Brooklyn dispensary, Yerba Buena, honors women entrepreneurs on Earth Day

LeeAnn Mata, Amy Chin and Danielle Hawkins pictured at Yerba Buena’s Earth Day event honoring them (Photos courtesy of Nick Pichardo)

by SAGE SWABY

May 8, 2025

Brooklyn dispensary Yerba Buena hosted their Earth Day celebration, Women Who Give Un Chin Más, honoring women entrepreneurs who embody impact across cannabis, wellness, and community leadership.

The women-, minority- and family-owned cannabis business launched on March 6, led by founders Doralyn De Dios Brito and Diogenes Brito. The couple partnered with license holder, Jillian Dragutsky, to open their “hub of cannabis, culture and community.”

“Our brand is about intentional, moderate consumption, and giving back to the community. We thought, what better way to commemorate that than by celebrating Earth Day [and] Mother Earth?” said De Dios Brito. “We thought about just honoring women in celebration with Mother Earth, and who could those women be? Some of us have personal connections with some of the honorees that we have and have been following them for years and know the type of work they’ve been doing.”

Alongside honoring community leaders, the event included a Polaroid keepsake wall, a sustainable activation with Eaton Botanicals and a cannabis education corner led by Yerba Buena’s budtenders. Honorees’ loved ones witnessed award acceptances and browsed the varied cannabis items displayed.

Honoree Leeann Mata received an Impact Maker award. Mata founded Brooklyn’s first Black women-owned dispensary, Matawana. The inspiration to start her business draws from her prior profession as a teacher with the inability to travel and do the things she wanted to for her children. “I had to tap into generational wealth, but I didn’t want to do it where I lost myself. That could have been any other business,” she said. “With cannabis, I understood it was an herb, I understood it was a healing plant, and my mother was also addicted to opioids. So it was about me helping myself and my community.” Mata constantly thinks of ways she can give back and serve her community.

Working alongside other women cannabis entrepreneurs is something Mata values. Joining together, they can rise above the widespread number of illegal shops in New York City. “Collaboration over competition,” she said. “They had all [those] illegal shops because the demand was there. So why can’t we all thrive together? I think it’s more about building a community and giving back to the community. And that’s what makes us stand out from all these illegal shops.”

A recipient of an Impact Maker award as well is honoree Amy Chin. Founder of wellness platform Calm Better Days, Chin consults those who are new to plant medicine on ways to consume effectively. Chin’s anxiety and postpartum depression led her to working with cannabis. As a long term THC consumer, she had no knowledge of CBD until her therapist suggested she look into it to manage her mental health. After having kids, Chin approached her health more holistically and did not want to take pharmaceutical drugs. She received a medical CBD card and the results blew her away. “I noticed the transformation in myself, going from an impatient, cranky, yelling mom, not the mom I wanted to be, and then to finally feel normal,” she said. “Once I felt that and felt the changes, I started looking into it more for myself, and [thought], ‘Why is this information not out there for everyone?’ So in 2019, I started my own company, Calm Better Days.”

With her business, Chin helps customers through the basics, understanding how CBD works in their body, different delivery methods and how to find the optimal dose. She customizes treatment plans to guide people to the right products to help their problems. “I curate from women-owned, BIPOC-owned brands, small-batch farms, because I also want that to be part of education,” she said. Chin has applied for a retail dispensary and while waiting, continues to serve her community through CBD education.

Honoree Danielle Hawkins shows up for her community as a housing advocate and coordinator of eviction prevention at Red Hook Community Justice Center. Recipient of the Community Champion award, Hawkins works parallel to cannabis, not directly. “I am involved in supporting the community, and working in partnership with anybody that’s looking to help the community. What we do at Red Hook Community Justice Center is it is actually a courthouse, and we do see low-level criminal prosecutions there,” she said. “Because we are a justice center, we provide wraparound services on the scene, on-spot.”

Hawkins works specifically with the Housing Resource Center, connecting individuals to housing stability. Cases come from residents in Red Hook East and West who face eviction for nonpayment of rent or who need to address NYC Housing Authority. “They recognize me as a community partner, another finger on the same hand that’s reaching to support the community,” she said.

Honoree Jahmila Edwards was not in attendance to accept her Vision Builder award. A cannabis entrepreneur and policy advocate, Edwards founded Stash Queens, a women-led cannabis brand and is associate director of District Council 37.

A Dominican Spanish expression, Un Chin Mas means “just a little more,” De Dios Brito translated. “For us, it’s how we live, how we build and how we lead. These [four] honorees embody that through their work and their presence.”