THE HIGHRISE

For seven years, I put on the Women’s Entrepreneur Festival, a conference that grew out of a simple observation by my partner, a professor at ITP at NYU, who noticed her classes were no longer gender balanced. It changed how she taught. She worried there weren’t enough women in tech, while I kept meeting women entrepreneurs who approached business differently and needed a place to gather. The Women’s Entrepreneur Festival became that place. A place where women could connect, listen, and be heard.

I am now deep in the world of cannabis, where every day something changes, and there are multiple factions of the business. I have attended a few industry events that cover different aspects of the business. A few are helpful. Most leave you with more noise than clarity. But people—our customers included—want to understand what’s going on.

Over a year ago, we partnered with Cultivated, one of the most trusted editorial voices in cannabis. They pull together a weekly overview for Gotham’s newsletter, and the click-through rate is over 65%. That tells me people are hungry for real insight.

We decided it was time to build something that didn’t already exist in this space. Not another conference. Not a trade show. A salon. A place where people shaping the future of cannabis- operators, founders, policymakers, investors, writers, cultural leaders- can actually sit together and talk about what’s happening now and what’s coming next.

We’re calling it The Highrise, presented by Gotham and Cultivated.

The cannabis industry is evolving fast, and New York is right in the middle of that shift. The Highrise will be a semi-annual gathering, built around conversations that bring clarity and challenge assumptions. Each salon concludes with a happy hour where attendees can continue the conversation and connect—simple, focused, high-impact.

Our first event is on January 29th at The Greene Space. We’re thrilled that Senator Kirsten Gillibrand will join us for a keynote conversation with Jeremy Berke, co-founder and editor-in-chief of Cultivated Media. They’ll discuss federal cannabis policy and what upcoming changes could mean for New York. They’ll also talk through the political realities in Washington, what real federal progress could look like for entrepreneurs and investors, and what it takes to build a responsible and inclusive market.

After the keynote, we’ll turn to two areas that deserve more oxygen in this industry. First, the growing body of science and medical research- what’s being discovered, who’s funding it, and how those findings should guide the way forward. And second, the state of investment. There are still far too few investors willing to invest in cannabis, and we want to unpack why that is, what they need to see to feel confident, and what the industry looks like if real capital continues to sit on the sidelines.

There are 150 seats available, and people must apply to come. We want a room full of people who truly care about the future of this industry and who leave feeling energized, informed, and clearer about where things stand. We want the cannabis industry to rise high and be recognized as an essential part of the economy as we grow.

My hope is that The Highrise becomes the gathering I’ve been looking for in cannabis: something grounded, smart, and genuinely useful. I believe others are looking for the same.