Black History Year - Amber Senter

A recurring difficulty we face in writing these pieces is that we have a propensity for choosing figures that are very hard to encapsulate into a brief explanation.

In fact, you can go to Amber E. Senter’s website right now and find that there is no one way to describe her; she is incredibly multifaceted, multi-talented, and she makes her impact felt in many different ways. And she is the subject of our Black History Year edition for June.

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Amber is a perfect choice to focus this piece on, as June is also Pride History Month, and Amber is a proud queer Black woman, in her own words. However, she’s highly deserving of any article celebrating Black excellence regardless of her identity, as she has achieved more than most any other in this industry in such a short time.

“All my work has really been to lower barriers of entry for Black and brown folks in cannabis, and to help give opportunities to folks in underserved communities in the industry.” - source

Amber came out of the US Coast Guard and began her career in Design, Marketing and Project Management. In 2014 she joined the cannabis industry officially before launching the powerhouse nonprofit, Supernova Women, where she is currently the Executive Director.

Her resume is deep and interesting but nearly as much as the impact she’s had on the industry, which reaches much further than the specific roles she’s held.

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She is the architect of Oakland’s social equity program for cannabis (one of the first in the United States), a program being imprinted on many other states throughout the nation. She worked with Senator Steven Bradford on the California Cannabis Equity Act of 2018 (SB 1294) creating a fund to support local social equity programs in the state.

In 2021 Amber launched her biggest entrepreneurial venture yet: MAKR House. This is a house of brands highlighting the contributions of queer Black people, particularly women, in our culture. And the brands they’re producing are really exciting!

Disco J’s are infused prerolls with the THC crystals on the outside, making them sparkle. The brand is inspired by queer Black and Brown people finding space and community and joy in disco music.

Tiger’s Eye is a cannabis cigar brand hearkening back to the Black exploitation and culture of the 1970’s. The brand represents the extremely outsized impact Black culture has had on mainstream culture and entertainment.

Landrace Origins sits firmly at the intersection of cannabis and coffee. Sourcing coffee from a woman owned farm in DR Congo, and pairing it with quality cannabis grown primarily by women-owned and Black and Brown farms in NorCal. Funds from the sales of the coffee go back to build infrastructure in the village the coffee farm is located in. They’ve helped build a community and women’s health center, a maternity center, and support schools.

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MAKR House also launched the EquityWorks! Incubator, the first shared social equity cannabis manufacturing facility in the country. This is a space for brands produced by Black and Brown people, especially women, to launch their businesses among a community of similar entrepreneurs going through the same struggles.

EquityWorks! Incubator provides so much to help these brands launch, including connecting them directly into the cannabis supply chain and network of buyers Amber has cultivated over more than a decade of working in this industry. 

Lastly, we’d be remiss not to mention that Amber is lowkey a fashion icon in our industry. She absolutely represents the meticulous care, attention, and vision she commands in her work directly in her clothing. One thing can be sure, if Amber is in a room, you cannot miss her.

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Credit: https://soundcloud.com/weedweeknews/96-amber-senter-knows-a-superwoman-when-she-sees-one

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