Jeanette Ward-Horton - Turning Over A NuLeaf
/Want to get current on the state of Cannabis Equity in Oregon? Don't miss this episode of Black Beat where we welcome Executive director for the NuLeaf Project, Jeanette Ward-Horton to the show. Under Horton's leadership, NuLeaf Project’s work is specifically designed to address the three most common equity hurdles for all marginalized groups when starting a business or a professional career: capital, education/exposure, and connection. Horton describes the organization's work and funding sources for cannabis businesses in addition to skill-building and mentoring for entrepreneurs and professionals, and national and state equity policy development and advocacy.
What Black Beat Host, John Washington and Jeanette Horton talk about:
History of NLP and Horton's work in the field of Cannabis equity
Methodology for surmounting equity hurdles for marginalized groups
Roster of NLP business support programs
HB3112 which establishes Cannabis Equity Board within the office of the Governor to provide equity oversight of cannabis industry in this state.
NLP's agenda and next steps moving into the future
We want to hear from you.
Phone: (503)-841-5032
Email: info@flossinmedia.com
For more unapologetically Black stories and inspirational media coverage of capable, significant and influential motivators in our community, follow us on social media and send us your thoughts:
Website: https://www.flossinmedia.com
IG: https://www.instagram.com/flossinmedia/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/flossinmedia/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/flossinmedia
In 2014, Oregon became the 3rd state to overcome “Reefer Madness” by legalizing recreational cannabis use and possession by people 21 and older. Despite the fact that growth, sales and consumption of the product remain federal offenses, the legal cannabis industry continues to boom and opportunities to make serious money abound in States that embrace the industry potential.
Despite these historic strides, little has been done to address the havoc wreaked by the “War on Drugs” and marijuana prohibition on Black, Indigenous, Latin/o/a/x communities. As with nearly every other “war” waged by the power elite in the U.S., it is people of color who have borne the brunt of disproportionate enforcement of drug and marijuana laws and the subsequent real life consequences that result from criminal records and felony convictions.
Predictably, those hit hardest have also been the last ones to reap the spoils of cannabis legalization. Statistics show that more than 99% of those who hold licenses to legally sell cannabis are white, while those still suffering the consequences of prohibition in the form of drug convictions for marijuana possession remain disproportionately Black, Indigenous, Latin/o/a/x and other people of color.
Enter NuLeaf Project. NuLeaf‘s work is specifically designed to address the three most common equity hurdles for all marginalized groups when starting a business or a professional career: capital, education/exposure, and connection. Executive director, Jeannette Ward-Horton, describes the organization's work as skill-building and mentoring for entrepreneurs and professionals, and national and state equity policy development and advocacy. “Nu Leaf was founded in 2018 in PDX in response to voters who made the City the first to cut checks to the Black, Indigenous and Latin/o/a/x communities from Cannabis taxes to help repair harm,” she shared. “One of the ways that Portland voters said they wanted to do that was to invest in cannabis businesses owned by people of color. NuLeaf was formed to help move those funds and as we have grown, our goal has become to help build generational wealth. We do that through finding funders and through activism on the State Equity bill.”
The bill Ward-Horton refers to is HB 3112, the Cannabis Social Equity Act. Introduced by a coalition of legislators in the Oregon State Legislature, HB 3112 was led by former State Rep. Akasha Lawrence Spence and backed by the NuLeaf Project, the Oregon Cannabis Association, the Oregon Retailers of Cannabis Association, the City of Portland, Urban League, and law students from Willamette University. “Cannabis equity has become a standard in other legalized states. It consists of three parts. One is making those tax investments towards repairing harm in Black, Indigenous and Latino/a/x communities. Two is expungements and states have begun setting a standard of automatic expungements which we have in this state. Lastly are cannabis equity licenses.”
In addition to programming structured towards restorative justice, NuLeaf focuses a great deal of attention and resources on opportunities for BIPOC to create generational wealth. “We are amassing a significant ongoing fund for the restorative justice investment which comes from 2 sources: cannabis taxes and the criminal fines account,” Ward-Horton explained. “The criminal fines account is where you
pay a speeding ticket or where you pay a cannabis charge. Those 2 accounts make up a $100 million dollar fund per biennium and growing for homeownership, land ownership, jobs, and education. Really, the things that generate wealth and income, those are the programs they are investing in. I’m proud to say on this show that there is language that prioritizes our communities because, hands-down, our community was disproportionately police and sentenced and the community that took the brunt of economic detriment.”
With a stated mission to “build intergenerational wealth via the legal cannabis industry for the communities disproportionately harmed by cannabis criminalization“, NuLeaf Project offers a suite of services that support aspiring entrepreneurs and ancillary industry professionals. NuNetwork is a diverse group of award-winning business owners, C-suite executives, and leading cannabis experts who are committed to helping people of color overcome equity hurdles., NuSchool is targeted and personalized so business owners get fast, effective up-skilling and knowledge while NuFuel is “funding for cannabis businesses with a priority placed on funding businesses 51%+ owned by people from communities disproportionately harmed by cannabis criminalization — Black, Indigenous and Latina/o/x”. For those interested in jobs within the industry, NuProfessional functions as a job board and community for professionals of color who are interested in joining the cannabis industry.
“I am very passionate about entrepreneurship and building generational wealth in our communities,” Ward-Horton enthused. “For anyone who is listening and who is thinking about becoming a cannabis entrepreneur, send us an email at info@nuleafproject.org. We hope we can educate people about what the opportunities are and help people be more comfortable with the financial opportunity that we think is here for our community.”
To contact Jeannette Ward-Horton and/or NuLeaf Project, visit:
Website: http://www.nuleafproject.org
Email: info@nuleafproject.org
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Nuleafproject/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nuleafproject/
