OUR STORY

Our fearless female founders created Cannabis Doing Good (CDG) in 2017 with a boldly humble endeavor to foster a purpose-driven cannabis community that sets the standard for community benefit, racial justice, and environmental justice. Our hope is that one day racial and environmental justice will be synonymous in the industry.

Rooted in the power of this ecosystem, CDG creates pathways for consumers to support racially-just, people-centered, and planet-loving brands. Simultaneously, CDG offers resources for cannabis businesses to recenter communities, just values, and improve business practices. In 2020 the vision expanded to encompass a landmark Anti-Racism training specifically for cannabis, which is now conducted for companies (and ancillary) across the country.

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Same Dream, Bigger Mission

In order to reach as many businesses and customers as possible, we launched CDG’s Giveback Program and adopted a new name: Companies Doing Good. Now we were attaching impact to product sales and doing it across all industries. Using the foundations of stakeholder capitalism and impact economics, CDG began expanding its footprint. Now, as Companies Doing Good, CDG creates pathways for customers to support racially-just, people-centered, and planet-loving brands. We are the trojan horse for Good; by educating customers on the power of their dollar and the businesses they choose, we can build a new economic model where social impact is baked into every business and brand across the country.

We can showcase that Doing Good, is in fact, Good for Business. Whether that be through the Giveback Program or our consulting services, by positively supporting communities that have been systematically oppressed, we can shape our story into one of community benefit, rather than extractive capitalism. We still use our health-equity framework, centering the struggle of our neighbors, the hope of our communities and the planetary climate crisis as primary stakeholders in our theory of change. So we have the same dream with an even more expansive mission. To Do Good not just in cannabis, but in every market and sector we touch.
Together, our collective legacy can grow beyond our wildest dreams. Together, we can build conscious capitalism beyond a philosophy – and into practice. Together, Good is possible.

Successes + Shout Outs

CDG is a Black-owned, queer-owned, woman-owned business. Founders Kelly Perez and Courtney Mathis have a combined 20 years of health equity and policy reform expertise, 20 years of nonprofit and leadership development, and a 10-year career in cannabis. During their time at CDG they have successfully implemented social responsibility and social equity programming for companies across the country and have received awards and recognition for their Cannabis Social Responsibility work from Green Entrepreneur, CBA Globes, Weedweek, and The Cannabist. They’ve been honored to speak at PolicyLink, MjBizCon, New West, SXSW, Women Grow, and many more.

Kelly and Courtney train, speak and advise on equitable policy initiatives across the US and Canada. Their work has been featured in Forbes, the San Francisco Chronicle, Represent Collaborative, ABC News, Canada’s The Star, Marijuana Business Magazine, Marijuana Moment, Pacific Standard, Colorado Public Radio, The Nonprofit Quarterly, CBS Local, and many other cannabis-trade magazines. Additionally, they were featured in Green Entrepreneur as one of the top 100 cannabis companies in the country.

Our Successes

CDG was listed as one of the Top 100 Cannabis Companies in the United states for our work in social responsibility, which has granted us numerous nominations for recognition across the country. We proudly support strategic partners such as the Minority Cannabis Business Association, Women Grow, Marijuana Business Magazine, Minorities for Medical Marijuana, and Drug Policy Alliance.

Forbes recently featured CDG for making a substantial impact on the industry with our leading work in racial justice and social responsibility.  Additionally, our work has been featured in ABC News, The Star (Canada), Marijuana Business Magazine, Marijuana Moment, Pacific Standard, Colorado Public Radio, The Nonprofit Quarterly, CBS Local, and many other cannabis-trade magazines.

As Seen On:

Origin Story

CDG began as kindColorado in 2015, driven by the mission of our black and woman owners, to bridge communities with cannabis businesses, assist business leaders with Social Responsibility programming, and build a foundation for racial equity in cannabis. This consulting work blossomed into the development of the nationally recognized Cannabis Social Responsibility (CSR) framework.

Today, kindColorado’s consulting and training services are newly housed under Cannabis Doing Good. Kelly and Courtney’s mission remains at the heart of all we do. Cannabis Doing Good hosts a global membership program and offers the CDG Badge as verification of good work in the industry. In addition, CDG offers CSR/community engagement consulting services and social equity policy solutions to emerging and existing markets.  We believe the cannabis industry has profound power to create a confluence of economic, social, and political change. By positively supporting communities that have been systematically targeted,  we can shape the cannabis industry’s evolving story into one of community benefit rather than extractive capitalism.  Cannabis businesses can — and should — do good.

CDG’s sister the Cannabis Impact Fund was founded in 2020 as a 501(c)3 nonprofit with the mission to support the movement for Black lives by garnering pledges from cannabis companies  in support of racial justice-focused organizations such as The Bail Project, Color of Change, Black Futures Lab, Hood Incubator, and Minorities for Medical Marijuana. At CDG we make the right thing, the easy thing. Let’s Do More Good, together.

We wouldn’t be where we are without some very special partners. Special thanks to PufCreativ for shepherding our message so that our mission could grow beyond our wildest dreams.