When Angie was a teenager growing up near Minneapolis, Minnesota, she attended meetings throughout high school with an organization called <a href="https://treehousehope.org/">TreeHouse</a>, which is committed to bringing hope to teens by providing free transportation and meals, support groups, one-to-one mentoring and financial and college readiness.

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She still vividly remembers one of the volunteers, Cheryl, who donated her time and money to help make delicious home-cooked meals for the kids, including – when Angie was 16 years old – a Thanksgiving spread with baked turkey, mac and cheese and pumpkin pie.

“All the things you see in movies … I was like, I finally understand what it means to be full on Thanksgiving,” says Angie, 23. “I’d never had a Thanksgiving up until that point, and I was just so taken aback. (The TreeHouse volunteers) were all happy, and they were talking about the things that they were thankful for.

“They told us that they were thankful for us, for being us.”

That validation, Angie says, helped her become who she is today: a Starbucks store manager in St. Paul, Minnesota, and a college student studying accounting, in position to give back to the organization that once helped her.

Before the pandemic, she volunteered during TreeHouse’s meal nights. During the ensuing shutdown, she reached out to kids through texts and Zoom, helping with issues like social isolation and distance learning.

“This organization was a vital part of my upbringing,” Angie says. “For the first time in my young life I had reliable adults, a meal to look forward to every Tuesday and Thursday and stability even through my very unstable life.”

Earlier this year, she helped TreeHouse secure a $1,000 Neighborhood Grant from <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/the-starbucks-foundation/">The Starbucks Foundation</a>, to help maintain its fleet of vans for transporting teens to and from programming and activities. It required filling out an in-house nomination form through the Starbucks partner (employee) hub portal. Angie wrote about her history with TreeHouse and why she thought TreeHouse deserved a grant.

“I just feel so happy they were able to get that money, and continue doing what they’re doing, because it’s awesome work,” Angie says. “I feel grateful that I am in a place now that I can, at least somewhat, help – a little bit, just a tiny bit for the amount that they were able to help me.”

Leveraging Starbucks values and resources

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Since 2019, The Starbucks Foundation has awarded more than $10 million to more than 6,000 nonprofit and charitable organizations through its <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/press/2021/strengthening-communities-through-neighborhood-grants/">Neighborhood Grants initiative</a>. All the organizations have been nominated by Starbucks partners. The program operates under the guiding principle that Starbucks partners know their communities best, and local impact is most meaningful when it starts with them.

The next opportunity for Starbucks partners to nominate organizations is during Season of Cheer from Dec. 5-18. The focus will be on organizations working on homelessness, hunger relief and supporting youth and families. Partners are encouraged to choose organizations they are actively engaged with.

For Angie, Starbucks was her first job; she started as a barista at age 16. She enjoyed talking to people and took pride in her work. Encouraged by one of her store managers, she applied for leadership positions and started taking classes towards her accounting degree through the <a href="https://www.starbucks.com/careers/working-at-starbucks/education/">Starbucks College Achievement Plan</a>, which provides 100 percent tuition coverage at Arizona State University’s online program.

When she learned she could serve her community through the Neighborhood Grants program, she immediately thought about TreeHouse. The Twin Cities-based organization, which has a mission to “end hopelessness among teens,” creates safe spaces for young people and helps them take on barriers to employment and education. TreeHouse serves more than 3,000 teenagers at more than 50 sites across 10 states.

“I am passionate about this organization because I see the work that they have done with my old middle- and high school peers and myself,” Angie says. “We never felt alone or unheard.

“I feel like, I’ve only ever been on the receiving end. I want someone, like a little Angie somewhere out there, to get the same things I did … People were so selflessly willing to help me. I hope that I can do the same.”

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Angie, a store manager in St. Paul, Minnesota, volunteers with TreeHouse, a youth organization that mentored her as a teen. She also helped the organization receive a Neighborhood Grant from The Starbucks Foundation.

