Grove Group Management is a newly launched firm that is co-founded by ex-NFL player Tiki Barber, which has a focus on social justice. The firm is aiming to correct the wrongs that have befallen to members of minorities.
“A disproportionate number of minority communities are affected by misdemeanor marijuana offenses,” said Tiki Barber, an ex-Giants running back who is now a sportscaster/entrepreneur.
Barber has partnered with Kevin Shin, a financial services veteran, to form Grove Group Management. Shin is the CEO of the firm. “So there’s an altruistic bent to some of these things that we’re doing. It’s very important to minority communities that we’re all focused on it. So while we will make investments and help grow businesses and take advantage of this space, we’re also keeping in mind that there’s this huge opportunity to change the criminality of marijuana not to a criminal justice system but to a health reform system,” he explained.
“Cannabis was chosen due to the market opportunity and for social justice,” said Shin, a former executive at NewOak Capital. “Cannabis is a growth market with good margins. We are both minorities and we can appreciate how a sector of the industry is underserviced by minorities and we intend to fix this with proven solutions to take us to the next level.”
“Everything that we’re doing in the cannabis space is knowledge,” Shin also said. “Knowledge is the name of the game. The only way you can intelligently argue a position is if you know all the positions. Meeting someone like Tom is making sure we’re keeping as many people happy as possible so we do not run into trouble in the future. It’s all about representing our investors and just being as sophisticated and smart as possible.”
