Mission
The Mission of the Social Equity Program is “to promote equitable ownership and employment opportunities in the cannabis industry in order to decrease disparities in life outcomes for marginalized communities, and to address the disproportionate impacts of the War on Drugs in those communities.”
Program Overview
Cannabis criminalization and its enforcement has had long-term, adverse impacts to the City of Los Angeles, particularly for low income and minority community members.
The City of Los Angeles is one of the few jurisdictions in the United States attempting to address the impacts of past cannabis policies and their inequities by developing and implementing cannabis policies that seek to center equity in cannabis policy reform.
The Social Equity Program (SEP) is one tool the City of Los Angeles is using to begin to acknowledge and repair the harm caused by the War on Drugs and the disparate enforcement of cannabis prohibition.
Please check our website regularly for more information and updates related to the Social Equity Program and its implementation.
Social Equity Program Director
Dr. Imani Brown is the Social Equity Program Director for the Department of Cannabis Regulation. Within this role, Dr. Brown oversees the Business, Licensing, Compliance, Technical Assistance and Workforce Development Programs. She is also responsible for managing the department’s grants and Pro Bono-Low Bono Legal Services programs for verified Social Equity Program Applicants. The goal of the these programs is promoting equitable ownership and employment opportunities in the cannabis industry in order to decrease disparities in life outcomes for marginalized communities, and to address the disproportionate impacts of the War on Drugs in those communities.
Dr. Brown is an urban policy and planning expert with more than twenty-five years’ experience in sustainable urban land use, small business development, government relations, and public policy. Dr. Brown was responsible for directing hundreds of millions of dollars in economic development in Southern California and has managed multiple community-centered economic development projects. Dr. Brown earned her doctorate from USC in Policy, Planning, and Development in 2009.