Full circle: Starbucks partner gives back to non-profit that helped her as a teen

Stories to inspire and nurture the human spirit

Starbucks Stories

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Effective September 19, 2022, eligible U.S. partners will have access to new benefits to further financial stability and manage student loan repayments&nbsp;&nbsp;

SEATTLE – Today, building on Starbucks <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/press/2017/starbucks-commitment-to-partners/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">historic commitments</a> to offering leading benefits for its partners (employees), Starbucks Coffee Company announced a set of programs, designed to support eligible partners when it comes to two critical areas of financial well-being: savings and student loan debt.&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@starbuckspartners/video/7142535574950366510?is_from_webapp=v1&amp;item_id=7142535574950366510&amp;web_id=7052008764535391750" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The new benefits</a>, which will begin on September 19, will contribute to eligible partners’ financial stability and help them manage their higher education debt. Both programs were informed by thousands of conversations with partners over the last several months as the coffee company <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2022/a-message-from-howard-schultz-the-next-chapter-of-starbucks-reinvention/">reinvents its future</a>.

“We’ve heard from our partners and know that pressures of inflation, in addition to debt and savings are weighing heavily on them,” said Ron Crawford, SVP Total Rewards, Starbucks. “Providing industry-leading benefits for our partners is a cornerstone of who we are as a company. As we reinvent the future of Starbucks, together with our partners, we knew we had an opportunity to further support the financial well-being of our partners and their families.”

Working with Fidelity, Starbucks is introducing My Starbucks Savings, a new way to help eligible partners save for the unexpected. All eligible U.S. partners will be able to contribute a portion of after-tax pay on a recurring basis directly from their paycheck to a personal savings account. To incentivize savings and account growth, Starbucks will contribute $25 and $50 credits at key saving milestones up to a total of $250 per incentive eligible partner.

“Too many Americans are unprepared financially to handle the unexpected, and this current economic environment only makes it more important to help people establish solid savings behaviors and foundation to cover short-term expenses,” said <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/fidelitykevinbarry" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Kevin Barry</a>, president of Workplace Investing at Fidelity Investments. “As this program demonstrates, employers are in a position to help, which is why Fidelity is pleased to work with Starbucks and other companies to provide savers with a path to achieving their financial goals, such as emergency savings.”

Starbucks will also launch a Student Loan Management Benefit through Tuition.io to help eligible partners manage and optimize student loan repayments. Through this tool, eligible U.S. partners and their families will have access to new tools, resources and individual coaching to manage student loan debt, such as repayment options and loan refinancing. Tools within the platform will help partners view all their student loan debt in one place and locate the best individual action to take based on their personal repayment scenario and goals. This could include taking advantage of income-based repayment options, refinancing and planning how best to finance education for college-bound students and parents of students.

“Student loan debt remains a tremendous financial burden for the nearly 48 million U.S. consumers who have borrowed to finance the education necessary to unlock the best career opportunities,” said Scott Thompson, CEO of Tuition.io. "As we approach the time when payments will be restarted for federal loans, we're honored to work with Starbucks to support their partners and their families to make the best financial decisions regarding repayment of their student loans and options for financing their future education."

These benefits build on Starbucks continued work to support partners’ holistic well-being as a company with programs that include 401(k) with Starbucks Match, Bean Stock, comprehensive healthcare coverage, full tuition coverage for a Bachelor’s Degree through the Starbucks College Achievement Plan, Lyra mental health benefit <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/press/2017/starbucks-commitment-to-partners/">and more</a>.

“We believe that when we invest in you and your greater aspirations we are investing in the success of Starbucks too,” said Sara Kelly, Starbucks chief partner officer. “This is just one more way we are co-creating a meaningful partner experience and a better future for Starbucks.”

This announcement builds on partner financial stability investments from Starbucks earlier this year when the company committed to <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/press/2022/starbucks-commits-one-billion-in-fy2022-investments-to-uplift-partners-employees-and-the-store-experience/">increase partner pay</a>, effective August 1.

