Latinas in Cannabis hosted their annual summit for professionals and enthusiasts

Last Saturday, Latinas in Cannabis organized their second in-person annual summit dedicated to bringing together a diverse community of Latina advocates, entrepreneurs, creators and professionals for a day focused on cultivating connections and growing professionally. 

This is the first professional Latina empowerment and cannabis industry conference of its kind. The one-day event was intentionally curated for personal and professional development, relationship-building and opportunities for career advancement. 

The event featured leading Latinas in the cannabis industry, who participated in impactful panels focused on advocacy, breaking cannabis stigma, careers in cannabis sales, cannabis and motherhood, cannabis entrepreneurship and executive leadership.

Held in the heart of Hollywood, summit guests had the chance to build skills and confidence through value-driven workshops on Cannabis PR 101 and the power of the Latina vote this election year.

The event began with an intention-setting welcome ceremony by Lauren Spearmen, founder of R&B Yoga. Spearmen is a certified yoga teacher with a mission to promote inclusivity in the yoga community. She founded R&B Yoga in 2015, which provides a yoga experience combining R&B music with beginner-friendly techniques. 

R&B Yoga has collaborated with Adidas and Savage X Fenty and featured in the LA Times and NBC California Live. Spearman also teaches yoga therapy to patients at Trinity Health & Wellness and pursues her studies in the yoga therapy program at Loyola Marymount University.

One of the panel discussions was on Latinas in advocacy, destigmatizing and creating community with JM Balbuena and Sajira Castañeda. Balbuena is an accomplished author, filmmaker and entrepreneur known for her leadership in the cannabis industry. As the founder of Synergy, she uses the multimedia organization for advocacy and to drive social change. She is also the executive director of the Ryan's Law Foundation, a non-profit organization advocating for compassionate cannabis for terminally ill patients. Ryan’s Law, signed by California Governor Gavin Newsom in September 2021, allows terminally ill patients in use their own medical cannabis in a health care facility. 

Balbuena explained that the challenge with this law was passing it. “It took two times to go through Governor Newsom for him to actually sign it, even though, I must say, it had full support from both parties, both representatives from the Republican side and the Democratic side. In 2019 it went to his desk and he vetoed us,” she said. “And the reason he said that he did it was because the hospitals would have an issue with their federal funding. So we went back, and the organization confirmed that that would not be the case. And so we sent it a second time and he approved it then.”

As a proud Afro-Latina and U.S. Navy veteran, Balbuena continues to champion cannabis reform globally. During her panel, she also shared her personal experience with cannabis. “Some of you guys that I know personally know my story. I was in the Navy; I had an accident there. I had a concussion that caused some issues and coming out of the military dealing with the unique issues to veterans … but a veteran pretty much introduced me to cannabis and it changed my life, and so from there, I just became obsessed. And I'm still obsessed and just obsessed with like, ‘Why is this illegal?’” Balbuena said. “Before I had my encounter with cannabis, I thought about killing myself almost daily. I wasn't sleeping, I was dealing with depression [and] anxiety due to not being able to sleep consistently through the night because of the concussion and then dealing with PTSD and things like that. One joint, two minutes later, I just felt this [relief] and I was like, ‘I want to feel like that for the rest of my life.’”

Castañeda is the founder of Medicated Barbies and co-founder of Kushstock. At only 30 years of age, she is a driving force in the cannabis industry, working nationwide to help shape laws that allow cannabis events with legal sales. Born to Mexican immigrant parents, Castañeda is a proud first-generation American, deeply committed to her roots and a passionate advocate for Latino rights and immigration reform. Her work and influence have earned her recognition on the cover of media outlets like LA Weekly. Some of the advice she shared with the audience about Latinas joining the cannabis industry was to always show up.

“Coming to events like this is definitely an easy way to get into it,” Castañeda said. “If you're looking for a Latina community, I feel like this specific event has definitely helped me.”

Another of the panel discussions was led by political educator Jackie Hernandez, who spoke on the focus and the significance of the Latina vote and its impact on U.S. politics. Hernandez is a Mexican American and first-generation college graduate in her family. She is a health educator, researcher and community health specialist who firmly believes in leveraging electoral politics to drive progressive policy changes that support the working class, demonstrating her dedication to systemic reform in public health.

“The vote of all the Latinos that make up in the [minority] areas also matter. Those are kind of the parts that we have to think about. 36 million Latinos, 51% of those 36 million are Latinas. So that's a huge number. And by 2050, we're going to be one of the largest minority voting blocs in the entire nation,” Hernandez said during her panel discussion. “That means that we can determine a whole election of who and where the elections will sway.”

There were many more panels and workshops but the summit wrapped up with a Latina Power Sesh celebration highlighting the presenting sponsor, Zig-Zag. Guests received Zig-Zag gift bags and had a chance to win raffle prizes. Latina guests alsogained complimentary entry to Summer Nights in Hollywood, a Hispanic Heritage Month concert produced by Nationwide Presents hosted by CeCe Valentina, which featured live performances by Breal, Reverie, Sarah La Morena and more.

Founded in 2020, Latinas in Cannabis works to connect, empower, and celebrate Latinas who work, or aspire to work, in the cannabis industry through its online community, in-person events and resources to dismantle cultural and gender stigmas that create barriers to professional success. Latinas in Cannabis is led by Susie Plascencia, founder and CEO of the organization

Plascencia is also co-founder and CMO for MOTA Glass, a leading brand of American-made functional glass.