Industries

• Manufacturing
  • Consumable Goods

Practices

• Government Relations

Biography

Katelyn Wiard, a nationally recognized advocate for the emerging hemp and CBD industry, serves as the administrative manager of Frost Brown Todd’s hemp practice.

Katelyn joined Frost Brown Todd in 2016 as an administrator of the firm government affairs affiliate, CivicPoint. Initially, she worked to address a myriad of client interests, from agricultural lending to child marriage laws. In this capacity, Katelyn also spent much of her time learning about the needs of emerging markets and how they make space for themselves in their corresponding industries. Soon thereafter, she found herself deeply involved in the emerging hemp industry. Katelyn devoted herself to becoming a subject and industry expert by serving as Director of Operations for the industry’s go-to advocacy organization, the U.S. Hemp Roundtable. Katelyn learned about the barriers, regulatory and otherwise, that are often placed on new markets and how to effectively overcome them. Katelyn now serves as a point of contact for much of the hemp industry, with connections to various hemp groups across the country, and she is well-versed in the art of managing large, diverse teams to accomplish a single, mutually beneficial goal.

Prior to joining FBT, Katelyn graduated cum laude from the University of Kentucky with a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, and she is currently working toward her Executive MBA through the University of Kentucky’s Professional MBA Program. In 2016, Katelyn was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship by the J. William Fulbright Foundation in the Field of Public Policy. In 2019, Katelyn served on the Gubernatorial Transition team for Agriculture Policy. Currently, Katelyn serves on the Advisory Board for Sullivan University as they work to develop a cannabis curriculum, and she spends much of her free time volunteering in the Lexington Community through the Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning.

View Katelyn’s full CivicPoint bio on the CivicPoint website.