Building Equity: The Story Behind BIPOCann's Advanced Mentorship Program

BIPOCann founder Ernest Toney joins the CashColorCannabis Podcast to discuss the organization's Advanced Mentorship Program, the Spring 2026 cohort, and the Cannabis Equity Summit in Denver. 

We explore how mentorship, networking, and meaningful partnerships are helping underrepresented cannabis entrepreneurs grow their businesses and what Ernest hopes to see from future cohorts.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to another episode of Cash Color Cannabis Podcast, a higher level of conversation. I am your host, Mecca. If you spent any time in the cannabis, you've probably heard the phrase social equity. But for many entrepreneurs, the real challenge isn't getting the license. The real work begins afterward. Access to capital, the right mentorships, strategic partnerships, and sustainable growth often is just out of reach of many, regardless of a founder's background. That's where organizations like BipodCan are working to make a difference. Founded by Ernest Tony, BipodCan is dedicated to supporting underrepresented cannabis entrepreneurs and businesses. One of the ways it fulfills that mission is through the Advanced Mentorship Program. Established in 2022, the program is offered twice a year. Now, over the course of 15 weeks, participants receive one-on-one mentorship from industry advisors, weekly coaching sessions, and access to resources designed to help them grow and scale their businesses. Each cohort concludes with the Cannabis Equity Summit, bringing together entrepreneurs, mentors, investors, retailers, and industry leaders with one shared goal: helping founders build businesses that last. Today we're taking you inside that experience. We'll hear from BIPOCAN founder Ernest Tony as he reflects on the most recent cohort, explain how participants are selected, and shares his hopes with this group in the future. Ernest Tony, I'm the founder of BIPOCAN.

SPEAKER_01 1:31

So um you know, BIPOCAN has been in partnership with uh Colorado's Cannabis Business Office since 2022. Uh the Cannabis Business Office or the CBO, which is a business support division of Colorado's Office of Economic Development and International Trade. And maybe four years ago, uh through like a a state bill, they received funding uh which established this office, but also made dollars available to support social equity license licensees. And uh it was also uh set up to provide uh you know technical assistance and general business development support. Um back in 2022 when this initiative began, uh you know, they had a program manager and uh the office initially was focusing on providing grants to operators. Um but they didn't really have resources to do much else. And that's when we sort of came in just through some collaboration and some conversation, uh suggested, hey, can we make some of these grant dollars go farther by providing some of the critical uh business development and technical assistance that many of the licensees need? And as you know, um, you know, I've been in the industry for several years, and uh by the time 2022 came around, we already had a pretty strong network. Already been doing a whole lot of work with licensees to understand what some of their biggest challenges were. Uh so we had, you know, this business model that was in some ways like plug and play. Uh folks were getting some funding, but they maybe needed some other help with uh finding relevant connections that could support their growth. Um, and you know, we were able to help with that, but we also were trying to help these folks uh just with business fundamentals.

SPEAKER_00 3:36

For many founders, building a cannabis business isn't just about having a great idea, it's about finding the right people, asking the right questions, and having access to resources that aren't easy to find. That's the gap BIPOCCAN sets out to close.

SPEAKER_01 3:50

So in 2022, we launched this pilot mentorship program. It was rough, but we had some successes, and it was good enough that uh in 2023 we were able to uh offer our first structured uh 10-week mentorship program. Now, since 2023, that process has really evolved and uh to 15-week programs. And uh at the end of 2025, um while the CBO was receiving less funding, uh they were happy with the results that they had seen from uh some of their initiatives, including the technical assistance work. And um BIPOC can applied for uh um we there was like a proposal or uh like an RFQ that was available to provide a year-long worth, a year's worth of mentorship programming, and we ended up winning that contract. So in the beginning of this year, we launched our uh first of two uh mentorship programs, which we're gonna run in 2026.

SPEAKER_00 4:59

The spring 2026 advanced mentorship program paired entrepreneurs with experienced professionals who could provide guidance on everything from strategy and operations to fundraising and business development.

SPEAKER_01 5:12

And um, this year's focus was really around addressing, you know, the gaps behind, you know, the biggest barrier that we hear every single year: access to capital. Now, we know that capital is hard to come across, and we know that in this industry, these regulated businesses have so many barriers. And in all the years of work that we've done from coaching, helping people write business plans, helping people fundraise. Uh, I continue to hear, you know, operators say we need access to capital. But what I found is that many of the businesses are not prepared to go out and do the fundraising that is necessary. Uh, so this mentorship program in the spring, you know, the educational 15-week program was really about addressing business and financial uh fundamentals. So, you know, we started out by going over um, you know, business model development, financial literacy, revenue projections. Um, we did things like help you know some of the operators with pitch deck development and storytelling. And really the goal was to have the businesses finish the program and you know, being in a place where they felt more confident about you know communicating their business and their value. But hopefully, you know, there's enough folks that could go through and and uh and and build upon you know the financial gaps that they may have had when the program began.

