See below for MAPS Public Benefit Corporation Board of Directors

Rick Doblin, Ph.D.

Rick Doblin, Ph.D., is the founder and executive director of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS). He received his doctorate in Public Policy from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, where he wrote his dissertation on the regulation of the medical uses of psychedelics and marijuana and his Master's thesis on a survey of oncologists about smoked marijuana vs. the oral THC pill in nausea control for cancer patients. His undergraduate thesis at New College of Florida was a 25-year follow-up to the classic Good Friday Experiment, which evaluated the potential of psychedelic drugs to catalyze religious experiences. He also conducted a thirty-four year follow-up study to Timothy Leary’s Concord Prison Experiment. Rick studied with Dr. Stanislav Grof and was among the first to be certified as a Holotropic Breathwork practitioner. His professional goal is to help develop legal contexts for the beneficial uses of psychedelics and marijuana, primarily as prescription medicines but also for personal growth for otherwise healthy people, and eventually to become a legally licensed psychedelic therapist. He founded MAPS in 1986, and currently resides in Boston with his wife and three children.

David Bronner

David Bronner is Cosmic Engagement Officer (CEO) of Dr. Bronner’s, the top-selling brand of natural soaps in North America and producer of a range of organic body care and food products. He is a grandson of company founder, Emanuel Bronner, and a fifth-generation soapmaker.



David and Michael established Dr. Bronner’s as a sustainable leader in the natural products industry by becoming one of the first body care brands to formulate with hemp seed oil in 1999 and to certify its soaps, lotions, balms, and other personal care products under the USDA National Organic Program in 2003. Both actions resulted in high-profile litigation with government agencies, DEA and USDA respectively, that Dr. Bronner’s ultimately won, cementing Dr. Bronner’s activist orientation in the natural products marketplace.



Today, David is helping to lead the effort to establish the Regenerative Organic Certified standard, dedicating time and resources to creating an integrated, comprehensive program that addresses soil health, animal welfare, and fair labor practices to advance sustainable and ecological alternatives to industrial agriculture.



In addition to his support of advocacy for regenerative organic agriculture, David directs Dr. Bronner’s resources to support animal advocacy, wage equality, and drug policy reform. One of his passions is the responsible integration of cannabis and psychedelic medicine into American and global culture. His activism embodies the company’s mission — which encompasses a commitment to making socially and environmentally responsible products of the highest quality, and to dedicating profits to help make a better world.



David was born in Los Angeles, California in 1973 and earned an undergraduate degree in biology from Harvard University. He is a dedicated vegan and enjoys surfing and dancing late into the night. He currently lives in Encinitas, California.

Vicky Dulai

Vicky Dulai is the cofounder and executive director to Compassion For Addiction, a non-profit dedicated to a trauma informed and compassionate approach to treating addiction. This includes psychedelics as a modality to treat addiction. She is also a board member of the George Sarlo Foundation. Vicky is a graduate of the inaugural cohort of California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) psychedelic assisted psychotherapy program.

A first generation American child of Punjabi Sikh immigrants, Vicky joined the MAPS Board of Directors in August 2018 to help expand access of psychedelic medicines to diverse populations while fostering more women leaders in this field. Vicky lives in Mill Valley with her husband James and their two sons, William and Bennett.

John Gilmore, Chairman of the Board

John Gilmore is an entrepreneur and civil libertarian. He was an early employee of Sun Microsystems, early free software and open source author, and co-created Cygnus Solutions, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Cypherpunks, the DES Cracker, and the Usenet’s “alt” newsgroups. He’s spent 40 years doing programming, hardware and software design, management, advocacy, philosophy, philanthropy, and investment. Along with being a board member of MAPS, he is also on the boards of the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Marijuana Policy Project. He is trying to get people to think more about the society they are building. His advocacy on encryption aims to improve public understanding of this fundamental technology for privacy and accountability in open societies. His advocacy on drug policy aims to reduce the immense harms caused by government attempts to control the mental states of free citizens.

