Oakland CA native Evelyn LaChapelle is an experienced events coordinator and community liaison, who is now utilizing her professional position within the legal cannabis industry to advocate for restorative justice. She is a program associate at Last Prisoner Project, dedicated to redressing the past and continuing harms caused by the war on cannabis.
She completed the courses required to receive a bachelor’s degree in business administration with an emphasis in Entrepreneurship from Loyola Marymount University. In 2013, she was convicted on three charges related to her minor role in a marijuana distribution operation. She was sentenced to 87 months in prison. She had no prior record and in fact had no indicators that she was a repeat offender.
On February 1, 2019, she was released from federal custody and began her 4 year probation sentence. She immediately found employment in a prominent hotel as a sales and catering coordinator. She is dedicated to offering support to people who have recently been incarcerated.
Evelyn has overcome these challenges and has found success in the legal cannabis industry through her work at infusion technology company Oakland based Vertosa, where she is the host of an IGTV segment “The Heart of Cannabis” back in her hometown. In addition, Evelyn is building her own luxury cannabis essential brand “Eighty Seven.” Her mission is to build a platform for the formerly incarcerated to find their path into this industry. Eighty Seven represents the 87 months she was sentenced to prison. It is a story of defeat and victory and she plans to push this brand and industry forward by normalizing cannabis consumption with luxury cannabis essentials.