Where others hear ‘no,’ this Buckeye finds what’s next
Tahira Rehmatullah ’05 turns curiosity into impact, investing in new fields while centering people behind the policy.
For Tahira Rehmatullah ’05, an unusually warm and sunny February morning at “Oval Beach” sealed her decision to come to Ohio State. This put her on a successful career track that advances each time she shows up early—to industries, ideas and conversations.
Rehmatullah has carved her path along new frontiers. She invests in and advises companies in emerging categories like cannabis and biotechnology through Highlands Venture Partners and leads strategy and finance at Hudson Health in New York City.
Beyond expanding cannabis’ potential medicinal uses, she also examines the unintended outcomes of legalization, including how many benefit from a flourishing industry while others remain incarcerated, in the book she co-authored, Waiting to Inhale: Cannabis Legalization and the Fight for Racial Justice.
“I still have hopefulness around building an industry from scratch, in an aboveboard way,” Rehmatullah says. “It appeals to my academic and business interests—and the part of me that wants to make an impact.”
-
How did you get into the cannabis industry?
My mother will never take credit for it, but she brought cannabis front and center for me. One day, she texted me and my younger sister, Ruqayya ’11, asking if we knew where to get marijuana. We first thought, is this a test?
Watching my grandfather struggle through chemotherapy after a lung cancer diagnosis, my mother refused to accept there was nothing else. In 2013, credible information was scarce, but one thread kept surfacing: cannabis. I followed it, too.
He passed in 2014. Around that time, I got a text from a former Yale classmate asking if I had a job yet. He had joined a Seattle startup, one of the first private equity firms to focus exclusively on cannabis. My parents and I were open to it. Grief has a way of clarifying what matters.
-
Why is storytelling central to your advocacy?
Conversations around healthcare and cannabis often center on policy, markets and regulation.
I’m a data and finance person. But behind charts and spreadsheets are individuals, people who have faced consequences over generations. Writing Waiting to Inhale with Akwasi Owusu-Bempah created a platform for their stories.
The same dynamic plays out in health innovation. At Hudson Health, we’re building the infrastructure to reimagine what healthcare looks like when the goal is prevention and optimization. Good storytelling doesn’t only inform; it shifts what people believe is possible.
-
What drew you to serve on the alumni association board?
Ohio State is a constant in my life. The board allows me to contribute to a place that gave me an enduring sense of community.
We have this amazing, massive base of alumni, and we can link them with students, transforming connections into points of access. I don’t just mean networking. One introduction, one conversation, can alter someone’s trajectory. I want to help make small moments within this big group.
-
At a university this size, how did the small moments find you?
I didn’t think I qualified for the Honors Program, but Cheria Dial ’98 MA, ’99 MA, ’21 EdD, a program manager for the Honors and Scholars Center, insisted I fill out the application. I needed that push into what became a defining part of my undergraduate experience, turning a big place into a tight-knit cohort.
Another nudge got me on homecoming court. I applied the year before and didn’t make it, but Felix Alonso ’95 at the alumni association persuaded me to try again. I ended up being homecoming queen.
A similar thing happened with business school. I’d applied the year before, didn’t get in, and considered not trying again. But I did—and got into Yale School of Management. I’ve learned “no” is often the first chapter.
-
How did becoming a Buckeye prepare you?
It taught me to confront ambiguity and make decisions with incomplete information, serving me well whether I’m structuring a new venture or navigating an emerging industry with no roadmap. Fisher College of Business gave me that, along with confidence.
Ohio State’s size also teaches you to advocate for yourself. I was interested in premed, which wasn’t common for business majors. Fisher was flexible, and I added a life sciences minor. I simply had to ask. That instinct to push, to try the unlikely thing, has stayed with me.
I had a good foundation by the time I got to Yale, and there I expanded my aperture. Funnily enough, it was also an unseasonably gorgeous day when I visited Yale, just like the day that made me a Buckeye. A beautiful day gives you a different outlook—and for me, it bookends two different but equally formative experiences.
