Thanks for being here! Can you share a bit about SPHEREX’S mission and how you started on the path to social impact?
SPHEREX connects with our communities through activated events, impactful nonprofit engagement, and support of our industry. We create access to innovative products while fostering connectedness through socially-committed and playfully-engaged impact strategies among our customers and community partners. We believe we succeed when our community is connected and thriving, one neighborhood, one partner, one human at a time. Our social impact initiative began in 2023 with the release of our limited-edition strain, Lavender Haze, which was launched in celebration of Taylor Swift’s summer tour. In recognition of her Denver performance coinciding with Pride Month, we committed to donating a portion of each sale to two local LGBTQ+ organizations in Denver. Building on the success of this campaign, we expanded our efforts to engage the community through monthly events. These events feature clothing and canned food drives, which have since become a cherished tradition that we continue to uphold at all our gatherings.”
What are some of the most significant projects SPHEREX is currently working on, and how do they align with your mission?
Our recent initiatives include:
In August, we organized a deodorant drive for The Gathering Place during Skate with SPHEREX 4. Thanks to our community’s generosity, we collected over 300 deodorant items, a necessity the organization specifically requested due to the extreme summer heat. The Gathering Place expressed great appreciation for our efforts, noting it as the largest corporate deodorant donation they have ever received. A portion of each sale from our limited-edition strain, Summer Rozay, is currently being donated to La Fortaleza Familiar, an organization dedicated to supporting the wellness of Indigenous Chicanx, Latinx, LGBTQ+, and Two-Spirit youth and their families in Colorado. We have also partnered with Social Cannabis through their BeSocial giveback program, contributing $0.50 from every SPHEREX product sold to a local nonprofit of the dispensary’s choice.
How does SPHEREX measure the impact of its purpose driven initiatives?
The way we measure the impact of our initiatives varies depending on the campaign. For drives focused on collecting goods, we track and count each item before delivering them to the designated nonprofit. In the case of monetary donations, our contributions are based on the number of individual units sold, which we evaluate on a monthly or quarterly basis. All donations are tracked, measured and communicated back to our following on social media.
Social impact often involves navigating complex challenges. What are some of the biggest obstacles SPHEREX has faced, and how have you addressed them?
We have encountered a few challenges throughout our social impact campaigns. For our events, we make a concerted effort to communicate the items we are collecting to our followers and the broader community. This includes promoting the drive via social media, email campaigns, and web invitations. We also call out the drive in the title of each event. In the week leading up to the event, we intensify our outreach to ensure that participants are fully aware of the drive and have sufficient time to gather the requested goods. We have observed that certain items are more convenient for people to donate than others. For example, our coat drive was one of our most successful campaigns, as many attendees had lightly used coats readily available at home. In contrast, the deodorant drive posed more challenges, as we specifically requested new, unopened deodorants, requiring most people to make a special trip to purchase the items. We’ve also found that some organizations are unable to partner with cannabis brands due to grants or compliance.
What drew you to get involved with CDG’s Impact Program?
Several of our dispensary partners, including Lightshade and Social Cannabis, recommended us to the CDG program after experiencing significant success through their own partnerships. CDG has been instrumental in helping us refine our brand goals, articulate our mission statement, and connect with local organizations open to collaborating with cannabis brands
It often feels the customer conversation is both a huge challenge and opportunity when launching social impact initiatives. Can you tell us why you feel engaging your audience with social impact is so important?
We’ve observed a growing trend where consumers are increasingly choosing to support brands whose values align with their own, often as a form of exercising their political and social influence. By being transparent about our brand mission and core values, we aim to cultivate long-term relationships with loyal customers who share our vision. When consumers feel that a company reflects their principles, they are more likely to continue supporting that brand, fostering a lasting connection that benefits both the business and the customer.
Tell us a little bit about your nonprofit partner, La Forteleza Familiar.
La Fortaleza has been a valued partner of ours for nearly a year, beginning with the Lavender Haze campaign and continuing through our current Summer Rozay initiative. In both campaigns, we have donated a portion of each product sale to support the organization’s mission of promoting the wellness of Indigenous Chicanx, Latinx, LGBTQ+, and Two-Spirit youth and their families in Colorado. To date, we have contributed nearly $5,000 to this impactful local nonprofit.
What do you hope to gain from participation in the Giveback Program?
Our goal is to be recognized as a brand that genuinely cares about the Colorado community. While many brands tend to support widely recognized initiatives, such as the Last Prisoner Project, which is popular within the cannabis industry, partnering with CDG has given us the opportunity to think creatively and push the boundaries of what we can achieve as the SPHEREX community. This partnership allows us to explore diverse ways to make a meaningful impact across demographics.
Finally, what is your big hairy audacious goal for this year? How can folks join you in that mission?
Our goal for 2025 is to significantly expand our volunteer initiatives in collaboration with the SPHEREX community. As our events continue to grow in popularity, we see a valuable opportunity to engage our supporters more deeply by encouraging their participation in a variety of volunteer activities. By channeling this enthusiasm into meaningful community service, we aim to create impactful and memorable experiences not only for our followers but also for the non-profit organizations. Our vision is to cultivate a culture of giving back, where our events serve as a platform for positive social engagement and lasting community impact.