Ebele Ifedigbo

Ebele is founding co-executive director of The Hood Incubator, a national organization working to leverage the historic rise of the legal marijuana industry to build economic and political power for Black communities harmed by the drug war.

Ebele is a Yale MBA graduate committed to using business to foster innovation and racial equity in cannabis. Ebele has served as an NAACP Economics Fellow, working to develop federal and state policies and programs aimed at closing the national Racial Wealth Divide. Ebele’s other professional experiences include working as an analyst at Ameriprise Financial, a legal and compliance summer analyst at Goldman Sachs, and an MBA summer intern for the worker cooperative development organization Project Equity. Ebele received a joint BA in Economics and Philosophy, with a minor in African Studies from Columbia University in New York City.

In 2017, Ebele was awarded the Echoing Green global social entrepreneurship fellowship for their work with The Hood Incubator. Later that year, Ebele was honored by Entrepreneur Magazine as one of 2017’s Most Daring Entrepreneurs, along with Jeff Bezos, Issa Rae, Elon Musk, and other global innovators. In 2018, Ebele was named to the 2018 Forbes 30 Under 30, 2018 Essence Woke 100, 2018 Marijuana Ventures Magazine 40 Under 40, and 2018 High Times Most Influential People in Cannabis Lists.

Project Description

The Hood Incubator works to increase the participation of Black communities in the legal cannabis industry. Through our three core areas of work – community organizing, policy advocacy, and economic development – we are creating a healthy and sustainable ecosystem of industry access, resources, and support that benefits Black communities.