Leadership Team

Leadership. Imagination. Trust.

Little Green Pharma is a dynamic and fast-growing company built on a strong culture of leadership, imagination and trust. The leadership team at Little Green Pharma hold these three values as integral drivers as the company becomes a global player .

Board of Directors

Brent Dennison

Independent Non-Executive Chair

Brent Dennison was most recently the Chief Executive Officer of the Cell Care Group, an international cord blood bank and cellular therapy investor. He led Cell Care Group’s expansion into Asia and North America prior to the company’s acquisition by US-based Generate Life Sciences in 2021. Brent is also a director of Service Stream Ltd., Aspire2 Group, The Cheesecake Shop and The Bays Health Care Group.

Paul Long

Paul Long

Group Chief Executive Officer and Director

Paul Long is an accomplished leader with a proven track record in the health and pharmaceutical industries. As the former Chief Executive of Onsite Health Solutions, he led the company to become a market leader before its successful acquisition by Sanitarium in 2012. Since then, Paul worked as a consultant in enterprise health, health technology, and retail pharmaceutical sectors.

In 2018, Paul joined Little Green Pharma as Chief Operations Officer, where he played a pivotal role in building the company and achieving strong revenue growth, increasing from $2.2 million in 2020 to $19.9 million in 2023. He also led the company's expansion into international markets with LGP having delivered into or secured distribution partnerships in nine countries across the UK and Europe.

With extensive expertise in the global medicinal cannabis sector and capital markets, Paul is a forward-thinking leader who continues to drive success and innovation in the industry.

Michael Lynch-Bell

Michael Lynch-Bell

Independent Non-Executive Director

Michael is an experienced corporate finance executive and consultant. His early Ernst & Young career was focused on auditing clients within the oil and gas sectors and later added mining to his portfolio. He also led Ernst & Young’s UK IPO and Global Natural Resources transaction teams in the Transaction Advisory practice. He has been involved advising companies on fundraising, reorganisations, transactions, corporate governance as well as IPOs. He is a former Chair of the Bureau and previously a member of UNECE's Expert Group on Resource Management. He is currently Non-Executive Chair of Serabi Gold plc (SRB.L) and Non-Executive Director of Total Graphite plc (TGR).

Seth Yakatan

Independent Non-Executive Director

Seth Yakatan, co-founder of Katan Associates, Inc., brings over 30 years of expertise in corporate finance, particularly in the cannabis, wellness, and biotech sectors where he is recognised as a thought leader, Seth is a frequent speaker at major industry conferences like Benzinga and MJ Unpacked. His insights and direct approach keep him at the heart of key conversations within the cannabis industry.

Seth’s career includes founding Katan Associates in 2001 after managing over $3 billion in investments at Union Bank of California, N.A. Seth also serves on the board of FitLife Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ) and has contributed to the growth of notable cannabinoid therapeutics companies. He holds a BA from the University of Denver and an MBA from the University of California, Irvine.

Thomas Huppert

Non-Executive Director

Mr Thomas (Tommy) Huppert B.Ec (Monash University) was the founder of Cannatrek Ltd and a recognised medicinal cannabis health economist with more than 30 years' experience building and scaling businesses across Australia and Japan.

Mr Huppert founded Cannatrek in 2015 and received the #2 medicinal cannabis licence in Australia and led the company as Chief Executive Officer until 2024. Under his leadership, Cannatrek became one of Australia's largest medicinal cannabis companies and one of the first enterprises to secure the full suite of federal and state licences covering cultivation, manufacturing, research, importation and distribution of medicinal cannabis products.

He pioneered Cannatrek's integrated "Seed-to-Patient" business model, combining cultivation, pharmaceutical manufacturing and patient-focused digital healthcare solutions. During his tenure, Cannatrek generated more than $350 million in cumulative revenue, created hundreds of jobs, and achieved numerous industry-first milestones including the importation and commercialisation of new medicinal cannabis product categories.

The company in FY23 was also recognised as Australia's #2 Fastest-Growing Company in the AFR Fast 100. Mr Huppert currently focuses on strategic growth initiatives and international expansion opportunities, particularly in Europe and Japan. Mr Huppert is also a director of 8 Grains Pty Ltd, Cannatrek Japan KK, Cannatrek Medical KK, and Plantnation KK. Mr Huppert currently does not hold any other material directorships, other than as disclosed in this Notice.

Executive Leadership Team

Paula Butler

Group Chief Financial Officer

With experience in complex financial environments both in Australia and internationally, Paula has held several executive management roles in Finance and Operations throughout her career.

Strong analytic and financial modelling skills along with experience in equity and debt financing, mergers and acquisitions, and post-merger integration. Paula is passionate about working in and building great teams as a priority, along with continual development both for the team and personally.

Paula holds a Bachelor of Economics (Accounting) and is a Certified Practicing Accountant.

Jason Rance

Chief Executive Officer (Australia)

Jason excels at leading brands and businesses through positive change and transformation to deliver outstanding results. A natural problem solver passionate about harnessing the collective power of diverse teams to pioneer innovative products & services, build compelling global brands, and transform performance. He has held P&L responsibility as a member of Global Executive teams, spanning both world-class consumer brands (Speedo International, Bendon Apparel) and disruptive, fast-paced VC and PE-backed tech and services businesses (The Risk Advisory Group, Control Risks Group (Asia Pacific), TexYard, Incora).

Expertise in planning and executing high-impact strategies to both develop and drive demand for new products, services and solutions, Jason has exceptional skills in product & service innovation, organisational transformation, and delivering sustainable growth in revenue and profitability. Pioneer of innovation and business transformation powered by external partnerships and R&D networks. Collaborations across the worlds of sports

Alistair Warren

Alistair Warren

General Counsel and Company Secretary

In practice since 2003, Alistair was previously inhouse counsel to BHP advising its international commodity sales, projects, procurement, exploration, and strategic resourcing teams and prior to that as Senior Associate with Herbert Smith Freehills advising clients in the energy and resources sectors.

Alistair oversees all Company legal and regulatory matters, including sales, procurement, distribution, fundraising, intellectual property, pharmaceutical and narcotics regulatory matters, insurance, privacy, and dispute resolution as well as Company risk management, corporate governance, company secretarial responsibilities and ASX reporting.

Alistair holds Bachelors of Laws and Arts from the University of Western Australia and a Graduate Diploma in Economics from Murdoch University.

James Kapetanios

Head of Post Merger Integration

James Kapetanios leads operations at Cannatrek across cultivation, GMP manufacturing, and distribution. With over 10 years of experience in pharmaceutical manufacturing and large-scale operations, he has delivered transformational initiatives generating saving throughout the operational network.

As a Chartered Accountant, James combines operational execution with commercial finance expertise, leveraging data-driven decision-making and financial modelling to drive efficiency and profitability in complex, highly regulated environments.

James holds a Bachelor of Business (Accounting) from Victoria University and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants Australia.

Chris Petrakis

General Manager, Technology

With over 25 years of experience in healthcare, biotech, and research environments, Chris has held senior technology leadership roles in Australia and internationally. He has led global teams across Australia, the USA, and Canada, delivering major system implementations spanning CRM, ERP, LIMS, cloud infrastructure, and enterprise integrations.

Chris brings strong strategic and analytical capability, with deep experience in large scale digital transformation, modern integration architectures, AI and data analytics, and vendor and stakeholder management. He has a proven record in delivering technology outcomes that strengthen operational excellence and support scientific and clinical advancement. 

Chris holds a Master of Technology (Software Engineering)