IRVINE, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Green Enterprise, produced and operated by Digital Venture Partners and Black Enterprise, along with Weedmaps, the leading online tech platform for cannabis businesses and consumers, announced today its first Information, Education & Empowerment Summit. The two-day virtual event will bring together entrepreneurs, politicians and thought leaders to discuss the challenges facing BIPOC in the emerging cannabis industry and pathways to success.

The event will take place February 22-23 and feature a combination of panel discussions covering a wide range of topics, from entrepreneurship to cannabis marketing to building an inclusive industry.

“Since the inception of Green Enterprise our goal has been to bring authentic stories to illustrate the successes achieved by Black, Indigenous, and People of Color operating within the emerging global cannabis industry. Our work with Weedmaps has already shown amazing progress in supporting our work to establish Green Enterprise as an authority in Black Cannabis media”, said Andrew Farrior, Producer of Green Enterprise. “While also bringing an exciting dynamic to our distribution partnership with Black Enterprise, Weedmaps is working with my partner Ryan Rapaport and I to educate and empower entrepreneurs from all backgrounds.”

As part of the summit, presenting sponsor Weedmaps will facilitate a special panel discussion examining barriers to access and exploring ways for groups in the social equity space to work together and leverage resources. The discussion will also include how social equity-qualified businesses can access the benefits of WM TEAL (Together for Equity, Access & Legalization) — an initiative that provides tools and resources to eligible businesses in the cannabis industry.

“We are excited for the opportunity to work with Green Enterprise to produce this important event and continue to share our company’s commitment to building an equitable industry,” said Juanjo Feijoo, Weedmaps executive. “As legalization continues to move forward across the country and as the cannabis industry grows, we have a responsibility to not only address the wrongs inflicted on minority communities through the War on Drugs, but also create a more inclusive economy at scale. The challenges are many, but creating a forum for open discussion and education with key industry decision makers is more often than not the necessary catalyst for real change to occur.”

Covering topics such as social impact, entrepreneurship, as well as economics and investing, the full schedule is available at GreenEnterprise.live, and the panel discussions are as follows:

• Reversing the Damage of The War on Drugs
• Women Leading The Cannabis Conversation
• Together for Equity, Access, & Legalization
• Understanding New Cannabis Laws
• The Importance of Black Ownership & Empowerment in the Cannabis Industry
• A Conversation Around Black Cannabis Advocacy
• Black Cannabis Dispensary Entrepreneurs
• The Crossover: How to Enter the Cannabis Industry
• A Cannabis Marketing Conversation
• Raising Capital for Your Cannabis Startup
• Don’t Get Got! Finding Affordable Capital & Avoiding Predatory Contracts
• Non-plant Touching Cannabis Business

For more information on attending the summit, visit https://www.greenenterprise.live/.

About Black Enterprise

Black Enterprise, your ultimate source to build Wealth for Life, is the premier business, investing, and wealth-building resource for African Americans. Since 1970, Black Enterprise has provided essential business information and advice to professionals, corporate executives, entrepreneurs, and decision makers, on entrepreneurship, careers, and financial management and related topics. A multimedia, digital-first company, Black Enterprise also produces video and podcast programming, business and lifestyle events, Web content, apps, and other digital media. Visit www.blackenterprise.com for more information.

About Digital Venture Partners

DIGITAL VENTURE PARTNERS (DVP) is a majority minority-owned venture company that has content and brand partnerships with multiple mainstream media platforms, as well as investments in multiple black-owned cannabis startups. DVP curates projects and content that spotlights stories of minority entrepreneurship and culture. The company and it’s founders have been featured in publications such as The Associated Press, FORTUNE, and more.

DVP works in partnership with Black Enterprise to produce, manage, and expand the Green Enterprise series as an authority in black cannabis media.

About WM Holding Company, LLC

WM Holding’s mission is to power a transparent and inclusive global cannabis economy. Now in its second decade, WMH has been a driving force behind much of the legislative change we’ve seen in the past 10 years.

WM Holding Company, LLC (“WM Holding” or “WMH” or “the Company”), parent company of Weedmaps and its WM Business SaaS offering, is the leading technology and software infrastructure provider to the cannabis industry. Founded in 2008, WMH is the leading two-sided marketplace and SaaS provider to the cannabis industry, comprising the Company’s B2C marketplace, Weedmaps, and its B2B software, WM Business. The Company’s cloud-based SaaS solutions provide an end-to-end operating system for cannabis retailers. These tools support compliance with the complex, disparate and constantly evolving regulations applicable to the cannabis industry. Underlying this compliance functionality is a proprietary and sophisticated rules engine that is a core underpinning of the WM Business SaaS platform. Through its website and mobile apps, WM Holding provides consumers with the latest information, data and availability of cannabis products, facilitating product discovery and driving sales for our customers. The Company holds a strong belief in the power of cannabis and the importance of enabling safe, legal access to consumers worldwide. Since inception, WMH has worked tirelessly, not only to be the most comprehensive platform for consumers, but to build the software solutions that power businesses compliantly in the space, to advocate for legalization, social equity, and licensing in many jurisdictions, and to facilitate further learning through partnering with dozens of subject matter experts on providing detailed, accurate information about the plant.

Headquartered in Irvine, California, WMH employs approximately 400 professionals around the world, including in Denver, New York, Ontario, Canada and Barcelona, Spain. Visit us at www.weedmaps.com.