NuLeaf invests cannabis tax and corporate revenue into Portland, Oregon-based businesses owned by people of color and Portland professionals of color. NuLeaf’s work is specifically designed to address the capital, education, and connection hurdles that people of color face when entering the cannabis industry.
Our goal is to increase success outcomes for people of color in cannabis either as business owners or high-earning professionals. See how we do it.
Economic Justice
The City of Portland is the first U.S. municipality to invest tax revenue from the legalized cannabis industry into the communities most negatively impacted by cannabis criminalization. NuLeaf is funded in part by this historic initiative to rebalance the detrimental economic impacts of the war on drugs.
NuLeaf’s founders launched the Minority Cannabis Business Association (MCBA) in 2015. NuLeaf Project puts the policy and theories incubated at MCBA into real-world practice. We believe NuLeaf is a historic project to prove that an equitable free-market cannabis licensing system paired with small business and people development is the best path to creating a diverse cannabis industry.
Who we serve
Across the U.S., communities targeted by cannabis criminalization are communities of color, especially African American communities. In Portland, Oregon, black Portlanders were arrested at 4.3 times the rate of white Portlanders. Black Portlanders are the only racial group disproportionately targeted by arrest despite data that shows people of all races consume cannabis at the same rate.
The U.S. cannabis industry overall is reported to have only 4% of its businesses owned by people of color. (source: Marijuana Business Daily, 2017). The great financial opportunity of the cannabis industry should be available to all.
Portland, Oregon
United States
