Aspen Psychedelic Symposium

Ismail Lourido Ali is a Dissoumba initiate who serves as MAPS Co-Executive Director. Ismail has been actively participating in the drug policy reform movement for over a decade, informed by half a lifetime of diverse personal experience with psychedelics and other substances. Previously, as the Director of Policy & Advocacy at MAPS, Ismail supported the design, building, and implementation of psychedelic policy reform across the country and world.

A psychiatrist and psychedelic pioneer, Scott Shannon, MD, has spent five decades exploring the nature of consciousness and healing. As co-founder of Wholeness Center in Fort Collins, he is advancing a systems-based, transformative model of care that challenges conventional psychiatry. He began working with MDMA-assisted psychotherapy before its prohibition and has remained at the leading edge of its return. An author, clinician, and Principal Investigator in pivotal psychedelic trials, he stands as an unrepentant change agent in a field hungry for reinvention.

Hanifa Nayo Washington (she/her) is a multidisciplinary leader at the intersection of health equity, systems change, and psychedelic-assisted therapy. She is Co-Director of the Psychedelic Mental Health Access Alliance, where she’s building publicly fundable care models through Medicaid-focused pilots, cross-sector partnerships, and community-informed design. Her work generates real-world evidence to help policymakers, insurers, and state agencies bring psychedelic care into public health systems—expanding access to breakthrough mental health treatments. A certified psilocybin facilitator trained through Oregon’s state program, Hanifa brings more than 30 years of experience bridging policy, philanthropy, and frontline care to advance new pathways for healing and care for communities with complex care needs. She was a founding team member of Fireside Project’s Psychedelic Support Line and serves on the boards of the Zendo Project and the Kindred Trust, a trusted voice in the field, her work is rooted in healing justice and her Afro-Indigenous traditions.

Joshua Kappel, a founding partner of Vicente LLP, is committed to supporting entrepreneurs and visionaries in creating sustainable and people-centered ventures and social movements. His advocacy includes shaping legislation and frameworks for emerging industries, notably co-authoring Colorado’s successful Proposition 122, the Natural Medicine Health Act. Joshua’s expertise spans advising companies and nonprofits on policy, corporate structuring, risk analysis, regulatory compliance, and other legal complexities. A revered figure in the field, he serves on boards and associations, contributing significantly to cannabis and psychedelic policy developments.

Benoit Azagoh-Kouadio is Farming Director at Round the Bend Farm, a 115 acre non-profit sustainable living education center and holistically managed farm in South Dartmouth, Massachusetts, providing community based educational and food security programming. His work includes growing annual vegetables, fruits, orchard tree crops, culinary mushrooms and medicinal herbs in agroforestry systems and he also serves as an herbalist specializing in Lyme disease and tick-borne illnesses. As an advocate-activist, community organizer and harm reduction educator, he has been a supporter of the field of psychedelic medicine for almost 20 years and is a facilitator at Journadas de Kura, an international Ayahuasca retreat program and community based in Minas Gerais, Brasil.

Mikki Vogt, LPC, LAC, NMCF serves as Co-Founder and Clinical Director at NeuroAlchemy and is a pioneering voice in Colorado’s psychedelic landscape. She co-authored the state’s Standardized Safety Screening and Response Tool, helped shape Natural Medicine Program policy, and co-founded Colorado’s first licensed healing center. An educator with Numinus, Synthesis, Acadia, and CU Denver’s Natural Medicine training programs, she helps cultivate the next generation of facilitators. Blending advanced clinical training in EMDR, Internal Family Systems, and Somatic Experiencing with reverence for the sacred, her work bridges science and ceremony—honoring both the depth of healing and the mystery of transformation.

Stephanie Karzon Abrams is a neuropharmacologist and founder of Beyond Consulting, which supports the integrative and psychedelic medicine fields through research, clinical partnerships, and healing center development.

She serves as Clinical Director at Mystic Health, is an associate-prescriber of MDMA and psilocybin therapy under Canada’s SAP, and is the Research Director at the Microdosing Collective nonprofit. 

Stephanie believes in the undercurrent of joy woven into the fabric of our existence; thus, she creates talks and workshops that explore the human experience through the lenses of science, culture, and celebration. 

With professional experience in neurology, intensive care, and medical device at Johnson & Johnson, she is a recognized leader in innovative healthcare. Her work bridges neuroscience, women’s health (GALILEA), plant medicine, and the healing power of music. A musician, writer, and speaker, Stephanie creates gatherings rooted in music and meaning through her label, Public Secret.

bio coming soon

Sean T. McAllister is an attorney specializing in the regulatory, health care, business, and religious freedom aspects of psychedelic medicines and therapies in the United States. He is a drafter of Colorado’s Natural Medicine Health Act legalizing four psychedelics in that state; an appointed member of Denver Psilocybin Mushroom Policy Review Panel; General Counsel for the Zendo Project; Advisory Board member for Psychedelic Parenthood Community; and was outside general counsel to MAPS’ Psychedelic Science Events, LLC in 2025. Sean is licensed to practice law in Colorado and California, but consults all across the US on religious freedom issues.

Jim Koch is a successful real estate developer and entrepreneur, Jim brings what may be the most compelling personal story in the ibogaine advocacy space — not as a healthcare executive, but as a Parkinson’s Disease patient whose life was dramatically transformed by ibogaine treatment. Jim was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2022 at the age of 56, though his symptoms — tremors, rigidity, drooling, balance difficulties, and gait issues — had begun a full decade earlier in 2012. In May 2025, Jim underwent ibogaine treatment specifically targeting his Parkinson’s disease. The results were nothing short of miraculous.

Leor Roseman is a Senior Lecturer and Psychedelic researcher at the University of Exeter. He has previously worked at the Centre for Psychedelic Research, Imperial College London, under the mentorship of Prof. Robin Carhart-Harris and Prof. David Nutt, supporting the foundational work of a remerging research field. His interdisciplinary research covers neuroscience, psychology, phenomenology, anthropology and conflict resolution, using various research methods such as fMRI, quantitative, qualitative, microphenomenology, ethnographic, and participatory research. Leor co-developed and teaches the new Master’s degree – Psychedelics: Mind, Medicine and Culture. Also, Leor co-founded Ripples – a non-profit dedicated to peacebuilding supported by psychedelics.

Jake McWink is the founder of the Psychedelic Stroke Institute, where he focuses on supporting stroke survivors and caregivers with psychedelic education, resources, and real-world data collection to better understand how these tools may support recovery. He is a Colorado state-licensed natural medicine facilitator at Chariot Healing Center in Boulder, and founder of Alringo, where he helps individuals build psychedelic literacy so they can approach these tools gently, establishing a durable, lifelong relationship of healing. His perspective brings together deep personal experience, emerging practice, and one of the field’s more underexplored questions: how psychedelics may fit into stroke recovery.