iHempWA Committee
Executive Committee Members
Iggy Van
Iggy has been Chairperson of iHempWA since early 2023. Iggy’s experience in business administration and executive management as well as a background in engineering and project management will be put to good use to grow the hemp sector in Western Australia. He is passionate about hemp and all the products it can be used for.
Iggy is founder and CEO of Hemp Squared group of businesses including Hemp Hub and Hempspiration, all of which manufacture and distribute hemp products.
Something you did not know about me is that i completed several long distance ice-skating tours.
Georgina Wilkinson
Georgina has been involved in the Australian Hemp Industry since 2001. She is the owner of the Margaret River Hemp Company, and with her husband Gary Rogers run a successful building company, Hemp Homes Australia. She is also the Vice President of the Australian Industrial Hemp Alliance.
David Chick
An eclectic career history spanning decades and crossing genres has developed his ability to see the big picture, isolate challenges, envision solutions, share ideas, motivate and manage people.
Inspired by the global view to act locally; empowered with knowledge of the hemp plant’s potential to assist humanity heal themselves and their earth and; committed to give of his energy to create a positive effect for people and planet today and tomorrow.
Alison Rogers
After working for nearly 30 years for an international skincare company I became interested in a more sustainable, natural approach to skincare and health. My research led me to the incredible benefits of Hemp Seed Oil.
I spent the next 18 months employed with by GREEN HEMP Australia in a sales and admin role. I joined iHempWA and became aware of the progresses made and challenges faced by our local Western Australia Hemp Farmers. I also learnt about so many other uses of Industrial Hemp from the building and textile industries to medical use, just to name a few. I have been quite amazed about what a game changing, environmentally friendly resource the Hemp plant is.
I founded my own business, Sunrise Hemp in October 2021.Sunrise Hemp produces and markets a range of Handmade Artisan Skincare products. All the products are made with Hemp Seed Oil that has been grown and pressed in Western Australia.
It is an honor to be Treasurer for iHempWA.
Non-Executive Committee Members
Hon Sophia Moermond
I am a member of the Legislative Council in the Western Australian Parliament since March 2021, and now also an honorary board member to iHempWA.
I feel so honoured to be given this position and will aim to be a voice in parliament to support our burgeoning Western Australian Hemp industry.
I have a background as an RN, a Naturopath, and a Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioner. As such I understand that we need to live in harmony with our environment and follow nature. One plant which can help us achieve that is Hemp, which can be used for many things, from housing to clothing to food and medicine.
Colleen Roberts
Colleen has had an interest and been studying all things hemp for the last few years. This came about after initially hearing how CBD helped people that had seizures from a documentary. Colleen herself had a heart condition and was also looking into natural health therapy. The more she researched, the more dedicated she came to understanding the many benefits of hemp and the cannabis plant overall.
Earlier this year through a series of "coincidences" Colleen then became a rep and stockist for Provex through the owners (licenced Western Australian industrial hemp growers with their farm in Pinjarra). She is also studying hemp cultivation through an online course.
Colleen went to an industrial hemp event - Food, Fibre and Land in November and then by chance came across the iHemp WA Association website where she saw there was a voluntary vacancy as Assistant Secretary.and contacted David. She became a member and was given access to start updating the website and look at developing the draft Strategic Plan.
Sharlene Mavor
Sharlene is a Medical Scientist in Diagnostic Pathology (BAppSc in Medical Laboratory Science (Majors - Immunology, Microbiology and Biotechnology) and Co-Founder and Managing Director of registered education Australian charity/NFO, Medical Cannabis Research Australia (MCRA). She has spent the last 5 years researching the available scientific literature on how Medical Cannabis may treat different symptoms and disorders.
She’s travelled to the US, UK, Canada, Israel, Colombia, and Chile to learn firsthand from the leading researchers and clinicians in this new field of cannabinoid science. She has been able to share this knowledge by running seminars and webinars for medical professionals and patients, with her team, under the banner of MCRA. This charity has over the last 5 years become a leading resource in Australia for education around medicinal cannabis, as well as for advice for patients (14K Facebook followers). She is committed to advocating and lobbying for the use and easier access to medical cannabis for patients in Australia, as well as promoting and contributing to more trialled research, to provide clinicians, both in Australia and in the rest of the world, the evidence they require to pursue this treatment for their patients.
She is an associate member of the Society of Cannabis Clinicians and a founding member of the Australian Chapter of the Society of Cannabis Clinicians. She is also an MC for the Speakers Room at Hemp, Health & Innovation Expos around Australia.
Sharlene is involved in 2 clinical research projects, the first being a clinical trial using Cannabidiol (CBD) for methamphetamine addiction, to be run in Perth, WA. She is an Associate Researcher for this trial. The 2nd is an observational study to observe how 3 different formulations of pharmaceutical cannabis oil medicines affect different self-reported parameters in participants with chronic musculoskeletal pain. This will be Australia-wide. She has written and will be running this study in conjunction with GP, Dr Matty Moore.
Sharlene is currently pursuing her dream of building a hempcrete house in Wilyabrup, WA, after meeting and being inspired by Gary Rogers from Hemp Homes Australia. It has been a long process in design, approvals and the build itself, but the house, destined for luxury short-term accommodation, is close to completion. She hopes to offer this house up as a showcase of how beautiful, sustainable, eco-friendly, and frankly, superior to other methods of building hempcrete can be.
Lastly, but not least, Sharlene is a founder, major shareholder and head of research and development, for a new hemp food and beverage company, Omega Assets. This entity owns and runs Valley Social, a brewery which produces hemp-infused beers (the Herbee range), and also sells hemp infused spirits (vodka and gin) in the Swan Valley, WA. Other exciting hemp beverages and food offerings are in development – watch this space!