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Since 1971, Starbucks Coffee Company has been committed to ethically sourcing and roasting high-quality arabica coffee. Today, with more than 34,000 stores worldwide, the company is the premier roaster and retailer of specialty coffee in the world. Through our unwavering commitment to excellence and our guiding principles, we bring the unique Starbucks Experience to life for every customer through every cup. To share in the experience, please visit us in our stores or online at stories.starbucks.com or <a href="http://www.starbucks.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">www.starbucks.com</a>.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements contained herein are “forward-looking” statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws and regulations. Generally, these statements can be identified by the use of words such as “aim,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “feel,” “forecast,” “intend,” “may,” “outlook,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “seek,” “should,” “will,” “would,” and similar expressions intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. These statements include statements relating to trends in or expectations relating to the effects of our existing and any future initiatives, strategies, investments and plans, including our reinvention plan, as well as trends in or expectations regarding our financial results and long-term growth model and drivers; our operations in the U.S. and China; our environmental, social and governance efforts; our partners; economic and consumer trends, including the impact of inflationary pressures; impact of foreign currency translation; strategic pricing actions; the conversion of certain market operations to fully licensed models; our plans for streamlining our operations, including store openings, closures and changes in store formats and models; expanding our licensing to Nestlé of our consumer packaged goods and Foodservice businesses and its effects on our Channel Development segment results; tax rates; business opportunities and expansion; strategic acquisitions; our dividends programs; commodity costs and our mitigation strategies; our liquidity, cash flow from operations, investments, borrowing capacity and use of proceeds; continuing compliance with our covenants under our credit facilities and commercial paper program; repatriation of cash to the U.S.; the likelihood of the issuance of additional debt and the applicable interest rate; the continuing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our financial results and future availability of governmental subsidies for COVID-19 or other public health events; our ceo transition; our share repurchase program; our use of cash and cash requirements; the expected effects of new accounting pronouncements and the estimated impact of changes in U.S. tax law, including on tax rates, investments funded by these changes and potential outcomes; and effects of legal proceedings. Such statements are based on currently available operating, financial and competitive information and are subject to various risks and uncertainties. Actual future results and trends may differ materially depending on a variety of factors, including, but not limited to: the continuing impact of COVID-19 on our business; regulatory measures or voluntary actions that may be put in place to limit the spread of COVID-19, including restrictions on business operations or social distancing requirements, and the duration and efficacy of such restrictions; the resurgence of COVID-19 infections and the circulation of novel variants of COVID-19; fluctuations in U.S. and international economies and currencies; our ability to preserve, grow and leverage our brands; the ability of our business partners and third-party providers to fulfill their responsibilities and commitments; potential negative effects of incidents involving food or beverage-borne illnesses, tampering, adulteration, contamination or mislabeling; potential negative effects of material breaches of our information technology systems to the extent we experience a material breach; material failures of our information technology systems; costs associated with, and the successful execution of, the Company’s initiatives and plans; new initiatives and plans or revisions to existing initiatives or plans; our ability to obtain financing on acceptable terms; the acceptance of the Company’s products by our customers, evolving consumer preferences and tastes and changes in consumer spending behavior; partner investments, changes in the availability and cost of labor including any union organizing efforts and our responses to such efforts; failure to attract or retain key executive or employee talent or successfully transition executives; significant increased logistics costs; inflationary pressures; the impact of competition; inherent risks of operating a global business including any potential negative effects stemming from the Russian invasion of Ukraine; the prices and availability of coffee, dairy and other raw materials; the effect of legal proceedings; and the effects of changes in tax laws and related guidance and regulations that may be implemented and other risks detailed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including in the “Risk Factors” and “Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” sections of the company’s most recently filed periodic reports on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q and subsequent filings. A forward-looking statement is neither a prediction nor a guarantee of future events or circumstances, and those future events or circumstances may not occur. You should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this release. We are under no obligation to update or alter any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

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Effective September 19, 2022, eligible U.S. partners will have access to new benefits to further financial stability and manage student loan repayments.

Starbucks Announces Student Loan Management and Savings Programs to Support Partner (Employee) Financial Well-Being

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Gigi is about to begin her senior year of college through the <a href="https://starbucks.asu.edu/faq">Starbucks College Achievement Plan</a>, which provides 100 percent tuition coverage through a partnership with Arizona State University’s online degree program.

The Starbucks 50th anniversary television commercial spotlighting the company’s innovative tuition benefit features a Starbucks barista in Southern California – an aspiring musician and daughter of immigrants from the Philippines who will be the first in her family to graduate college.

Meet GenevaMay – Gigi for short – who’s about to begin her senior year of college online through the <a href="https://starbucks.asu.edu/faq">Starbucks College Achievement Plan</a> (SCAP), which provides 100 percent tuition coverage for eligible U.S. partners (employees), working 20 hours a week or more, through a partnership with Arizona State University.

Since the program’s inception in 2014, more than 6,500 Starbucks partners have earned first-time bachelor’s degrees.

