When Carlo Manabat attended cannabis industry events, he was often one of the only people of color in the room. He also noticed that there were very few women. Then, through the Maryland Dispensary Association (MDDA), the Philippines native met Venushki Hemachandra, the Sri Lankan co-founder of Burtonsville dispensary Herbiculture, and Tracey Lancaster Miller, a Parkville native and co-founder of the Rockville-based dispensary Peake ReLeaf.

As minority owners in a predominately white, male industry, the three “shared a lot of lived experiences,” says Manabat, who provides software and analytics to cannabis retailers with his tech venture, Kuya. Together, in 2021, they established Project DREAM, a group within the MDDA working to bring equity and inclusion to the state’s growing cannabis industry.

“Initially, it was just about creating safe spaces among ourselves,” says Manabat of the group’s founding. But Project DREAM has evolved with the industry, which grew from medical to recreational use last summer, with last fall’s business-license lottery open exclusively to social equity applicants from communities disproportionately impacted by the War on Drugs.

“We went from a focus on education and outreach to trying to impact workforce development and the communities we do business in through expungement clinics,” says Manabat, with those clinics helping Marylanders clear marijuana convictions from their legal records.

Project DREAM has also launched a dispensary-owner mentorship program through the MDDA, part of a broader effort to not only make the industry more inclusive but provide the necessary network of support for these businesses to be successful.

“It’s not enough to just give these licenses,” says Peake ReLeaf’s Miller, who’s also the MDDA president. Aspiring dispensary owners face more obstacles than the typical business owners, from advertising to financing restrictions, stemming from the substance remaining illegal on the federal level.

Through its mentorship program, which pairs prospective license holders with current ones, Project DREAM and the MDDA hope to provide even more support to would-be entrepreneurs by connecting them with experienced industry professionals who have faced the same challenges. It also offers classes on funding, marketing, and operations.

The first two sessions had 22 graduates, 14 of whom applied for the state’s social equity lottery. All were accepted, and three ultimately received licenses.

“It’s more than just providing that first opportunity,” says Manabat. “We’ve learned that supporting them all the way to operations is what’s needed to have the impact that all of us want.”