While the mission to connect, educate, empower and inspire the next generation of cannabis leaders always remained the focus, the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 forced the leadership at Women Grow to consider how they were accomplishing their goals and develop a new set of tools to address the growing gender gap in the industry.
Instead of the in-person learning and networking events Women Grow was previously known for, the company shifted to using its nationwide platform to promote female-owned businesses up and down the cannabis supply chain.
“We, just like everyone else, turned on all of our social media channels and said, ‘We’re going to start showcasing these women,’” says Gia Morón, the company’s president and co-owner.
Women Grow turned on its cameras and began hosting virtual showcase events, beaming the stories of its members out to thousands of followers on LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube and Facebook. The response was immediate, channeling customers to the businesses that were highlighted and connecting others to new opportunities and employees.
It sparked a realization in Morón and in CEO Dr. Chanda Macias: Instead of connecting women in a room at a conference, they were now connecting women all across the country, and with the staying power the videos provide as a constant opportunity for viewing, both for education and promotion, which can be difficult for plant-touching businesses due to advertising restrictions.
Morón says they were also reaching a different generation of female cannabis executives and hopefuls than before, further allowing them to fulfill their mission.
“We realized we were onto something now in terms of the new Women Grow,” she says. “The early days of Women Grow allowed for people to connect, and that was amazing, but now it’s time to help that next generation to grow to the next level.”
Women Grow CEO Chanda Macias.
CURRENT CHALLENGES
Morón says in the beginning, there was a heavy emphasis on destigmatizing cannabis and the cannabis industry, particularly for women, who are often seen through a different lens than their male counterparts when taking part in what is perceived as a risky, still-federally illegal industry.
In today’s fast-paced, everchanging cannabis marketplace, women still face challenges in ownership and in finding leadership positions. According to the 2021 Women and Minorities in the Cannabis Industry report from MJBizDaily, only about 20% of cannabis businesses nationwide are owned by women.
In the C-suite, the percentage of women executives in the cannabis industry has fallen to 22.1%, well below 2019’s peak of 36.8%, and below the national average of all U.S. businesses, which sits at 29.8%.
The report also notes that women get less funding and have access to fewer resources — like mentorship or strategic guidance — than men.
And while Morón says she is beginning to see more pathways of support for women looking for careers in cannabis, the biggest hurdle these days is funding as women are less likely to be invited to private equity or family business conferences where they can pitch their businesses and find investors.
“It still remains that there isn’t enough capital being put behind startup women-owned businesses and minority-owned businesses,” she says. “And so there is a disparity in terms of who’s getting the funding and what the funding is being put behind.”
And with women not getting access to the financial resources they need, Morón says many are choosing to go back to traditional industries.
“So we were losing a lot of talent,” she says.
But to meet the evolving needs of the industry, Women Grow had to change what it was doing to help women in the industry.
BACKSTORY
Now based out of New York City, at the heart of a rapidly growing multi-state industry only beginning to take shape on the Eastern Seaboard, Women Grow has been part of the greater cannabis industry since its inception. Founded in Denver in 2014 by Jane West and Jazmin Hupp, the company has always served as a catalyst for women to succeed in the cannabis industry.
Morón describes the initial seeds as “50 women founding members” who wanted to ensure that unlike traditional industries, cannabis would be a place where women could thrive as owners and in leadership roles, positions that even in those early days, like funding and investment opportunities, were going mostly to white men.
“What they set out to do, which I feel we are continuing, is that they wanted to ensure women were not left out of this equation of this emerging industry, that this billion-dollar industry would be the first industry led by women,” she says.
The company began creating chapters — reaching as many as 45 different chapters — and hosting its monthly Signature Networking Events on the first Thursday of every month, bringing women together for education and networking opportunities.
Morón was among those who found her way into the industry through Women Grow events, joining in 2015.
“I attended my first Women Grow meeting in New York City,” she says, noting that the company not only provided an entrance to the industry, but helped connect her with resources. “I saw Women Grow as my gateway into the industry.”
Morón proudly notes that many of the female leaders and success stories from the first generation of cannabis executives have likely been part of the events and may have even met business partners, employees or service providers at an event.
