Fact Sheet: Starbucks Approach to Community

September 19, 2013 • 3 min read

Helping Communities Thrive

From the neighborhoods where our stores are located to those where our coffee is grown, we’re committed to making our communities stronger. Bringing people together, inspiring change and making a difference in people's lives – it's a commitment rooted in the belief that we can balance profitability with a social conscience.

Community Service

By mobilizing our partners (employees) and the communities we serve, we’re tapping into a passionate network of people eager to be a catalyst for change in their local neighborhoods. In 2012 alone, we brought together our customers and partners, civic leaders, nonprofit organizations and business partners to contribute more than 613,000 hours of service around the world. During our Global Month of Service in 2012, volunteers made a significant impact in more than 33 countries around the world – with more than 2,100 community service projects completed in just 30 days.

Community Stores

Our Community Stores are helping create engaged citizens through an innovative business model and partnerships. In addition to helping create a reliable stream of funding for their nonprofit partners, Community Stores serve as the hub of our community service and training programs that promote leadership and job and life-skill development. During fiscal 2012 we opened our first two Community Stores in Harlem, New York, and the Crenshaw neighborhood of Los Angeles. To date, the program has generated nearly $800,000 for holistic community-revitalization programs focused on education, safety, housing, health and employment. In 2013, we continued to build on this momentum, opening Community Stores in Houston’s East End, our first international Community Store in the Langsuan neighborhood of Bangkok, and most recently, a community store in Seattle’s Central District. Our goal in the next five years is to bring more than 50 community stores to neighborhoods where we do business around the globe.

Engaging Youth

At Starbucks, we believe in developing young people to become extraordinary leaders, by investing in the leadership skills required for the changing global economy. At this time there are more than 1.2 billion 15 to 24 year olds, the largest global cohort of young people in history. Unfortunately, a growing number of these young people are disengaged and unemployed, often referred to as NEET (not engaged in employment, education, or training). Through our Youth Leadership grants (Youth Action in 2012), we’re investing in organizations that help young people learn the necessary skills such as business savvy, social conscience and collaborative communication. When we created the Youth Action program in 2008, we set an ambitious goal of engaging 50,000 young people by 2015. In each year since, we have exceeded our goal. These youth leaders in turn mobilized more than 1.8 million hours of community service in 2012 and created ripples of change in communities around the world.

Farming Communities

Our commitment to communities extends beyond our stores to include the regions that supply our coffee, tea and cocoa. Starbucks invests in programs designed to strengthen local economic and social development. We are working collaboratively with nongovernmental organizations that have experience and expertise in working with farming communities. In addition to social investments, we also support communities through farmer loans and ethical sourcing programs with Conservation International, Mercy Corps, and Fairtrade, among others. Starbucks also supports water, sanitation and hygiene education programs in water-stressed countries through the Starbucks Foundation’s Ethos Water Fund. Since 2005 $7.38 million has been granted, benefitting approximately 430,000 people around the world. In 2012 two new grants were made in East Africa, an important coffee-growing region for Starbucks.

Starbucks Foundation

The Starbucks Foundation is a separate 501(c)(3) charitable organization that receives funding from Starbucks Corporation and private donations. The Foundation gave $13.8 million in 2012, making over 400 grants to nonprofit organizations. Grants included $2.3 million for Starbucks Youth Leadership grants and $2 million in origin social development grants to Mercy Corps, Save the Children, Ethos Water Fund, Project Concern International and PATH. In 2012 Starbucks Corporation gave $6.5 million in cash, including $1.75 million to the Starbucks Foundation. Corporate giving included funding for community-building programs – including the Global Fund through our partnership with (RED)™ and other efforts – and $40 million in in-kind contributions.

Diversity and Inclusion

As our company has grown to reach neighborhoods and communities around the world, diversity and inclusion have become increasingly important to the success. We expect to be the leader in diversity and inclusion from our partners in the field to our senior leadership teams. To ensure that our goal is a reality, starting in 2012 we have integrated diversity and inclusion in to the core of our leadership competencies which reads that, as leaders, we will “reach out to leverage diverse points of view, talents and capabilities. Work and think across teams, functions and businesses; across markets, channels and organizations; across cultures and communities; across physical and digital spaces.” To strengthen these efforts, we also collaborate with diverse organizations who share our values.