Impact & achievements
Turning knowledge and materials into ownership.
A record of firsts in education and equity — and the outcomes that prove the model works.
The first
A national first in cannabis education
Founded Higher Learning Institutions (HLI) — the first Black-owned cannabis vocational and technical school in the United States, originally launched in Michigan.
Mission
Social equity by design
Built direct pathways to legal-industry ownership and high-wage trades for communities most harmed by cannabis criminalization.
Author
3 Day Mental Rewire
Authored a mindset-development workbook to help people reshape cognitive habits and daily personal vocabulary.
Community
Asset-based community building
Serves on educational and resource subcommittees focused on community redevelopment and generational wealth preservation.
Now
From classrooms to hemp energy
Extending the model into carbon-negative construction — hempcrete and cold-formed steel — and the supply chain behind it.
By the numbers · Higher Learning Institutions
Outcomes, not just intentions.
85%
Average job placement
10×
First-year ROI
$40–100K
Typical role salary
10 / 12
ELEVATE weeks · CULTIVATE months
Program outcomes via yourhigherlearning.com.
The record, answered
Frequently asked.
Is Sammie really the founder of the first Black-owned cannabis vocational school?+
Yes. Higher Learning Institutions is recognized as the first Black-owned cannabis vocational and technical school in the United States, founded by Sammie Rogers Jr. and originally launched in Michigan.
What is the mission behind the work?+
Reversing the historic harms of cannabis criminalization by creating direct paths to legal-industry ownership and high-wage jobs for Black and Brown communities — now extended into the hemp green-building economy.
Where is Sammie based?+
Jacksonville, Florida, with roots in the Michigan launch of Higher Learning Institutions.
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