“When I started working at Starbucks, I had no idea – no idea – that it would open so many doors for me,” says Gigi, who’s majoring in film and media studies with a minor in digital audiences. “Not just in terms of getting to work at a beautiful store but being able to finally be on my way to finishing my degree.

“For a long time, I thought I wasn’t going to. I thought I was just never going to graduate college and (was going to) be a disappointment to my parents. But something truly ignited the fire in me – you’re almost there, just push through.”

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Born and raised in the Bay Area, Gigi, now 24, grew up immersed in the arts. She performed in vocal jazz ensembles, starred in school plays and musicals and taught herself instruments and songwriting. But creativity was just a hobby and the plan was to go to a four-year school and study business and hospitality. Until she couldn’t come up with the money.

It was really hard, she remembers. “But honestly, I’m really grateful that happened, because it pivoted me and redirected me to focus on the things that I was actually passionate about.”

It meant diving into theater at a local community college, producing a film festival – a competition she’d won Best Picture in the year before – and moving to Los Angeles in 2019 to pursue more creative opportunities. After relocating, she’s recorded a solo songwriting project, found a concert and tours management internship, hosted a community open mic event at her Starbucks store and auditioned for – and earned – the spot in the Starbucks commercial.

“I have a passion for storytelling, whether it’s through music or film or really any other medium. I just really like the idea of being able to turn an idea into fruition,” Gigi says. “Success ultimately at the end of the day means fulfillment. Do I feel fulfilled in what I’m doing? For me, as long as I’m able to tell a story and be content with that, I think that would be success for me.”

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Gigi started working at Starbucks in 2018 but didn’t know about the SCAP benefit until after she moved to L.A. and transferred to a different store. After she enrolled, she found that the online classes, the strong community – she was part of ASU’s first global online sorority – and the personalized coaching around academics, well-being and finances all combined to give her the flexibility and support she needed to succeed in school and pursue her artistic ambitions. &nbsp;

This past spring quarter, for the first time in her life, she received a 4.0 on her report card.

Gigi’s parents immigrated from the Philippines to the United States in the 1990s. Her father gave up a career as a police officer to do so. As a young adult, she’s beginning to understand the sacrifices her parents made – and are still making. Both her parents were laid off from their jobs during the pandemic.

The fourth of five children – her two oldest siblings are in the Navy – Gigi says her journey of finishing her degree has also brought her closer to her father, something she didn’t expect when she was a teenager pushing back against the pressure she felt he was putting on her to succeed, and values she thought were too conservative and strict.

“My dad and I just had this conversation, the whole idea of sacrifice, and the types of sacrifices you have to make when an opportunity presents itself,” Gigi says. “For him, it was, ‘Hey, I have the opportunity to move to America with this woman I love. But that means I have to give up this dream of being a cop.’

“That’s something I learned from him. Sometimes you have to make sacrifices for an opportunity that might present a better thing for you, even if you just don’t know what that thing is quite yet. It’s something I’ve learned as I’ve gotten older and I moved out and saw what it was like to really support yourself. Being an adult, it’s hard, and there are things you don’t want to do that you have to do.

“That’s what’s helped me build empathy for my dad. I hope that my dad knows that he did a good job. And I hope that he feels like that sacrifice was worth it.”

Gigi is one of more than 18,000 partners currently earning a degree through SCAP. More than 6,500 others to date have graduated. For more information on becoming a Starbucks partner, visit <a href="https://www.starbucks.com/careers/">our careers page</a>.

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Gigi is about to begin her senior year of college through the Starbucks College Achievement Plan, which provides 100 percent tuition coverage through ASU’s online.

Meet Gigi – barista, musician and star of Starbucks new TV spot

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Gigi is about to begin her senior year of college through the Starbucks College Achievement Plan, which provides 100 percent tuition coverage through a partnership with ASU’s online degree program.

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Starbucks offers 100 percent tuition coverage for its employees through innovative partnership with Arizona State University

Rosny Hang marvels at how far she’s come. She remembers a time when she had trouble just printing files and adjusting the brightness on her computer screen. This spring, when she graduates with a Bachelor of Science degree with a double major in geographic information science and geography, she’ll be well-versed in programming languages like Python and RStudio.

“I am someone who was considered technologically challenged,” says Hang, 33, a Starbucks shift supervisor in Diamond Bar, California. “Going from that to be able to read code and program, and make maps out of the coding I’m doing, that’s crazy for me, a huge milestone.

