So much for the meritocracy. When legal pot was just a hazy line on the horizon, a lot of people spent a lot of time picturing what the industry would look like. There were plenty of optimistic reports that women would dominate the cannabis industry. There were even hopes for more representative boardrooms and executives, with women and men of all skin colours sharing the wealth in an industry that, by virtue of prohibition and necessity, had always been somewhat more equal than established businesses.
Then plans for legalization began to firm up, and reports began to look at how many billions of dollars would be up for grabs. And before you know it, the c-suites looked the same way they always have. Shocking, we know. So, what happened to that optimistic dream of a pot industry that offered equality? In a word: Money. Can women and people of colour still reclaim their seats at the table? Yes, actually. We’ll tell you how it starts.
GUEST: Stacy Lee Kong, FLARE.com