Gotham, a cannabis dispensary and lifestyle brand, announced it is accepting applications for a new “business accelerator program,” the Gotham Growth Program (GGP), that offers a crash course on the industry for up-and-coming minority-owned cannabis strains. The inaugural cohort will focus on black-owned businesses and brands in the growth stage, and later editions will expand to additional underserved communities.
“The idea for the Gotham Growth Project was born out of feedback we received from our store teams,” said Joanne Wilson, founder and CEO of Gotham. “They consistently shared a desire to see more diverse brands represented on our shelves. GGP is our response and also our responsibility to the people who make Gotham what it is. This is a tangible, intentional way to support Black founders who are already building strong products and deserve greater visibility, resources and pathways to scale.”
Applications are now open and close on March 11, 2026, at 5 p.m. The six-session program is open to 51% Black owned businesses based in all five boroughs, Westchester County and Long Island that already sell at least one licensed product, such as flower, pre-rolls, edibles, etc. The course will be taught by experts from both Gotham and other experts working within the industry, touching on six core areas:
● Brand foundation and positioning
● Product development and regulatory alignment
● Operations and sales strategy
● Retail readiness and partnerships
● Financial planning and capital preparedness
● Storytelling, pitching, and executive presence
According to Kenny Anderson, Gotham’s COO and one of the program leaders, the most difficult challenge for new entrepreneurs is crafting a pitch for their product or brand. At the end of the course, graduates will be invited to a live pitch showcase at The Highrise, Gotham’s semi-annual leadership salon produced in partnership with Cultivated Media, in October 2026.
Less than 10% of New York’s cannabis industry is minority-owned, which is a common trend in plenty of other industries. According to Wilson, new cannabis brands face the same struggles as in any industry and the largest hurdle is always securing capital, though they also face unique challenges because of the federal ban.
“There’s no capital in this industry because it’s not federally legal, so you’re not seeing classic private equity or investors who usually do consumer products come into this space because it’s so difficult to do that state by state,” Wilson said. “New York state still has the opportunity to do the right thing and we hope that we are pushing them forward onto the right track… since it’s a brand new industry and we’re looking exactly like all the other industries and that is so unfortunate.”
Wilson started Gotham with the intention of “elevating the industry” by folding in culture and lifestyle elements, such as art and fashion, to counter any stereotypical view of the once-illegal substance that began in the 1970s with President Richard Nixon’s Controlled Substances Act. The act gave cannabis its Schedule 1 classification, the most restrictive and the same category as heroin, which is where it remains to this day.
Wilson considers education on cannabis’s medical benefits, such as treating insomnia or chronic pain, an important aspect of her business and ensures Gotham’s “Canna-sseurs” can provide that information, as well as which brands are minority-owned. Gotham customers purchase their products and move on like “any other store,” which ensures no
“We built Gotham in the way that we did to change the narrative around cannabis and I think we’ve done that as we have seen incredibly sticky customers that once they come to us they basically come to us forever,” Wilson said.
One of these customers was Gia Morón, the founder of GVM Communications and former president of Women Grow LLC, the largest professional networking organization in the cannabis industry with a reach of 2.5 million. Wilson and Anderson reached out to Morón when they first conceived of the GGP for her expertise and visited the stores to learn more about Gotham.
“I came in as a typical customer and I really appreciated the way I saw their teams engaging with customers and how knowledgeable they were,” Morón said. As every retailer should be, but there was just a particular way in which they were engaging. If this is what they’re doing with the brands that they currently have… I can see how they could help some of these minority-owned founders out there that are looking to get into bigger stores like this or to even scale to multiple stores.”
Morón’s work in the cannabis industry included holding seminars and open houses that helped inform different communities around New York City about the health benefits before it was legalized. Morón, who has operated other pro-diversity programs, called Gotham’s “timely” to help those interested in joining the quickly growing industry and lent her 10 years of experience within it to help design the curriculum.
Morón stated it wasn’t just the experience of visiting the stores or the senior staff’s desire for such a program that made her sign on, but the efforts Gotham has already made to connect with the community, such as displaying and selling art from local artists.
“They’re engaging with community nonprofits that are really making a difference in many of the underserved communities throughout the city and state. That, to me, is what community is, what culture is, and how you serve your community beyond your borders… They walk the walk, and I applaud them for that.”