“That’s the biggest lesson I took away from all this, that I was more capable than I thought.”

This May, Starbucks is proud to celebrate partners (employees) like Hang, who’ve shown so much dedication and perseverance to become part of the largest-ever graduating class through the <a href="https://starbucks.asu.edu/faq">Starbucks College Achievement Plan</a> (SCAP), more than 700 scholars strong. Starbucks offers 100 percent tuition coverage for benefits-eligible partners through Arizona State University’s online degree programs.

Since the program’s inception in 2014, more than 6,500 partners have earned first-time bachelor’s degrees.

That Hang has made it this far is a testament to her family, she says, especially her parents, who met and married at a refugee camp in Thailand after escaping the genocide in Cambodia that killed an estimated two million people in the 1970s. Hang’s oldest sister, now an accountant, was born at the camp. They moved into a rough neighborhood in Long Beach, California, where many people – their family included – struggled amidst violence, gangs and poverty.

Hang spent her 20s in and out of school, not sure what she wanted and “not fully focused.” In 2015, she learned about SCAP while working at a bookstore; she was organizing loose magazines when she noticed and read an article about the program. &nbsp;

It felt like a sign, Hang remembers. She wanted more education but was concerned about the cost. She knew she could do more but didn’t have a clear path. SCAP became an answer, and within weeks, she’d quit the bookstore and begun working at the Starbucks next door.

“Starbucks gave me a second chance to try and get to my goals,” Hang says. “I’m realizing my own journey in education is at my pace, not at somebody else’s.”

A friend who worked as a shift supervisor, finishing her own SCAP journey, modeled a positive work ethic and dedication to learning. Hang began attending local STEM conferences with her younger brother, who earned a mechanical engineering degree and is now working in the aerospace industry. She connected with professionals and other students and discovered jobs and opportunities she’d never even known existed.

Now, Hang hopes to use her degree to land a job as a data analyst at Starbucks, though there’s no requirement for SCAP graduates to remain with the company. She can also see herself doing research, education or environmental stewardship with the National Park Service or an organization like the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. She loves the outdoors and goes camping and backpacking as often as she can.

For graduation, which will be held virtually due to COVID-19, she’s purchased a traditional Cambodian dress, which she’ll wear under her cap and gown. It’s both a reminder of her heritage and a sign of respect for her parents’ journey and sacrifice.

“It’s been a long road for all of us,” Hang says. “This is what my parents worked for. They put that struggle in to see us graduate and to provide for ourselves. Now we can take care of them, and we can take care of each other as a family. That was one of my motivations to keep going, to wear my cap and gown for my parents.”

‘I know I can change people’s lives through our mission and values’

Jessie Torres Barragan remembers the day the world opened up to him.

He was a Starbucks store manager in 2018 when he attended an event fair for partners to learn about SCAP. There, other store managers, including some with busy drive-thru stores and some with families, shared their stories of earning their degree online through Arizona State University. All were on the cusp of graduating.

“I thought, well, if they can, so can I,” he remembers. &nbsp;

Torres Barragan, now a Starbucks district manager in Charlotte, North Carolina, had never thought college would be for him. Neither of his parents attended school past eighth grade. When he was growing up, money was scarce. For more than a decade, the family of seven lived in a one-bedroom apartment in the Los Angeles area; his parents slept in the living room and all the kids, in the bedroom.

School was a struggle, and he says he might not have graduated from high school if it hadn’t been for two teachers who went out of their way to make sure he did. As far as college? “I didn’t think college would be something that was for me. We knew it was expensive and we couldn’t afford it.”

Still, he tried. Over the next few years, he enrolled in three different colleges, but had to drop out each time because there wasn’t money to pay for it. Instead, he focused on restaurant work, eventually getting hired as a barista at Starbucks in 2014 and working his way up.

Serving his community – not just his customers but all who live in the area – has always been a priority.

“Community is everything,” says Torres Barragan, 31. “My parents had to depend on community. We wouldn’t have had food on the table.”

After he enrolled in SCAP he saw the program as not just a path for him, but for others who had struggled as he had. “Growing up poor, with the mindset of people telling me ‘You’re never going to amount to anything, you’re Latino, you’re Mexican, you are gay.’ … I just thought there must be a child who is going through something similar,” he says.