Leaders like Lisa Snyder and Samantha Montanaro, for example. Snyder and Montanaro are the co-founders of Tokeativity, a global online community of consumers and business owners focused on consumption normalization and equity in the industry. The company was born because Snyder, a feminist and digital doula, met Montanaro, a consumption advocate and creator of Portland’s first consumption community space, Prism House PDX, at a Women Grow event in 2015.
“Our continued collaboration and partnership with Women Grow has brought us true alignment with women who care about making sure women get involved, and stay involved, in the cannabis industry,” Montanaro said in an email.
Along with the monthly events, Women Grow began hosting its two-day Women Grow Leadership Summit, bringing together women from around the industry and the world for a two-day event featuring a day of TED-style “Lightning Talks,” and a second day focused on education, featuring panel discussions and keynote speakers.
As the industry — and the public’s perception of it and cannabis in general — changed through the years, so did Women Grow. In 2018, the company’s first major transition took place, with Hupp leaving the company, West stepping down from a leadership position and with Morón and Macias buying in and taking control of the company, making it 80% owned by women of color.
Leaving the initial markets of the West behind for the fast-growing opportunities on the East Coast, Women Grow next relocated its offices and moved its annual summit out of Denver, bringing it to Washington, D.C. in 2019.
“That allowed our federal legislators to really see firsthand the number of women that are involved in the cannabis industry,” Morón says. “It really also helped women on the East Coast recognize the opportunities that we can contribute to this industry.”
NEW DIRECTIONS
Then the pandemic hit and Women Grow began hosting its online showcases, showing a new way for the company to not only support but promote women in the industry.
“We had to create a space that allowed the women in our community to feel comfortable about talking about what they do on a bigger platform,” Morón says. “So in 2020 and 2021, we started hosting these showcases.”
The businesses that were showcased saw new website traffic, new customer growth and new distribution opportunities. Women were better able to connect with career opportunities and resources to help grow their companies.
Morón and Macias also decided to dismantle the organization’s membership model of the past, making everything free, but focusing more on strategic partnerships with businesses like Curaleaf, Weedmaps, Etain and Columbia Care that help fund the virtual events and other education webinars to introduce the industry to programs like supplier diversity and expanded patient education, as well as highlight specific cultural groups like Native American or Latina women in cannabis, or women in cannabis tech.
“Curaleaf is proud to be entering into year two of our Rooted in Good partnership with Women Grow, which has provided an opportunity to engage, educate and elevate women in cannabis,” Khadijah Tribble, Curaleaf senior vice president of corporate social responsibility, said in an email. “We look forward to a long relationship growing the presence of women across the ecosystem of cannabis.”
“They replay these events across all their channels and in this instance sent out a workbook for attendees to get a full understanding of the medical marijuana program in New York,” Etain chief operating officer Hillary Peckham said in an email.
In June, Women Grow partnered with the Cannabis World Congress Business Expo, hosted by the Javits Convention Center in New York City. Last year, Women Grow used its booth space to invite 15 women who would normally not be able to afford a booth at the event to showcase their businesses over the three days of the expo. This year, CWCBExpo created a Women Grow pavilion and the company invited more than 30 businesses to create a marketplace. The pavilion’s success has led to upcoming partnerships with the Benzinga Cannabis Conference and MJBizCon.
“No other show had ever highlighted just women-owned businesses,” Morón says. “What we are seeing is a way to bridge the gap to help women to connect with investors and with business opportunities, and really to broaden their reach in the marketplace.”
With more shows and continued virtual showcases planned for the future, Morón says she and Macias will continue to look for new ways to connect women with the education and resources they need to be successful in cannabis, a mission that is not only baked into the core of what Women Grow is, but something that the two women who run it take personally.
“We’re both working mothers, we can identify firsthand what they’re experiencing. We know what we’ve learned from a particular challenging circumstance and we’re turning that into, ‘How do we help the next business leader avoid some of these pitfalls?’” Morón says.
“We will be the first industry led by women. Our founders made that statement and we’re on a mission to make sure that becomes a fact,” she says. “This will be the first industry led by women.”