Jay-Z And Caliva Share Details Of Monogram Cannabis Brand, Mentorship Program

Last week, Jay-Z offered an initial glimpse into the world of his upcoming cannabis line, Monogram.

The event was marked by the debut of the site the Monogram website and the brand’s Instagram account.

Monogram is the first brand born out of the entrepreneur’s partnership with Caliva, one of the largest vertically-integrated cannabis companies in the U.S.

Jay-Z, whose real name is Shawn Carter, previously joined forces with Caliva as Chief Brand Strategist in July 2019.

“We are incredibly excited about Mr. Carter introducing MONOGRAM to the world. When we partnered with Mr. Carter in 2019, it was our shared mission to create products that would redefine our category. We’ve worked over the past year to bring Mr. Carter's vision to life and are looking forward to sharing more in the weeks to come,” Caliva CEO Dennis O’Malley said in a statement.

The Mentorship Program

Caliva recently announced details of its career training and mentorship program, aimed at supporting more diverse and fair hiring practices within the cannabis industry.

With this goal, the company joined forces with Chrysalis and Success Centers, two non-profit organizations dedicated to creating pathways to self-sufficiency for homeless and low income individuals. The idea is to help guide eligible candidates through every step of the reentry process.

Thus far, in the very initial stages of the partnership, Caliva has been able to hire multiple individuals through the program.

Due to the thousands of inmates who have been released early from California’s State prison system to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, this partnership will prioritize assisting recently incarcerated individuals, including those who were serving sentences for minor cannabis convictions.

Long-term, Caliva will open program eligibility to all individuals struggling to find income or shelter within the Los Angeles and Bay Area communities.

“We’ve always made a significant effort to support expungement and criminal justice reform at Caliva. Our mission is to provide ubiquitous access to cannabis for everyone, which goes beyond just offering our products," O’Malley told Benzinga. "We also seek to provide opportunities for all individuals who want to get involved in the business aspect of the industry, which is why we are really proud of the hires we’ve been able to make from Chrysalis and Success Centers thus far. We’ve been extremely impressed by the talent that they’ve recruited, and are looking forward to meeting with future candidates to fill new roles as we continue expanding across California."