He started visiting nearby high schools, encouraging seniors to apply when positions were open and talking to them about how Starbucks was not just a paycheck, but a way to a better life. At one point, more high school students worked at his store than any other in his district, having come because of the possibility of SCAP.

Last year, Torres Barragan was well on his way to earning his degree when COVID-19 changed everything. At the time, he was managing a busy store in Virginia, one of the only ones still open because it had a drive thru. The line of cars backed up for miles. His work weeks were long, and he had classes and homework on top of that. Exhausted, he considered pausing his schooling. “But it was truly something where I knew I just had to complete it. My mind was like, I cannot give up.”

After he graduates, he plans to use his degree in organizational leadership right where he earned it – at Starbucks. Two months ago, he was promoted to district manager and moved to North Carolina where he leads partners at 11 stores.

“I always wondered what my legacy would be,&nbsp;and now I know I&nbsp;can&nbsp;change people's&nbsp;lives through our mission and values and&nbsp;share&nbsp;the opportunity as it was done for me,” he says. “My future is endless now.”

Long before the pandemic struck, Wilmarah Quezada thought she wanted to work as an accountant, or maybe in human resources. It fit with her worldview at the time; she sought financial security and stability.

But the last year has caused a lot of people to rethink their values, including Quezada, who plans to pursue a career in the medical field after graduating from SCAP this spring. Though her degree is in organizational leadership, she’s spent the last year taking as many pre-requisites as possible to apply for graduate school to become a physician assistant.

“I wanted to go a different route, I wanted to work in medicine and I wanted to help people more directly,” says Quezada, 25, a Starbucks barista in Bethesda, Maryland. “I want to work in underserved communities where there aren’t many Spanish-speaking health providers.”

As much of society shut down during COVID-19, she was struck by how those in the medical field – including one friend who is an anesthesiologist and another who’s a registered nurse – were still showing up on the front lines. “They were literally putting their life on the line,” she says. “Seeing how people were dying, it made me want to help.”

She’s already certified as an emergency medical technician and hopes to spend the next year gaining as much experience as possible – either in volunteer roles or through a hospital.

Born in Puerto Rico, Quezada is the oldest of three sisters who moved to Massachusetts with her parents when she was 6 years old, in search of better opportunities and eager to leave behind a bad neighborhood. But after a young man who lived across the street was shot, in their new community, they moved again, to rural Pennsylvania.&nbsp;

She tried community college and found lots of work opportunities, but nothing stuck. She was “terrified of student loans” and reluctant to transfer to a bigger university. About four years ago, she discovered SCAP and enrolled at ASU.

A transformational moment – the initial seeds for her pivot – came when she visited Colombia with an international business class she was taking at ASU, several months before the outbreak had spread worldwide. Though the experience was designed as an opportunity to talk business with representatives from government agencies and local companies, Quezada was more struck by the warmth and compassion of the people she encountered in informal spaces – a taxi driver who explained how Colombia was affected by the Venezuelan refugee crisis, and a woman who did her hair at a mall who “made me feel like her granddaughter.”

Being in Colombia reminded her “that people matter,” she says. “My views started to shift, where it was more about helping people and having an impact on society.”

She’s eager for that lesson to continue.

“Graduation is definitely going to be great, but it’s not something that I’m done with yet,” she says. “This is just going to refuel me and motivate me to keep going and work even harder.”

Starbucks offers 100 percent tuition coverage for its employees through an innovative partnership with Arizona State University.

‘My future is endless’: Meet 3 partners graduating through the Starbucks College Achievement Plan

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After a tornado tore apart the Nashville area in March, David Bradley parked his car near the Meridian apartment complex in Hermitage, Tenn., and started walking toward the main office. It took him an hour to navigate through the rubble, broken glass everywhere and cars skewered by tree limbs. Whole buildings were missing entire sections of walls, and he looked with awe into abandoned rooms.&nbsp;

As a volunteer with <a href="https://www.hon.org/">Hands on Nashville</a>, a nonprofit helping with the city’s recovery, he jumped in to help the residents of the 272 apartments that had been evacuated. He found answers for questions, connected people with resources and directed new volunteers as they showed up.&nbsp;

“I found myself helping, serving tacos (that had been donated by the <a href="https://www.thenashvillefoodproject.org/">Nashville Food Project</a>),” Bradley remembers. “A lot of people in the apartment complex spoke Spanish as their first language. We didn’t understand each other in terms of language, but the communion around eating and food produced a second of normalcy, even though behind me, there were devastated buildings. I put all my energy into giving as much love and positive support as I could.”&nbsp;

