We are committed to promoting diversity, equity and inclusion across our company, making sure everyone feels heard, seen and supported. We recognize that the cannabis industry has a ways to go in rectifying issues around equity and access for many communities. We strive to provide a safe company culture and community where employees feel represented and encouraged to bring their authentic selves to work every day.
We work diligently to foster a Diversity & Inclusion committee that drives internal strategy and engagement across all facets of our work. We strive to keep our applicant pool diverse so we can find the best candidates to join our team, which is why our committee works closely with the recruiting team to increase the number of diverse applicants in our candidate pool. To help educate employees across the company about various cultural and heritage topics, a dedicated group focuses on sharing resources to celebrate our diversity. Also, through a focus on supplier diversity, we are building practices to ensure we have vendors and products which embody and promote Columbia Care’s mission and values.
To help promote idea sharing and build community across our organization, we’ve created several affinity groups (employee resource groups). Our affinity groups are also a great opportunity for professional development and a way to develop a member’s network.
Pride and cannabis have both shared in the fight for respect and legal recognition, and the beginning of legalization of cannabis was heavily influenced by the LGBTQIA+ community. At Columbia Care, we are always excited to celebrate Pride month with our cannabis community! We believe it’s important to create a company culture that is welcoming and establish a respectful space that helps empower team members through involvement, education and support. Our internal affinity group, Pride@CC, helps us do just that during Pride month and beyond!
Women Lead is our women’s affinity group and is open to all employees who are interested in connecting other women and allies across Columbia Care and throughout the cannabis industry. Through internal initiatives ranging from donation drives for domestic violence shelters to pilot programs for free access to feminine hygiene products, we focus on opportunities for women through general networking, community outreach and professional development opportunities. Our goal with the group is to connect, learn and support each other.
Representing the honored service members in our workplace by enhancing employee engagement, we created the Veteran Community group, which focuses on recruiting and hiring processes, and actively works with external parties to support related initiatives, making it easier and more affordable for veterans to purchase medical cannabis. We are grateful to the members of the military who work at Columbia Care and those who continue to advocate for access to cannabis for those who have so bravely served our country.