our academy through the years
Founded in 2020, Our Academy is a volunteer-run 501(C)(3) non-profit workshop, mentorship, and open education resource for cannabis equity applicants, operators and others harmed by the war on drugs (e.g. incarcerated individuals, immigrants, refugees and the LGBTQ+ community).
We offer:
ny web3 & cannabis event (2.1%)
ny equity bootcamp (9.9%)
mj unpacked las vegas (6.7%)
mj unpacked new york (15.6%
mentorship &
workshop program (65.6%)
other initiatives (6.9%)
meadowlands (14.0%)
mj unpacked las vegas (30.4%)
mentorship &
workshop program (48.6%)
A few sentences on what OA accomplished this year and it’s vision moving forward.
While increased legalization of cannabis in the United States should bode well for increased participation among marginalized communities, less than 1/5th of cannabis business owners identify as a person of color.
The data shows that Black, Latino, Indigenous, Asian, Pacific Islanders, and other communities of color are disproportionately disadvantaged from commercial opportunities in the cannabis industry, while 80-90% of licensed operators are owned and operated by white individuals.This not only stems from the high start-up costs involved in starting and operating a cannabis business, but it is also almost always an incredibly competitive, costly, and laborious state license application process, which, in some states, requires applicants to own or rent property as a condition to apply.
In response to staunch criticism and years of advocacy from various pro-legalization groups, legislation is now striving to promote equity in the cannabis industry with the inclusion of statutory or regulatory social equity programs, as well as prioritized licenses. Our Academy’s aim is to reverse some of the damage done on communities of color by the war on drugs and racism by empowering equity applicants to thrive as cannabis entrepreneurs and in turn create generational wealth.
Our Academy envisions a thriving cannabis industry where previously marginalized groups have transformed the market into a more equitable space as empowered entrepreneurs and Social Equity operators.
Our Academy is a socially inclusive digital cannabis space that supports minorities and fosters normalization through community-building. We advocate and create spaces for social equity applicants and others affected by the war on drugs to gather and discuss current opportunities and how to surmount the predatory practices they face, while gaining tools to effectively execute business plans.
Through the power of sharing stories and resources as well as strategizing with other equity and community-focused allies and organizers, we ensure that disproportionately impacted communities are empowered in an authentic way, and that programs built to serve them are supported through national collaboration rooted in justice impacted communities.
Our Academy is a manifestation of our core values: fairness, justice and equity.
We are very grateful to all of the volunteers whose generosity made this program possible. We were fortunate to have the support of mentors and workshop leaders from some of the best companies in cannabis that co-created our programming, have made donations to keep this program running, and have donated their time as mentors.
