Giadha Aguirre DeCarcer (born c. 1975) is an Italian-born American entrepreneur. She is the CEO and cofounder of CTrust, which provides financing advice and data analysis to participants in the cannabis market. From 2014 to 2021 she was the founder and CEO, then Executive Chair, of New Frontier Data, a big data and analytics reporting provider in the cannabis industry.

After immigrating to the U.S. as a high school junior, DeCarcer began to sell real estate as a teenager in Florida. She earned a B.A. degree from University of Pennsylvania in 1999 and began to work University of Pennsylvania in 1999 and then as a consultant to the U.S. government in intelligence in 2004, while completing her M.A at Georgetown University. DeCarcer next founded a series of companies focusing on data analysis, including GNI International and VentureCamp LLC. In 2014, she began providing services to the cannabis industry, founding New Frontier Data. She co-founded CTrust in 2022.

Early life

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DeCarcer was born in Rome, Italy.[1] The daughter of a Spanish diplomat and a Cuban actress, she was raised in Switzerland, France and Spain.[2] She immigrated to the U.S. at the age of 16 as a high school junior, after graduating from the Lycée Français de Madrid.[3][4]

After less than two years, she began selling investment real estate, earning her Florida real estate license in 1993,[5] followed by her mortgage broker's license a year later. While working in real estate, DeCarcer earned an associate degree in Business Administration at Miami Dade Community College. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1999 in International Relations & Trade and a Master of Arts degree in International Security from Georgetown University in 2005.[3][4]

Career

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DeCarcer worked as an analyst in investment banking with JPMorgan Chase from 1999 to 2003[6][7] and later as a consultant in intelligence with the U.S. government in 2004 and 2005.[8] Over the next several years she started several data-driven companies including GNI International and VentureCamp LLC, and held the original patent applications for the technology that became the basis for Progressive's Snapshot, Verizon's Hum and other GPS-based driver monitoring systems.[3][8]

She founded New Frontier Data in 2014, serving as its CEO[9] for six years before becoming its Executive Chair through the end of 2021.[10] New Frontier is a multinational big data and digital analytics firm, providing business intelligence and risk management reporting to cannabis industry participants worldwide.[6][9] Under DeCarcer, the company began to publish reports assessing opportunities, price forecasts and upcoming legislation in the cannabis industry that were used by lawmakers, cannabis entrepreneurs and investors.[11][12]

In 2018, DeCarcer created the InterCannAlliance to help new companies in the cannabis industry learn and agree on best practices for the emerging cannabis market.[13] She also created the Women Entrepreneurship Reinforcement (WeR), a program to mentor and coach women starting their own businesses.[14] As an expert in the cannabis industry, DeCarcer has been cited by numerous media outlets, including The Washington Post,[15] CNN Business,[16] Fortune[17] Politico,[18] USA Today,[19] The Washington Times,[20] Inc.,[21] TheStreet[22] and Forbes.[23] She was featured in the book and documentary Breaking the Glass Ceiling: Women, Weed, and Business[24] and the documentary Mary Janes: The Women of Weed.[25]

In 2022, she co-founded, and serves as CEO of, CTrust, LLC, which provides financing and restructuring advice and data analysis to entrepreneurs and lenders in the cannabis industry.[26][27] One initiative of the company has been to develop the equivalent of a credit score for cannabis companies, to give lenders and investors a yardstick for judging the creditworthiness of industry participants.[28][29]

Recognition

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DeCarcer is a member of the Forbes Technology Council.[30][31] She was a 2019 recipient of a Washington Business Journal "Women Who Mean Business Award".[28] In 2017 she won a bronze Stevie Award,[32] and in 2018 she won a silver Stevie Award.[33] In 2017, she was listed as one of the "Women to Watch" in Washington D.C. by Washingtonian.[34]

