An advocate of social justice for her entire career, Danielle Drummond started at multistate operator Ascend Wellness Holdings (OTC: AAWH) in 2021 as the company’s vice president of social equity, her first foray into the professional marijuana world. Less than three years later, she took home the prize for advocacy, just last month at the Green Market Report Women in Cannabis Awards in New York City.
“I believe in the power of the plant to change lives medicinally and financially. I have had close family and friends incarcerated for this and this is my way of ensuring that they and our community are served and can benefit from this industry,” Drummond told Green Market Report.
At Ascend, Drummond oversees the company’s CO-Lab social equity program, which includes business mentoring for minority entrepreneurs, providing industry education for social equity license candidates, helping get social equity participants’ criminal records expunged, and raising money for nonprofits such as the Last Prisoner Project that aim to help communities affected by the war on drugs.
Drummond said her proudest accomplishments stem directly from the hands-on work she’s done with social equity permit applicants and how business success can be truly life-changing, particularly given that building trust in such communities isn’t easy to begin with.
“When someone comes in tears to me at a clinic and says this expungement gave them their life back when we are able to give someone an opportunity at generational wealth through supporting their business, watching them excel in the industry, and watching people walk away from our clinics feeling renewed about life are always the proudest moments,” Drummond said.
Drummond said one of her biggest hurdles has been convincing many social equity applicants she works with to trust Ascend Wellness, a publicly traded company with a market cap of roughly $200 million.
“People don’t trust big companies understandably and often see this work as something they are doing to check a box,” Drummond said. “Taking the time to build authentic, lasting, and meaningful relationships takes work but it is has to be the foundation of the work. It has been the secret sauce to finding the right partners and the key to our success.”
Even with how difficult it’s been, Drummond said she’s looking forward to continuing social equity work in the years to come.
“Being able to watch (social equity) businesses open and thrive is exciting. If I can walk away from this work feeling like we have meaningfully contributed to the generational wealth of our communities, I will feel like we have accomplished our goal,” she said.
