ABOUT US
Access. Connections. Insights. Growth.
As a fintech firm delivering technology solutions for an emerging market, Green Check is at the forefront of a new industry of commerce, providing deep insights & software solutions for financial and business services across the cannabis industry.
Our Mission
Our mission is to support the legal cannabis industry by connecting every cannabis business with the financial and business services that they need to grow.
In a dynamically changing regulatory environment, Green Check remains undaunted in the face of the unknown, mapping the way forward, setting new standards and trends; staying focused on helping the legal cannabis industry do well while doing good.
Through this innovative spirit, Green Check at its core, is about connection. We connect legal cannabis businesses with the financial and business services they need to grow. We connect cannabis business performance in a transparent way, giving financial institutions the necessary visibility into cannabis business operations for them to confidently serve the community in compliance with each state law.
We do this through a vast source of data, enabling insights for the rapidly growing cannabis industry. Our passion for this emerging industry drives our purpose. We are relentless in our pursuit of expanding opportunities both for cannabis operators and the financial institutions that serve them.
Our History
Founded by Kevin Hart, Paul Dunford & Mike Kennedy
Begin onboarding Financial Institutions (Banks and Credit Unions) onto the Green Check Verified platform
Over 2000 Cannabis Businesses utilize the platform working with their banking partner
Serving over 80 Financial Institutions and more than 3000 Cannabis Businesses
Announce the acquisition of PayQwick, offering banking services directly to the cannabis industry
Green Check Connect marketplace launches to provide access to a broad set of services including banking, payments, lending, insurance, payroll services & more
Announce the acquisition of Komplyd, offering greater connectivity and data-driven insights to the industry
Serving over 140 Financial Institutions and more than 7,000 Cannabis Businesses
MEET OUR
Leadership Team
Kevin Hart
Founder & Chief Executive Officer
Mike Kennedy
Co-founder, Chief Strategy Officer
Paul Dunford
Co-founder, VP Of Knowledge
Mukesh Kshatriya
Chief Financial Officer
Paul Chesek
Chief Growth Officer
Staci Firios
Chief Marketing Officer
Bob Craig
EVP, Strategic Business Development
Rose Elliot
SVP, Engineering
Stacy Litke
VP, Banking Programs
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Kevin Hart
Founder & Chief Executive Officer
Kevin Hart is the Founder & CEO of Green Check Verified. Kevin brings four decades of enterprise software experience as part of his founding vision for Green Check. He has worked in the C-Suite for a variety of software companies with global clients and partners, and he has led two companies to successful exits with publicly traded companies, as well as another to an IPO. With decades of experience at the helm of venture-backed companies, Kevin has brought together an unmatched team to help him lead Green Check to its leading position in the cannabis financial services market.
Mike Kennedy
Co-founder, Chief Strategy Officer
Mike Kennedy is a Co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer at Green Check Verified. Mike’s background is in helping community financial institutions leverage technology to better manage their compliance and risk functions, and he has helped hundreds of institutions develop and implement bespoke compliance programs. Prior to co-founding Green Check Verified, Mike helped scale Continuity, the first SaaS-based compliance management system for community financial institutions.
Paul Dunford
Co-founder, VP Of Knowledge
Paul Dunford is Co-founder and VP of Knowledge at Green Check Verified. Paul has extensive experience leading digital transformation initiatives predominantly in the healthcare and retail verticals. Previously he was retained by a Fortune 100 insurance company to design and implement a sophisticated solution for managing their field sales teams. At Green Check, Paul leads the compliance team that designs cannabis banking programs for financial institutions. Paul is an active member of the cannabis banking regulatory community, contributing to trade publications and speaking virtually and in person across the country on the subject.
Mukesh Kshatriya
Chief Financial Officer
Mukesh is Chief Financial Officer at Green Check Verified. He is a highly entrepreneurial, seasoned Finance and Business Development professional with over 25 years of progressive experience in business management, finance, accounting, taxation and auditing at Ernst & Young in both public and private sectors. Mukesh has held several senior executive management and finance positions in Technology, Cannabis, Financial Services, Real Estate Development and Distribution sectors. He has been actively involved in structuring transactions and raising capital in both private debt and equity. His education includes a Bachelor of Commerce & Finance from the University of Toronto and a Chartered Accountant Designation from the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants.
Paul Chesek
Chief Growth Officer
Paul Chesek is the Chief Growth Officer at Green Check Verified. With skills in Business Development, Consulting, Management and Software as a Service (SaaS), he is an experienced leader with extensive experience in the information technology and services industries. His strengths are in building, organizing and retaining teams to grow and scale businesses across regions and service lines. Most recently, he served as the AVP of Mid-Market and Managed Service for Traction on Demand, a SalesForce Company.
