Arana Hankin-Biggers
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: A Cannabis Store, has partnered with individuals with cannabis convictions and a disabled veteran to open 3 more licensed dispensaries in New York 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 five-year-old son.