References

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  1. ^ Schwartz, Eric Hal. "Meet the DC Entrepreneur Already Capitalizing on Legal Weed", Washington Business Journal, December 1, 2016
  2. ^ "Marijuana: 7 women to watch in the booming business of weed", Washington Business Journal, April 20, 2016
  3. ^ a b c Roepe, Lisa Rabasca. "Women Who Mean Business: Giadha Aguirre de Carcer", Washington Business Journal, October 3, 2019
  4. ^ a b DeCarcer, Giadha. "Giadha A. DeCarcer", New Frontier Data, accessed January 16, 2023
  5. ^ "Licensee Details", Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, March 22, 1993
  6. ^ a b Byck, Daniella. "These Are the Most Influential People in the DC-Area Weed Business", Washingtonian, April 20, 2021
  7. ^ DeCarcer, Giadha "Giadha A. DeCarcer: About", accessed January 16, 2023
  8. ^ a b Beckley, Brian. "Features – Women to Watch: Giadha A. DeCarcer", Marijuana Venture, September 25, 2020
  9. ^ a b Kavilanz Parija. "Women cash in on the marijuana boom", CNN Business, February 4, 2016
  10. ^ "Cannabis Industry Big Data Pioneer New Frontier Data Accelerates International Growth, Expands Leadership Team", Yahoo!, March 30, 2021
  11. ^ Konrad, Alex. "Legal Cannabis Big Data and Market Research Leaders Just Combined Forces to Get Investors Buzzing", Forbes, November 9, 2015
  12. ^ Marvin, Rob. "21 Blazing Hot Weed Tech Companies to Watch", PC Magazine, April 20, 2018
  13. ^ Rustning, Denise. "Influential People of Color in Cannabis", mg magazine, January 31, 2022
  14. ^ "Giadha DeCarcer", South by Southwest (2017), accessed January 16, 2023
  15. ^ Zezima, Katie. "Study: Legal marijuana could generate more than $132 billion in federal tax revenue and 1 million jobs", The Washington Post, January 10, 2018
  16. ^ Smith, Aaron. "Marijuana businesses worry about Trump, but expect to prevail", CNN Business, June 8, 2017
  17. ^ Huddleston, Tom Jr. "The Opportunities and Pitfalls for the Legalized Marijuana Industry", November 10, 2016
  18. ^ Gardner, Lauren. "How marijuana is poised for a North American takeover", Politico, September 9, 2019
  19. ^ Hughes, Trevor. "9 legal pot initiatives could add $7.8B to U.S. economy", USA Today, September 22, 2016
  20. ^ Blake, Andrew. "Marijuana industry projected to generate $35 billion in annual revenue if measures pass in November", The Washington Times, September 24, 2020
  21. ^ Yakowicz, Will. "Oregon's Legal Marijuana Industry Will Be Worth Nearly $500 Million by 2020", Inc., July 29, 2015
  22. ^ Ross, Katherine. "Cannabidiol Industry Gets High, Expected to Hit $2 Billion by 2022", TheStreet.com, August 15, 2018
  23. ^ Hoban,Robert. "Where the Marijuana Sector Goes from Here", Forbes, February 21, 2023
  24. ^ Sommers, Chloe. "Breaking the Grass Ceiling Book Interviews Top Women in Weed", The Marijuana Times, April 10, 2017; and Czarkowski, Diane. "Cannabis Entrepreneur Ashley Picillo Launches Breaking the Glass Ceiling: Women, Weed, and Business at 2017 SXSW", ThinkCanna.com, March 7, 2017
  25. ^ Reiman, Amanda. "Mary Janes Documentary Features the Women of Weed", Freedom Leaf, January 29, 2018
  26. ^ Gilgore, Sara and Pete Danko. "The Cannabis Economy", Washington Business Journal, November 25, 2022
  27. ^ Wietstock, Cara. "2023 Cannabis Industry Predictions: International Policy, Legalization, Real Estate, and Finance", Ganjapreneur.com, December 29, 2022
  28. ^ a b Gilgore, Sara. "Startup CTrust developing credit scores for cannabis businesses struggling to access capital", Washington Business Journal, December 9, 2022
  29. ^ Kariuki, Lydia. "CTrust Launches the First Ever Business Credit Score for the Cannabis Industry", MyCannabis.com, November 6, 2022
  30. ^ "Giadha Aguirre DeCarcer", Forbes, accessed January 16, 2023
  31. ^ "14 Effective Ways Tech Companies Can Ensure Success", Forbes Technology Council, October 30, 2017
  32. ^ "2017 Stevie Award Winners", The Stevie Awards for Women in Business, accessed January 16, 2023
  33. ^ "2018 Stevie Award Winners", The Stevie Awards for Women in Business, accessed January 16, 2023
  34. ^ Milk, Leslie. "The Most Powerful Women in Washington", Washingtonian, October 2, 2017
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