Meet the Team

ALKEMI was founded in 2019 with the idea to build a bridge between up and coming companies in the psychedelic-therapy industry and the psychedelic grassroots community.


  • Founder & CEO

    Sovereign serves as catalyst, curator, educator, and alchemist of systemic change.  As the Founder and Co-Creator of ALKEMI Consulting & Development, Sovereign collaborates with individuals, organizations and movements through the transmutation of cultural, interpersonal, contextual, and ecological design.

    Sovereign earned a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology & Ethnic Studies with a concentration in Race and Resistance Studies from San Francisco State University as well as their Masters in Resilient Leadership at Naropa University in Boulder Colorado.

    Sovereign is guided by three core values: self-care, community care, and collective liberation. Sovereign’s mission is to create containers of transformation based in reciprocity and solidarity where all voices are heard and cared for. Sovereign believes that the work to make the world a better place is a shared responsibility and we cannot expect others to fight for our liberation without fighting for theirs.

  • Management Consultant

    Jessica, otherwise known as Jaz, is a cultural and medical anthropologist that has been studying the nuanced parts of the psychedelic movement since 2016. With a particular interest in understanding and contributing to the ways in which we can ethically integrate psychedelics into the biomedical system and Western status quo.

    Beyond this, Jaz believes that community comes first, as the former Executive Director of the Montreal Psychedelic Society, she is now directing the Global Psychedelic Society where leaders of psychedelic societies from around the world come together to discuss the challenges and joys of running a psychedelic society.

    Jaz is also sitting on the steering committee for the Natural Medicine Health Act. With a deep commitment to serving her local community along with building relationships with elected officials, Jaz's mission is to build a bridge between the local grassroots community, and government organizations in order to shift the cultural narrative around psychedelics.

David Markham-Gessner

  • Chief Operations Officer

    David Marham-Gessner is a curator of foundation and operations in the pursuit of societal alchemy. David has been an activist and educator, a health care worker, designer and community liaison for the City of Philadelphia, Founding Member of the National Psychedelics Association. Since 2011 he has served as a consultant within the for-profit and not-for-profit business development space. David’s education spans the fine and performing arts, health care, and business innovation/strategy industries.

    Raised in a household of therapists, David’s upbringing is grounded in asking great questions, finding root causes and offering effective support. Passionate about creative solutions to community wellness, David feels plant medicine offers a unique opportunity to look at how we integrate sacred practice into the western medical system. “We have an opportunity to reform how we honor cultures, individuals, communities and our perception of health, as the outcome of systems rather than symptoms.”