Management Team

Steven M. Cohen is Interim Chief Executive Officer of AYR Wellness. He previously served as an advisor to the Company’s Board of Directors and to senior management.

In his career, Steve has overseen the management of public and private companies, including serving as the Chief Administrative Officer of MacAndrews & Forbes Incorporated. Steve also held leadership roles in various government entities, including as Secretary (chief of staff) to New York’s Governor, Chair of New York’s economic development agency and Vice-Chair of the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey. He also served on the Board of Whole Earth Brands, Inc., Bank Leumi USA and vTv Therapeutics, Inc.

Steve is a graduate of New York University, where he now serves on the Board of Trustees, as well as the University of Pennsylvania Law School.

Brad Asher, Chief Financial Officer of AYR Wellness, is an accomplished finance and accounting professional with unique cross-sector experience spanning financial institutions to tech start-ups. He previously served as the controller for AYR, where he was instrumental in implementing the necessary software and financial controls to drive efficiencies across the company’s portfolio of businesses.

Prior to AYR, he was the vice president controller at a global ad-tech company. Brad began his career at KPMG.

George DeNardo is Chief Operating Officer of AYR Wellness, responsible for driving business priorities by overseeing the day-to-day operations of cultivation, manufacturing, new product development, safety, quality, and supply chain teams.

Prior to AYR, George spent five years at The Cannabist Company (formerly Columbia Care), where he most recently held the role of SVP Regional Operations overseeing cultivation, operations, and retail for the East Coast. Prior to his work in the cannabis industry, George had a successful career in the defense and communications industries.

Jamie Mendola is the Co-Chief Revenue Officer and Chief Business Development Officer at AYR Wellness, with responsibility for overseeing retail, wholesale, purchasing, and marketing in his region. Upon joining AYR at its inception in 2019, Jamie led national business development efforts for the Company, including market expansion, mergers & acquisitions, and brand partnerships. He most recently served as AYR’s national head of wholesale and purchasing teams.

Prior to joining AYR, he was the Founder and Portfolio Manager of Pacific Grove Capital, a hedge fund focused primarily on investments in consumer, cannabis, technology and payments. Before founding Pacific Grove in 2014, Jamie was a Partner at Scout Capital, a Principal at Watershed Asset Management, an Analyst at JLL Partners and an Analyst at J.P. Morgan. He received his MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and B.S. in Management from Binghamton University.

Julie Winter is Co-Chief Revenue Officer at AYR Wellness, with responsibility for overseeing retail, wholesale, purchasing and marketing in her region. Since joining the Company in 2020, Julie led the buildout of AYR’s operations in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Ohio, and afterwards led those three markets as SVP & General Manager. 

Julie has spent nearly a decade working in the cannabis industry. She previously served as Vice President of Operations at iAnthus and co-founded CBD For Life, a New Jersey-based CBD wellness brand. Under her leadership, CBD For Life grew its distribution across major U.S. retailers and expanded its e-commerce platform. Before cannabis, Julie worked in finance at Barclays Capital, managing the U.S. OTC Clearing business. A graduate of The George Washington University, she co-founded the GW Women in Business organization.

Anya Varga is a human resources professional with nearly 20 years of progressive HR leadership experience focused on connecting organizational strategy with talent priorities in high change, rapid growth environments. As Chief People Officer for AYR Wellness, Anya oversees the company’s Human Resources department and executes on strategic initiatives designed to attract, develop, and retain talent across the rapidly growing organization.

Before starting at AYR in November 2021, Anya served as Senior Vice President of People at LVMH’s Starboard Cruise Services division, where she worked alongside the executive team to establish a high performing organizational culture and develop a new retail strategy for increased profitability. She additionally holds certifications for Parts 1 & 2 of the Coaches Training Institute (CTI)’s Program for Co-Active Coaching.

As the Chief Transformation Officer at AYR Wellness, Paul leads expansion, consolidation and new license opportunities and he provides daily support to the Company’s executive and national operations teams, helping to drive growth and efficiencies across all aspects of AYR's business.

Prior to AYR Wellness, Paul spent a decade at PricewaterhouseCoopers, where he specialized in tax compliance and consulting for private equity funds, hedge funds, and regulated investment vehicles. Paul holds a master's and bachelor's degree in accounting and finance from SUNY Binghamton. 

Kristin serves as Chief Compliance Officer at AYR Wellness, leading the Compliance department in addition to spearheading safety programs throughout the Company’s footprint. She ensures that AYR’s licenses across all states remain in good standing.

With over 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, including 12 years focused on Compliance and Data Privacy as a Compliance and Privacy Officer, Kristin transitioned into the cannabis industry in 2019.

Kristin is certified as a Safety Professional, holds an OSHA 30 certification, and serves as an official for High School, NCAA, and USA Swimming. She graduated from Seton Hall University.

As the Chief Technology Officer for AYR Wellness, Sarvesh focuses on innovating cannabis technology across e-commerce, planning, procurement, cultivation, manufacturing, wholesale, and retail systems, along with the data that binds them.

Sarvesh has over 10 years of experience as the CTO of multiple high-growth startups, including Greenbits and Scout RFP, where he led engineering teams from Series A to acquisition by Dutchie and Workday. Sarvesh has a strong background in software engineering, cloud computing, and AI, as well as a BSEE from Drexel University and a graduate-level Certificate in Databases from Stanford University.

Leading the communications and public affairs functions at AYR Wellness, Robert spearheads impactful public relations campaigns and issue advocacy initiatives, steers the Company’s external and internal messaging strategies, and oversees its legislative priorities.

With more than a decade of experience in the cannabis industry, Robert has played a significant role in propelling the cannabis dialogue from its nascent stages of legalization to its current status as a thriving and nationally recognized sector. He serves as a board member and Communications Chair of the United States Cannabis Council (USCC).