Codie Sanchez

Codie Sanchez is a reformed journalist, turned institutional investor to cannabis investor and adviser, to now Founder at Contrarian Thinking and Cofounder of Unconventional Acquisitions. She thrives on helping people think critically, and cashflow unconventionally while allocating to what we call “sweaty & boring” small businesses.

Throughout her career, she has worked at the intersection of marketing and money, finding contrarian ways to invest. She’s always balanced her profession with non-profit service to empower women, veterans, and Latinos.

She joined Vanguard ETFs in 2008 ($870B) to build out their ETF business, quite the time, then moved to Goldman Sachs Alternatives group. Following this, she became an SVP at SSGA ($580B) in institutional investing tasked with a $3 billion region, finally coming to First Trust ($63B) to build the LatAm investment business from the ground up. Sanchez has led global teams in all asset classes, negotiating JV's, product creation and market entry across the Americas.

She is a board member at The Arcview Group, Magma Partners Venture Fund, Texans for Veterans and a member of the free markets think tank, AEI's Enterprise Club. She also sits on the policy board of the Marijuana Policy Project. She invests in women led startups through Plum Alley, WAVE and The Vinetta Project and cannabis companies through Cresco Capital Partners. She received her degree in PR & Journalism from ASU's Honors School, MBA from Georgetown University and PHD from Fundacao Gestulio Vargas. She was awarded the JFK Award for Print Journalism and the Howard Buffett Grant.