Management Team

Jessica Billingsley serves as Akerna’s Chief Executive Officer. In June 2019 she became the first CEO of a cannabis ancillary company to be listed on Nasdaq. She co-founded MJ Freeway in 2010, where she served as President until April 2018, and later as the CEO until MJ Freeway was acquired by MTech to form Akerna. In 2015, she was named as one of Fortune’s Most Promising Female Entrepreneurs, in 2018, she was named one of Inc. Magazine’s 100 Female Founders, and in 2019, she was named to Entrepreneur’s inaugural list of 100 Powerful Women.

Prior to MJ Freeway, Jessica earned her degree in Communications and Computer Science from the University of Georgia and later became CEO and founder of Zoco, a technology services firm with clients across the United States. With 20 years of technology and systems experience in rapidly scaling businesses, Jessica is a highly regarded executive in both the tech and cannabis space.

Dean is a dedicated and driven financial executive with extensive experience leading and elevating all aspects of the financial function, including SEC reporting, capital markets, cash management, business combinations and profit improvement initiatives. He is a trusted advisor to executive teams, the board of directors and shareholders.

Dean has served Fortune 50, mid-market, and early-stage companies in leadership positions, including twelve years in CFO roles. He began his career with a Big 4 accounting firm where he obtained his CPA certification and later earned an MBA from the Kelley School of Business, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, graduating in the top ten students in his class. He holds a BA in Economics and Management from Albion College, Albion, Michigan, where he graduated magna cum laude.

Prior to being appointed CTO of Akerna, David McCullough served as Akerna’s Executive Vice President of Product & Engineering for the last five years, overseeing all software development, development operations, quality assurance, automations, systems, and security operations. He has 16 years of Software Engineering experience. Before joining Akerna, he was the CTO of StudentPublishing.com, where he actively managed the technical aspects of Student Publishing’s sale to and systems integration with lulu.com. David has extensive government systems experience, and was also a professor at New Mexico State University where he taught courses in data communications and networking.