What does it mean to serve your community? What does it mean to do good? During these divisive and stressful times, how do you best show up and help?&nbsp;

For Bradley, 27, the answers are coming slowly but surely as he pours himself into the things he’s learning, the identities he’s shaping: at a Starbucks in Gallatin, Tenn., where he works as a shift supervisor; at home, where he’s a newly married husband; and at school, where he’s on the Dean’s List and on track to graduate next spring with an organizational leadership degree from Arizona State University’s (ASU) online program.&nbsp;

This week, Starbucks is proud to celebrate “Back to School” with Bradley and the rest of the 16,000 partners who are currently working towards their college degrees with the Starbucks College Achievement Plan (SCAP) – a program where Starbucks offers benefits-eligible employees 100 percent tuition coverage for a first-time degree through ASU.&nbsp;

Since the program’s inception in 2014, more than 4,700 partners – from all kinds of backgrounds – have graduated from ASU. Starbucks believes in creating meaningful opportunities for our partners, and believes these degrees will help them reach their full potential while supporting their efforts to address inequities and problems in our society.&nbsp;

Bradley was born in Nashville, and raised in a multigenerational house with his mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. He calls the time after high school his “blunder years.” He worked in restaurants with no path or purpose. He constantly felt indifferent and uncomfortable. “Long hair, don’t care” was his motto.&nbsp;

Seven years ago, he got a job as a Starbucks barista and eventually transferred to a store in Hendersonville, Tenn., where his manager, Guy Tustin, told him about SCAP and pushed him to try college. “I was nervous and tried to think of a million excuses as to why I was not cut out for college,” Bradley says. “For some reason, he saw a lot of potential in me. He knew that I needed a push.”&nbsp;

When he finally started school in 2016, it felt like “I grabbed onto a train,” Bradley says. Suddenly, he was ingesting 20-30 page papers, studying big issues like poverty and race relations in the South and corporate ethics, analyzing why certain social services got more funding than others, learning leadership principles and trying to apply them to his life.&nbsp;

“I realized all these things were going on in the world, and I realized that just wanting the world to be a better place, it wasn’t a plan, it wasn’t a goal. It was just wishful thinking,” Bradley says. “I transitioned into organizational leadership because I wanted to grow as a leader. I wanted to be a leader that advocated for mental health and the subjects that I cared about. I wanted to use my position and knowledge to highlight important social issues.” 

His time with Hands On Nashville, which meets community need through volunteerism, solidified some of those lessons. He’d been placed there through <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2019/starbucks-partners-make-deep-local-impact-with-innovative-service-program/">The Starbucks Foundation Service Fellows program</a>, a partnership with Points of Light, which allowed him to work part-time at Starbucks and part-time at the nonprofit for seven months. He describes the weeks helping Nashville recover – the long days, the constant legwork, the simultaneous stress and determination, the passion of the people working around him – as “the most challenging and best experience I have had as a person."&nbsp;&nbsp;

“I’m going to keep my doors open, keep focusing on my studies, keep learning and developing as a person, and when something walks into my line of sight, an opportunity, I’m just going to jump in and see what happens,” Bradley says of his plans after graduation.&nbsp;

“It’s not about trying to find your destination, it’s more about diving into the experience in front of you and trying to take everything from it,” he says. “If you let it, it has the power to transform your life. It’s done that for me.”&nbsp;

For Tatiana Holt, the plan seemed pretty simple. Spend two years in the United States through an au pair-student exchange visa, improve her English and go back home to Bogotá, Colombia, where she’d be a stronger job candidate because of her overseas experience.&nbsp;

But about a year and a half later, at a Starbucks in Westfield, N.J., she met the man who’d eventually become her husband, a videographer with his own freelance production company. “It happened out of nowhere, it all happened so fast,” she remembers. “I ended up staying and starting my life from zero, away from family.”&nbsp;

When the exchange program ended, she needed a job. So she started working as a barista at the same store, picking it because she’d heard several employees speaking Spanish, her native language. Once there, her store manager Victor Espinoza told her about SCAP.&nbsp;