Staci Firios
Chief Marketing Officer
Staci is the CMO at Green Check Verified, responsible for marketing strategy, lead generation, communications initiatives, and branding. She has more than 25 years of marketing experience, the majority of which has been in financial services and fintech. Most recently, Staci was the CMO of Tier1 Financial Solutions promoting its several brands. Staci holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from the University of Michigan.
Bob Craig
EVP, Strategic Business Development
Bob Craig is EVP, Business Development at Green Check, bringing an expert focus to our strategic growth initiatives. Bob was previously CEO of PayQwick, a cannabis financial services platform, acquired by Green Check in April 2023. With a career centered at the intersection of payments, technology, and regulatory evolution, Bob brings over two decades of building and growing fintech solutions at start-ups and top institutions like JPMorgan, Wells Fargo, First Data, and Fiserv, with several successful exits included. When not building partnerships, products, and integrations for Green Check’s extensive network of CRBs, FI’s, and fintechs, you can find Bob with his family pursuing outside athletic activities and events.
Rose Elliot
SVP, Engineering
Rose Elliott is the SVP of Engineering at Green Check, bringing an expert focus to our API and data ecosystem. Rose was co-founder and CEO of Komplyd, compliance-as-a-service platform, acquired by Green Check in June 2023. With over two decades in engineering and product, she is bringing her experience of delivering large-scale platforms and complex compliance initiatives at companies such as PayPal, Netflix, UpWork, and Tenable to the cannabis industry. Her passion for health and wellness led her to the cannabis plant and ultimately to the industry where she is committed to making cannabis compliance work.
Stacy Litke
VP, Banking Programs
Stacy Litke is VP of Banking Programs at Green Check Verified with decades of experience in the financial services industry. Time spent in retail, lending, operations, and technology — and from the seats of a community banker, fintech executive, and consultant — has provided Stacy with a comprehensive view of the industry. Prior to joining Green Check, Stacy was SVP of Operations for a Massachusetts-based, $900 million institution. Today, she uses her collective experience to help financial institutions with compliant cannabis banking programs.
Board of Directors
Kevin Hart
Founder & Chief Executive Officer
Dan Goldfarb
Co-founder, Mendon Venture Partners
Andre Haroche
Co-founder Silverleaf Venture Partners
Eric Lomas
President Of HT Capital Advisors
Joe Proto
Founding Partner, Windham Ventures
Kevin Hart
Founder & Chief Executive Officer
Kevin Hart is the Founder & CEO of Green Check Verified. Kevin brings four decades of enterprise software experience as part of his founding vision for Green Check. He has worked in the C-Suite for a variety of software companies with global clients and partners, and he has led two companies to successful exits with publicly traded companies, as well as another to an IPO. With decades of experience at the helm of venture-backed companies, Kevin has brought together an unmatched team to help him lead Green Check to its leading position in the cannabis financial services market.
Dan Goldfarb
Co-founder, Mendon Venture Partners
Dan Goldfarb is a Co-Founder of Mendon Venture Partners, a venture investments and strategic advisory firm focused on financial technology companies and incumbent banks. Additionally, Mr. Goldfarb holds the position of Portfolio Manager at Mendon Capital Advisors Corporation, a long/short event-driven financial-sector fund. Prior to joining Mendon in 2020, Mr. Goldfarb was lead portfolio manager at Alpha One Capital and OFII where he managed a micro-cap long-only equity product primarily for institutional clients. From 1991-2005, Mr. Goldfarb was a senior analyst at Babson Capital Management following financial service companies at Mass Mutual and Wilmington Trust. Mr. Goldfarb began his career on Wall Street at Drexel Burnham Lambert and Smith Barney.
Mr. Goldfarb holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Hobart College and an MBA from Vanderbilt University. Additionally, he is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA).
Andre Haroche
Co-founder Silverleaf Venture Partners
Andre Haroche co-founded Silverleaf Venture Partners with Douglas Hannah to pursue Cannabis-focused venture capital, initially for their own accounts and later expanded to outside investors as well. At Silverleaf, Mr. Haroche oversees partnership operations, investment due diligence, and valuation. His previous corporate / business operations experience coupled with his investment background provides perspective that benefits both portfolio company CEOs as well as Silverleaf Venture Partners.
Mr. Haroche has over 15 years of experience as principal investor in private equity and real estate for his family office. Prior to founding Silverleaf, Mr. Haroche was an executive in his family company, Liberty Travel, for 12 years where he began as travel agent and eventually ran the firm’s 100-person technology division as Chief Information Officer. Prior to exiting, Liberty Travel had annual sales of $2bn and 288 wholesale and retail offices nationwide.
Mr. Haroche received his B.S. & MBA from NYU Stern School of Business in ’93 & 2000 with a concentration in Finance, Valuation and Operations Management (Cum Laude). He served on Stern/NYU’s Board of Overseers until 2018.
