Arana Hankin-Biggers has over two decades of experience working in economic development policy, urban planning, and real estate development. She served as the NYS Assistant Commissioner for Economic Development in the David Paterson administration, and as the Director of the Atlantic Yards Project, the President of the Queens West Development Corporation, and the Director of Columbia University’s Manhattanville Project for NYS Empire State Development.
Passionate about creative placemaking, Arana has successfully negotiated inclusive partnerships across diverse sectors ensuring economic opportunities for Minority and Women Business Enterprises in partnership with not for profits and the private sector. In 2021 Arana teamed up with former real estate colleagues and a cannabis finance executive from Massachusetts to develop a purpose driven cannabis venture, Harbour Community, that seeks to redirect profits from the cannabis sector to nonprofits that serve communities hit hardest by the War on Drugs.
Harbour successfully partnered with The Doe Fund to secure one of New York’s first dispensary licenses. Arana’s brand, the Travel Agency (TTA) has partnered with individuals with cannabis convictions and a disabled veteran to open 3 more licensed dispensaries in New York City. TTA has employed more than 200 Black and Brown people to work at four locations on some of the most desirable commerical corridors in New York City. The Travel Agency brand is the most successful cannabis retail brand in New York and has contributed close to $5 million in tax revenue to the state and city.
Arana received a BA from Howard University, a MA from Stanford University, and was a Loeb Fellow at the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University. She lives in Harlem with her partner, Sanford Biggers, a visual artist, and their eight-year-old daughter and four-year-old son.
The work I had been doing prior was always hyper focused on finding creative ways to use real estate development and economic policies to empower people of color.
The legislation that legalized cannabis for recreational use in New York established a mandate that prioritized granting licenses to communities that were the most harmed by the war on drugs. The opportunities that this piece of legislation created were initially viewed as reparations for the black community and a path to building generational wealth. I view the work I was doing prior as incredibly aligned and complementary to work I do in the cannabis sector.
We partnered with the not for profit The Doe Fund to secure one of the first cannabis retail licenses in New York. The Doe Fund has provided paid employment, transitional housing, and social services to formerly incarcerated and formerly homeless black and brown men for more than 30 years. Their mission is to transform lives.
We wanted a name that described the feeling one has when they consume cannabis (a departure from the stresses of life, the ability to reconnect with oneself, and realize one's highest potential), and also the transformative power of The Doe Fund. We think The Travel Agency successfully encompasses both.
I completely underestimated the need to connect with employees in a deeply personal and meaningful way in order to best support them.
I learned the importance of empowering leaders at all levels of the organization, and how essential strong leaders are, not just competent managers, for the success of the business. Building a people led company has been essential for The Travel Agency and I suspect it’s critical in all burgeoning businesses. The more you celebrate the unique qualities of each of your employees and give them the tools they need to succeed, the greater the financial health of the company will be.
Meet people where they are, and create opportunities that fit their strengths. Spend a lot of time focusing on making sure your employees are happy and feel valued, and are given clear and transparent ways to grow within the company. Listen to the employees on the ground, the ones that are on the frontlines interacting with our customers every day.
I admire my Aunt Thelma. She was my grandmother’s first cousin and like a great aunt to me. She was the first black woman to receive a liquor license in New York, with the help of Percy Sutton. She was a self made millionaire and helped her two brothers to also secure liquor licenses and open their own liquor stores. She began her career as a civil rights activist in Harlem and fought to integrate a popular department store. She was the first black woman to be employed by the store, and then she helped many other black women get hired there as well. She also was one of the organizers of a civil rights March on Washington that was organized by A. Philip Randolph in 1941.
She helped me realize that for black women in America it is nearly impossible to separate economic success and real opportunities for wealth building from civil rights because the two are so closely intertwined. Wealth has been systematically withheld from black communities for hundreds of years and working to break free of those systems is not without real challenge.
My family & friends. Community is everything and makes all the hard work and the stress manageable. You need a safe space to come home to with people who will support and believe in you unconditionally.
In cannabis, I am excited about Trump’s executive order that will finally reschedule cannabis so that it is no longer a Schedule I drug. This will eliminate the high business tax that we are currently required to pay (our effective tax rate is currently 70%), and allow for more capital to flow into the industry. I am hopeful that the rescheduling of this drug will help to destigmatize cannabis consumption nationally.
This is a tough one, but I’d have to say the TV show A Different World because it was instrumental in my decision to attend Howard University. Attending Howard was a transformative experience for me that gave me the confidence to follow my passions and led me on a path of incorporating social justice in everything that I do.