SPEAKER_00 6:46

Due to changes at the government level and increased participation, this year's cohort has been different than others.

SPEAKER_01 6:53

This year, you know, what's interesting is in past years when we ran the program, you know, the eligibility requirement was you know, businesses that could participate were the ones that received grant funds. Um, you know, this year there was no more like grant dollars available. So the program was really open to any social equity licensee in Colorado that was interested. And we ended up having 24 businesses start in the program. 12 of them were pre-revenue. Uh, so they're in the process of getting their doors open. And the other 12 are already like operational and revenue generating businesses. So it was our biggest cohort cohort to date, and we had some challenges there because we were working with businesses that are at so many different stages. Uh, so in addition to us providing that like structured education, we also did one-on-one advisory. We had a couple of business workshops, we had a big event in May where we just brought participants together and gave them that chance to really talk about the type of support that they needed. So our uh the program really touched a lot of different areas, and the whole goal was to meet the businesses where they were, where they are. Uh, and again, we wanted to help them strengthen their pathways to growth and capital. As I mentioned, this year was the the largest one to date. And I also like recognize that you know this year there are you know greater constraints in the industry, uh, specifically within Colorado, but also within the industry at large, um, that make it you know more challenging and more competitive, you know, compared to you know pre previous years. So I felt like um, you know, in past years, some of the stuff that we were able to teach, we were able to, you know, sort of guide the businesses and they were able to see immediate return. Uh, you know, on they in some ways they were seeing action you know faster because uh they were able to apply like these concepts, and it I don't want to say it was less competitive, but uh the industry seemed like it was a better place. So I think rooms for partnership and the ability for other like service-based businesses or even some lenders to like you know um be involved was was easier. Um but with that being said, you know, there were still some successes this year. And um out of that, like the 24 businesses that like started, I would say over the 15-week program, you know, maybe 18 of those businesses I felt like were engaged and you know participated like for the full 15 weeks. Um sometimes like it could, you know, it's that's not necessarily a bad thing. It may just be that the timing wasn't right. But for those businesses that were engaged, I mean several of them like reported uh you know seeing uh growth. Uh maybe they had increased retail product placements. Um, you know, I know at least uh four of the businesses reported that uh they're that they were able to uh expand and grow, so there was some hiring that took place. Uh I know that three of the businesses were able to receive equity or investment funding. Uh there are another couple of businesses that receive some non-dilutive funding, so grants and scholarships. So um one of the benefits of this program, like this year, is because we're it's a year-long initiative, uh, we have a little bit more time to like work closely with these businesses. And and we still have more time. There's still still like some work in progress. Uh so I think by you know the end of this calendar year, we'll be able to give a better picture of where all the businesses you know finished. But uh overall, I thought it was a good program. And you know, the folks uh that responded, you know, said that they got a lot of value from it.

SPEAKER_00 11:02

Perfect. You know, last question: how did you go about finding the um the members of the cohort this year?

SPEAKER_01 11:09

Yeah, so because this year we removed that barrier of you know have you know participants or making grant you know recognition a prerequisite prerequisite, really like we made it open to any Colorado social equity licensee. Uh, one of the cool things is we've had you know we've been successful in this program because there's continuity each year. So um, for example, uh some of the businesses, this is their third or fourth year in a row of being in our program. Uh so it's not like they're getting um that we're just repeating the education each year, uh, because we try to be flexible and adjust to the needs that um that the businesses are are uh experiencing. Uh and you know, challenges that somebody might have had two years ago when they were pre-operational are a lot different when they're you know generating revenue and trying to grow. So we can the the program, you know, we've seen a ton of value because it can evolve and grow with the business over time.

SPEAKER_00 12:15

As a spring 2026 cohort comes to a close, another group of entrepreneurs leaves with more than just knowledge. They leave with new mentors, new connections, and hopefully new opportunities. We'll be watching to see where these founders go next and how their relationships built in Denver continue to shape the businesses in the months and years ahead. Special thank you to Ernest Tony and the entire BIPOC Cann team and every member of this year's cohort for allowing us into this experience. If you enjoyed today's episode, be sure to subscribe to Cash Color Canvas Podcast wherever you listen to podcasts. You can also visit CashColourCannabis.com for more stories. And please, if you really want to support us, join our Patreon. That's where we get exclusive interviews, behind the scenes footage from the magazine, and exclusive discounts on merch. So until next time, I'm Mecca. Thank you for listening. And this is Cash Color Cannabis Podcast, a high level conversation.