7 minute read
Corporate Responsibility in Cannabis
from Munkey Biz Issue 16
by HAPPY MUNKEY
By Jamie L Pearson
It’s 2021, the year after George Floyd and Breonna Taylor’s murders ripped the Band-aid off America’s racial wound. Conversations about the racial divide transcended into a collective, global, eyeopening that brought overt and covert discrimination of non-white people to light in a meaningful way. Black Lives Matters protests took place around the world and the globe was on fire for social justice. It was a hopeful and sensational time, and ironic considering we had a white supremacist in the White House calling neo-Nazi’s “very fine people.”
Advertisement
Where are we nine months later? The mainstream conversations around race have all but stopped. The topic is “so yesterday” like Tiger King. But we can’t put the genie back in the bottle. We know what we know. We know racism is alive and well, and we also know DIVERSITY WORKS. Extensive research shows companies with diverse leadership teams and boards outperform competitors, improve return on investment to stakeholders, and thrive during economic recessions. Corporate leaders are aware of the diversity, or better put, lack of diversity problem. Yet it persists. Today, just 24 Fortune 500 CEOs are female, three are Black, and one is openly gay. Diversity is a key ingredient in performance success and the research numbers shout that from the rooftop, but the needle isn’t moving. Why?
In the Fall of 2018, the CEO/Founder of our company asked me to be on the board as we were preparing to go public. He said, “Even though you don’t have public company experience, we need some diversity on our board.” I’m sure he said more than that, but this was the part that sticks out in my memory. I also remember asking, “Who else would I be on the board with?” He sent me the photos and bios of four, white men, all with impressive backgrounds and educations. After seeing the group, I responded, “I would consider being on the board if you add a person of color or replace one of these men with a Black or Brown person. I will not be the lone token.” He said, “Why do you always have to be a special, fucking flower?”
My answer to his question is the same answer to that “why” question above. Why do I have to be a “special flower”? Because it is my responsibility to use power ethically. My personal ethos requires that I deliberately look for opportunities in front of me to change what I can. Our CEO could have refused my demand, but instead, he replaced one of those men with a very accomplished Black man who didn’t have board experience. It was a win-win. Our company board now has gender and racial diversity, and through this simple request, another, qualified Black person has public board experience.
If this were any other data set, diversity would be imperative. If the research showed companies who wear turquoise uniforms outperform their competitors, improve returns, and thrive when the chips are down, turquoise uniform providers wouldn’t be able to keep up with demand. Obviously, the issue of diversity is more complicated than uniforms, but the point is we understand and value the “why.” But make no mistake, the solution requires white people to change behavior – not Black and Brown people. This is a white problem. We can’t expect the very people who have limited access to power, decision making, and experience to suddenly have access and experience. Which brings us to the crux of the real problem. Asking or expecting white people to give up our privileged position evokes fear. Fear is a response to the unknown. It results in “what if” questions and creates a self-perpetuating cycle of more fear. What if we all lose our jobs? or Is it going to be normal to discriminate against white people? Fear stems from living in a “perspective of lack” or belief there isn’t enough.
I believe the world is abundant and there is enough for everybody. I have faith (and personal experience) that when we consciously change our mindset from fearing loss to having faith in abundance, it shows up. What isn’t working is the current framework where very few white people have a lot and everybody else fights for scraps. Our entire world will improve when we tap into the abundance that exists and choose faith over fear.
The next sentence sounds cliché but it needs to be contemplated. A bright and productive economy depends on diverse executive teams and boards becoming the norm. We perpetually fill our circles with people who look like us, sound like us and think like us. Diversification requires the deliberate disruption of hiring and promoting from within our comfortable (read: white) circles.
Achieving diversity means we have to look outside our circles and deliberately find people to hire and promote who don’t look like us and talk like us and think like us – on purpose.
The cannabis industry owes a debt to the 30,000 (you read that number right) Black and Brown people rotting in prison for non-violent, cannabis possession. It’s a statistic that is unsurprisingly similar to the disproportionate number of unarmed Black and Brown people killed by the police. Black and Brown people in America are systematically targeted, profiled, and kept down. The prisoners to whom I refer weren’t committing crimes. They were possessing cannabis. Now cannabis companies, overwhelmingly run by white people, are making fortunes while those Black and Brown citizens are still imprisoned. This is unconscionable. It is time for us to target and profile Black and Brown people for leadership and board positions and get the others free to be with their families and contribute to society as productive citizens.
•Companies with diversity are statistically more profitable.
•Companies with gender and racially diverse executive teams provided 35% higher EBIT and 33% more long-term value creation over the least racially diverse companies. (source: McKinsey study)
•Companies with diversity will have a hiring advantage. “By the year 2025, 75% of the global workforce will be made up of millennials. The 2018 Deloitte Millennial Survey shows that 74% believe their organization is more innovative when it has a culture of inclusion. If businesses are looking to hire and sustain a millennial workforce, diversity must be a key part of the company culture They have a unique perspective on diversity and will control the leadership roles in the coming decade. While older generations view diversity through the lens of race, demographics, equality and representation, millennials see diversity as the desired norm.”
Fast forward to this year. I am now the CEO of our company in addition to being on the board, and recently was having a conversation about adding a new board member. I said, “We should look outside our circles and find a Black or Brown person.” The response was, “Shouldn’t we be looking for the most qualified candidate regardless of race?” Many people reading this are probably thinking, “Yeah, don’t you have an obligation to find the most qualified person?” and “Isn’t looking for a person of color reverse racism?” The assumption underlying these questions is that white men are automatically the most qualified. This flies in the face of the research which shows that diversity is the special sauce to buoyed success. I submit we have a responsibility to find Black and Brown people, especially in the cannabis industry. The cannabis industry is precisely the right place to start building a bright and productive economy. Our companies will be more profitable and sustainable. It’s a no-brainer. I am looking to nominate a qualified Black or Brown person to our board. “Can you send me impressive Black and Brown people who are ready to lead and bring strong perspectives to a new way of doing business?” I am currently asking these questions to tap circles other than mine. I believe it is a moral imperative. I believe these qualified candidates exist, even though they may not be in my personal circle. I believe the research.
Our board and our company will be better and more profitable if we have diversity of thought; and as long as I have the position and ability to make demands and nominate candidates, I will continue to do this intentionally.
A new forest is planted one tree at a time – a powerful image illustrating the impact one individual can have on the world by planting one seed at a time. A single person can make a difference if that is the intention. I am determined to use my power, energy and focus to plant the seeds of diversity. Corporate responsibility in cannabis means those with power and ability should join me.