Eric Lomas
President Of HT Capital Advisors
Eric Lomas is the President of HT Capital Advisors, responsible for the strategic direction and business development for the firm. Prior to founding HT Capital Advisors in 1997, Mr. Lomas led the acquisition of its predecessor firm Hill Thompson Magid and Co. in 1987. Prior to that, Mr. Lomas was a Managing Director and co-head of investment banking at Gruntal & Co. where he created the M&A and Bankruptcy departments of the firm. Before his affiliation with Gruntal, Mr. Lomas spent nine years with Deloitte where he ran international M&A consulting. Mr. Lomas began his career on Wall Street with Troster, Singer & Co. where he was involved in various facets of corporate finance and securities trading.
During his career, Mr. Lomas has initiated and orchestrated hundreds of successful investment banking assignments and held many key roles. In 1994, he was elected Executive Chairman of Rexel, Inc. a Fortune 1000 company and one of the oldest companies on the NYSE, and served until it was taken private by Pinault-Printemps-Redoute, S.A. (now known as French Luxury Group Kering). Additionally, Mr. Lomas has served on several public and private Boards, including Guaranty Bank, GoodMark Foods, Precision Optical Systems, Certron and Cellotape Label. He currently serves on the board of Waltron, Bull & Roberts, LLC, a market leader in water and steam quality monitoring instruments.
Mr. Lomas holds a B.S. Cum Laude in Business from Long Island University, an M.B.A. from the New York University Stern School of Business Administration and is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA). He has completed several advanced management study programs including Harvard’s AMP on Corporate Governance. Mr. Lomas was in the United States Navy and is a Vietnam Veteran.
Joe Proto
Founding Partner, Windham Ventures
Joe Proto has four decades in the financial technology and banking industries as a senior executive and serial entrepreneur. Joe built Transactis into a leading payments company serving 25 of the largest 50 banks which was acquired by Mastercard in 2019. He launched REMITCO, a payments company acquired in 2000 by First Data, now part of Fiserv. He co-founded Financial Telesis (CashFlex) which was acquired in 1992 by CoreStates, now part of Wells Fargo. He served as chairman of DadeSystems (B2B integrated receivables) which was acquired in 2022 by Versapay, a Great Hill payments company. Joe also co-founded Windham Ventures (an innovation leader in med tech) and is an advisor and limited partner to several leading venture capital firms.
In addition to being a board director at Green Check, Joe serves as chairman at Finexio (automated AP technology); is a board director at LendKey (lending technology with over three hundred credit unions and community banks); board director at ActiveWorx (AP technology for multinational enterprise companies); board director at Identifee (CRM for financial institutions); and is also an executive advisor to Google Cloud and Photon Commerce. Joe is a member of various financial services organizations including the Association for Financial Professionals (AFP); he serves on the advisory board at the National Automated Clearinghouse Association (NACHA); and is a frequent speaker at conferences in the financial technology industry. He and his wife, Smita, are avid travelers and they serve on the World Wildlife National Council.
Board Observers
Anton Schutz Jr
Principal, Mendon Venture Partners
Tamara Totah
Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Flatiron Venture Partners
Anton Schutz Jr
Principal, Mendon Venture Partners
Anton Schutz, Jr. is a Principal at Mendon Venture Partners, a venture investments and strategic advisory firm focused on financial technology companies and incumbent banks. In addition to his position at Mendon Venture Partners, Mr. Schutz is a Senior Analyst at Mendon Capital Advisors Corporation, a long/short event-driven financial-sector fund founded in 1996. Prior to that, Mr. Schutz spent several years as an investment banking analyst in the financial institutions group at Stephens Inc., where he worked on depository M&A and capital issuances. He also has experience in financial services-focused equity research at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods and private equity at Patriot Financial Partners, L.P. He currently serves as a Board Observer for Neural Payments and Green Check.
Mr. Schutz graduated from Furman University, Cum Laude, with a BA in Business Administration and holds an MBA from NYU Stern, where he specialized in FinTech, Entrepreneurship & Innovation, and Corporate Finance. He lives in New York City.
Tamara Totah
Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Flatiron Venture Partners
Tamara is the Founder and CEO of Flatiron Venture Partners, a New York and Denver-based venture capital firm focused on investments in seed-stage technology businesses. She brings years of entrepreneurial experience and financial knowledge to successfully identify companies providing the infrastructure and the technology to new, nascent industries. After graduating from The Wharton School of Business, Tamara began her career as a private equity investment professional at Goldman Sachs & Co. Prior to founding Flatiron Venture Partners, Tamara was the CEO of The Flatiron Group, an executive recruiting firm focused on finding investment professionals for global private equity firms and hedge funds.
Join Our Growing Team
Green Check is an equal-opportunity employer with a team of talented individuals from across the country. Interested in joining our diverse team of dedicated professionals?
