Concepcion played a key role in drafting many of the bill’s original components and assembling the final language.

The Acting Chair’s prior experience also includes working in the offices of U.S. Majority Whip James E. Clyburn, Suffolk County District Attorney Dan Conley, and the Massachusetts Appellate Tax Board. She is also a former Victim Witness Advocate and was a candidate for Boston City Council.

Commissioner Concepcion was recognized in 2023 as a Boston Business Journal 40 Under 40 honoree and a Cannabis Equity Champion by Equitable Opportunities Now. That year, she also graduated from the Harvard Business School Young American Leaders Program (YALP) and was honored by CBS News during Black History Month. In 2022, Commissioner Concepcion was named one of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce’s Ten Outstanding Young Leaders and one of Johnson C. Smith University’s 40 Under Forty extraordinary alumni. She currently serves on the boards of the United Way of Massachusetts Bay & Merrimack Valley, the Massachusetts Black Lawyers Association, and the Massachusetts Women’s Political Caucus PAC.

Commissioner Concepcion has written several op-eds, and has been featured in the Boston Globe, Commonwealth Beacon, MarketWatch, NBC News 10, and CBS News, among other outlets.

Commissioner Concepcion is a graduate of New England Law in Boston and has been a member of the Massachusetts Bar since 2016. She holds a B.A. in Criminology from the HBCU Johnson C. Smith University, and is currently pursuing an MBA at the Boston College Carroll School of Management.