Meet Our Crew

The Cova Leadership Team

We’re a cross-functional team of dreamers, strategists and technologists passionate about creating great experiences for cannabis retail owners, their staff members and their customers.

Gary Cohen
CEO

Gary leads Cova’s charge into the legal cannabis space by guiding the vision, strategic development, ‘go to market’ plans and culture.

Before joining Cova, Gary was a principal in over a dozen tech start-ups in the mobile communications industry ranging from small VC funded companies to Fortune 100 firms, including Onavo, which was later acquired by Facebook. In those companies he led sales, marketing, business analytics and market expansions. He has also held a multitude of leadership roles with Verizon and AT&T.

Gary holds a Degree in Finance with a Masters in Marketing from the University of Colorado. In his spare time Gary enjoys skiing, mountain biking, outdoor sports, travel and comfort food.

Ryan Zens
CTO

Ryan's philosophy is that technology should make your life better, not more complicated. As Cova's CTO, Ryan works to ensure Cova is bringing the right technology to make running your dispensary easier. With a degree in computer science, and twenty years of industry experience, Ryan has mastered the art of seamlessly integrating technology into business. He uses this experience to help deliver a world class application.

When not behind a computer or reading some nerdy technical journal, Ryan can be found making a racket on his guitars or piano, hanging out with his kids, or in his garage fabricating on his latest monstrosity.

Faai Steuer
VP of Marketing

Faai directs Cova's marketing strategy and oversees its execution, including website, content, social media and PR.

An entrepreneur at heart, Faai was a top-ranked UBC grad student whose business savvy and innovative approach garnered her three marketing awards and a scholarship during her MBA – enough to make the entire course a free ride.

Before joining Cova, Faai directed go-to-market strategy for iQmetrix’s enterprise clients. She brought with her more than fifteen years of marketing experience, combining new and traditional media strategies across a range of industries locally and internationally. At Unilever, she launched communication campaigns that changed the fate of an underdog brand to become a second largest brand in the market. At Mars Inc, she introduced Pedigree Denta Stix to Asia-Pacific market for the first time, making dogs in Asia happy.

Faai enjoys traveling, singing, reading, hiking and eating ice cream.

Andrew Cozzarin
VP of Operations

As Director of Operations, Andrew and his team help Cova customers navigate the journey from implementation to successful cannabis retail operators. With an emphasis on providing an exceptional customer experience, he and his team work tirelessly to deliver a custom launch experience, with world class support and account management. Andrew’s background is rooted in wireless retail and consumer electronics, having worked for both startups and fortune 500 companies such as Hyla Mobile, Sony and Hewlett Packard.

When not supporting Cova clients, he enjoys spending time with his wife and son, enjoying the outdoors, and attending live music events.

Connie Chan
VP of Product

As Vice President of Product, Connie is dedicated to creating Cova Software products that not only solve the pressing challenges faced by customers, but also deliver exceptional user experiences. Through her leadership, she aims to inspire her team to push the boundaries of what is possible, and to continually strive for excellence.

Throughout her career, Connie has held various leadership positions in financial services and B2B fintech startups, where she has been responsible for developing and implementing product strategies, creating roadmaps, and managing cross-functional teams. Her unique blend of technical expertise and customer-focused mindset has contributed significantly to the growth and success of the companies she has been a part of.

Outside of work, you’ll find Connie paddling along a river on her kayak or fishing from a dock during the summer, and on the hills with her snowboard or snow shoes during the winter.