Ethos, a cannabis company that does business in Massachusetts, has appointed Gibran Washington as CEO – making him the first Black person to run a cannabis company of its type.
The 39-year-old, former Hofstra University basketball standout, was promoted from within the company but spent much of his executive career in the restaurant industry. He embraces the ways he’s different from his peers.
“Not many CEOs or executives in cannabis actually use cannabis,” Washington told NBC10 Boston. “They're just kind of more figureheads. They talk about understanding the cannabis culture, but they've never been a part of the cannabis culture. So I think that we saw the opportunity to finally, maybe for the first time for an MSO (multi-state operator), to put someone in the forefront who actually uses cannabis, believes in cannabis, can talk through a conversation in cannabis.”
Ethos also operates in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Ohio. In Massachusetts, it has three dispensaries and a sprawling cannabis grow facility in Fitchburg.
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Bay State leaders, as well as leaders in other states, have promised diversity, equity and inclusion in the policymaking around the de-criminalization of cannabis to ensure those adversely affected by the drug can fully participate in its economic success. Washington, whose brother died a victim of the war on drugs, staunchly advocates for communities he feels were unfairly burdened when marijuana was illegal across the country.
“The last 100 years of cannabis prohibition has probably been unfair and probably been directed more at people of color,” Washington said. “This is our industry. This is the industry we died for; this is the industry we've been put in prison for. So, I do believe that, yes, that has helped equip me, but I think a lot of other people that look like me and have had similar experiences, could probably do the same job.”