Victoria Hale

Dr. Hale is a pharmaceutical scientist/executive and global health social entrepreneur. She currently has a consulting business focused on global health and integrative medicine. She was founder and CEO of two successful nonprofit pharmaceutical companies, OneWorld Health (2000) and Medicines360 (2009). OneWorld Health was the first nonprofit pharmaceutical company in the U.S., focused on leishmaniasis, malaria, and cholera; Meds360 developed a hormonal IUD for contraception, approved by the FDA. She has raised $230M in philanthropic funding, primarily from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. She has partnered with multiple global pharmaceutical companies for the discovery, manufacturing, and commercialization of global health products. She is a MacArthur Fellow, was inducted into the U.S. National Academy of Medicine, has been recognized as an outstanding global social entrepreneur by Skoll, Ashoka and Schwab Foundations. Her drug development experience was obtained at the FDA and Genentech, Inc. She earned her Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Chemistry from University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), is presently Adjunct Professor of Bioengineering and Experimental Therapeutics, and was recently awarded Alumna of the Year, Graduate Division, UCSF. She lives in San Francisco and has raised two 20-somethings who are now out and about in the world.

Joby Pritzker

Joby Pritzker is Manager of Direct Investments at his family office Tao Capital Partners. Tao has made investments in innovative healthcare, sustainable food and agriculture, electric transportation, and other companies that seek to have a positive impact on the world. He has also made investments in the legal cannabis industry, such as MJ Freeway and Pax Labs.He is on the Board of the Libra Foundation, a family foundation with an emphasis on human rights. In addition to serving on the Board of MAPS, he is also the Chairman of the Board of the Marijuana Policy Project. Joby lives in San Francisco with his wife Jackie, son Lennon, and a neurotic cat.

Board of Directors: MAPS Public Benefit Corporation (MAPS PBC)

See above for MAPS 501(c)(3) Board of Directors or click here to learn more about MAPS PBC

Rick Doblin, Ph.D.

Rick Doblin, Ph.D., is the founder and executive director of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS). He received his doctorate in Public Policy from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, where he wrote his dissertation on the regulation of the medical uses of psychedelics and marijuana and his Master's thesis on a survey of oncologists about smoked marijuana vs. the oral THC pill in nausea control for cancer patients. His undergraduate thesis at New College of Florida was a 25-year follow-up to the classic Good Friday Experiment, which evaluated the potential of psychedelic drugs to catalyze religious experiences. He also conducted a thirty-four year follow-up study to Timothy Leary's Concord Prison Experiment. Rick studied with Dr. Stanislav Grof and was among the first to be certified as a Holotropic Breathwork practitioner. His professional goal is to help develop legal contexts for the beneficial uses of psychedelics and marijuana, primarily as prescription medicines but also for personal growth for otherwise healthy people, and eventually to become a legally licensed psychedelic therapist. He founded MAPS in 1986, and currently resides in Boston with his wife and empty rooms from three children who are all in college.

Amy Emerson

Amy Emerson is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at the MAPS Public Benefit Corporation (MAPS PBC), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), a 501(c)(3) non-profit. As the Executive Director, Amy has lead the growth and development of this new subsidiary and is responsible for overall global regulatory strategy and implementation of research programs with a focus on the MDMA-assisted psychotherapy program within MAPS PBC.

Amy started as a pro bono consultant at MAPS in 2003, and since then has built MAPS’ clinical department while managing the MDMA Clinical Development Program with a focus on the PTSD indication. In 2014, MAPS Public Benefit Corporation was incorporated to focus on psychedelic drug development, therapist training programs, and future sales of prescription psychedelics prioritizing public benefit above profit.

