As ELI’s President and Co-Founder, Bryan Wilson brings expertise and leadership skills developed over years as an elite Special Operations soldier with multiple deployments in support of the Global War on Terror. He provides the vision, direction and values for the company as a driven, ambitious, and visionary leader dedicated to realizing the potential of the industrial hemp industry in the United States. 

Prior to founding ELI, Bryan worked as a highly specialized paramedic and firefighter in Marion County, Georgia, with skills in managing emergencies involving hazardous materials, swift water rescue operations, and high and low angle rope rescue efforts. Bryan served as an EMS crew leader, where he was able to leverage his leadership skills and ability to manage critical incidents gained on the battlefield in support of his community and his team. Bryan was recognized for bringing tactical medical practices developed from lessons learned while serving in the military to civilian EMS and Fire organizations, greatly enhancing the departments’ capabilities.

Bryan also served in a highly trusted role as a diplomatic security specialist in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Israel where he assisted in the diplomatic efforts of the Obama Administration’s State Department, supporting numerous visits of the Secretary of State John Kerry’s delegation to the region, including multiple high-profile visits to the Palestinian Prime Minister, Mahmoud Abbas. While serving as a diplomatic security specialist and tactical medic, Bryan was entrusted by the U.S. Dept. of State to conduct a thorough capabilities assessment on a newly built West Bank hospital and establish the Department’s security program’s standard operating procedures around the hospital’s capabilities.

Bryan is an active member of the community through his church and regularly contributes to the progress and propagation of the industrial hemp industry with financial and advisory support to a number of industrial hemp organizations and researchers.