Amy brings decades of pharmaceutical development and research experience in Phase 1 through Phase 3 Randomized Controlled Trials including supporting three successful regulatory approvals for new biologics. Her professional experience at Novartis, Chiron and other pharmaceutical companies (1993-2009) spans various fields including immunology, oncology and vaccines. Pursuing her love of science and nature cultivated while growing up in the woods of Alaska she earned her B.S. in genetics and cell biology from Washington State University in 1992 to prepare for a career in research. Amy is passionate about being a mother and the work of bringing the potential of psychedelics for healing further into the consciousness of the world, leaving a better world for the following generations. She has a lifelong love of travel, living abroad with her husband, exploring in nature and cooking with her family.

Matt Neal

Matt Neal joined Atara Biotherapeutics in 2019 as the Head of Regulatory Affairs Operations. Prior to that, Matt was the Head of Product Management for the InSight Suite of Regulatory Information Management Solutions at Parexel, Inc., and partnered with Microsoft to deliver first-of-its-kind life science innovation with Office 365 to “Change The Way You Work.” Before joining Paraxel, Matt was a Director of Regulatory & Safety Operations at Amgen, Inc. (2003-2016) and was one of the pioneering members of the Regulatory Submissions Department for GlaxoSmithKline (1996-2003). Matt has been publishing and submitting electronic dossiers to the FDA since 1996, and submitted the very first fully electronic NDA for GSK in 1999.

Dawn McCollough, Chairman of the Board

Dawn McCollough has overseen clinical trial support functions and clinical trials involving thousands of patients across numerous indications, geographies, and stages of development for nearly 25 years. Dawn started a consulting company in 2018. In addition to her role at MAPS PBC, she provides consultation to a variety of pharmaceutical, biotech and CRO clients.



Previously, she headed clinical operations functions in start-up Biotech organizations, headed Medical Research Operations (including the Medical Research Team) in Late Stage Development at Biogen. Prior to that, Dawn was head of the Global Monitoring Organization for North America at Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics, based in Cambridge, MA. Dawn began her career with Novartis as Global Head of Clinical Trial Governance based in Siena, Italy. Throughout the course of her career, she has participated in the development of numerous drug products from concept to approval. In addition to her time spent in the U.S., she has worked extensively in Europe, Canada, Latin America, and Asia. Dawn has been chosen as a top Women’s Leader within previously affiliated organizations.

Dawn has an entrepreneurial spirit and is passionate about developing new options for patients and for people. Dawn enjoys travel and has a very strong connection with animals, nature, and anything outdoors. She toes the line at ultra marathons about which she knows “the only way out is through” but revels in the journey, and enjoys spending time with friends and family.

Jason Pyle, Chief Executive Officer at Empower Health Equity, Inc

Jason has deep leadership experience in developing and growing innovation-driven companies. Over fifteen years of executive leadership in the management of IP portfolios, global business, business model repositioning, operational initiatives, and the building of high-performing, high-executing teams. Highly experienced at integrating varied corporate stakeholder groups, including the investment community, with a focus on high-impact results that make a difference in today’s changing and evermore connected global technology economies.

Miriam Volat, Soil Scientist and Co-Director of the Riverstyx Foundation

Miriam Volat works personally and professionally to promote health in all systems. She works as a facilitator, researcher, educator, and community organizer to increase broad-based community and ecological resiliency, especially in native communities. Her work focuses on the intersection of biological and socio-cultural diversity. Miriam has never stopped exploring nutrient cycles and soil ecology, the emphasis of her M.S. work in the UC Davis Vegetable Crops Dept. She also has degrees in political science and environmental studies.

Her life’s work at Riverstyx now includes supporting psilocybin and MDMA research including those involving religious clergy, deep eco-ministry for direct-experience religious transformation, composting toilets and human bodies, and indigenous medicine, land, and cultural conservation, supporting balanced relationships between humans and our ecosystem. As a mom, she is fortunate her daughter, Cora, also supports her work and participates passionately on her many adventures. Riverstyx and Miriam are unequivocal in their commitment to the mission of MAPS and MAPS PBC.