“Victor kept telling me, you can do it, you can do it,” recalls Holt, 31, now a Starbucks shift supervisor in Edison, N.J. “I just thought about it for a long time, about a year, and that’s when I applied with the dream of having a diploma in this country.”&nbsp;

Back in Colombia, as an only child, Holt had nurtured a desire to make a career in video, maybe as a post-production editor or a motion graphics artist. In high school, she’d shot videos while volunteering at the local YMCA, which was trying to help women and families escape poverty.&nbsp;

At ASU, she found a major, graphic information technology, through which she could study 2D and 3D animation. She’s minoring in film and media studies and also working part-time as a teaching assistant.&nbsp;

After a study-abroad opportunity to Italy was cancelled because of COVID-19, ASU placed her, via a global remote learning internship program, with <a href="https://actionaid.org.au/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI65GSpL_06gIVAz2tBh1jAgTaEAAYASAAEgJmuPD_BwE">ActionAid,</a> a nonprofit organization based in Australia that seeks to empower women to be leaders in their communities during times of crisis. Holt is working on video projects with ActionAid, giving her an opportunity to push her technical skills and apply them to real-life scenarios.&nbsp;

Holt said she likes the flexibility of online classes and the fact the lectures are always subtitled, so she can follow along and continue to improve her English. After she graduates this spring, she hopes to “create motion graphics that can help people learn about their community and inspire others to become a better version of themselves.” And, she wants to show that women can succeed in video editing and motion graphics, industries Holt sees filled mostly with men.&nbsp;

“When I moved to the U.S., I had to get my first car, my first credit card, my first everything. Even Starbucks, it was my first real job,” Holt says. “These seven years (since coming to America), I’ve changed so much, and Starbucks has helped me with that. And now I’m able to have a degree in the U.S. which I never thought I could be able to do.”&nbsp;

Actress, mom, student: “I won’t let anything stand in the way of this”&nbsp;

After spending her 20s pursuing an acting career, and most of her 30s raising three children, Najja Meeks is now facing a different kind of challenge: finishing college.&nbsp;&nbsp;

“I can tell you it’s not been easy, especially in the beginning, because I hadn’t been a student for so long,” says Meeks, a Starbucks shift supervisor in Burbank, Calif. “It was a very, very steep learning curve, especially the technology. The first semester, I worked so damn hard for those grades.”&nbsp;

She also wanted to set an example for her kids, ages 9, 6 and 4. Meeks, 38, is on track to graduate next spring with a degree from ASU in organizational leadership.&nbsp;

“I really wanted my children to see what setting a goal looked like and the necessary work in reaching it,” she says. “There were nights when I was crying and my kids would ask, ‘Why are you crying about your homework?’ I wanted them to see this process, even the ugly bits.”&nbsp;

Born in California, Meeks lived in Texas for a while before graduating from a performing arts high school in Los Angeles. She had dreams of going to New York City and training to be a stage actor. But although she felt a lot of support, her family situation was complicated, and she couldn’t come up with enough money to start school.&nbsp;

She took some community college classes and worked for a few years in the entertainment industry as an actor and model, but left that career behind when she became a mother.&nbsp;

“I had a manager, had an agent. I was going on auditions for movies and TV shows,” she says. “But being a mom was equally important to me and once I had my daughter, I knew I had to give it my all.”&nbsp;

Meeks applied to work at Starbucks three years ago because she wanted to make enough money to take her eldest daughter to the 2020 Summer Olympics in Japan, a bucket list adventure that’s been put off by the pandemic.&nbsp;

At first, adjusting from being a stay-at-home mom to being managed by an 18-year-old shift supervisor was “very humbling,” she says. But she soon found out about SCAP from another store partner who she worked early-morning shifts with. Buoyed by his enthusiasm – he was almost done with his own SCAP degree – the opportunity for higher education while getting her tuition covered was a no-brainer, she says.&nbsp;

Starbucks offers the benefit without requiring employees to work for the company afterwards, or to study something specific. Meeks, who enjoys working with people and hopes to find a job in human resources, credits her children’s father for giving her “a great amount of support at home” so she could pursue schooling.&nbsp;

Recently, Meeks, who is African American, and two other moms helped establish a committee that works with the local school district and some school board members, advocating for a more diverse teaching staff that better reflects the student body, a more inclusive curriculum and more awareness in matters of social justice.&nbsp;

“I want my children to see themselves and their heritage positively reflected early in their educational career,” she says. Her children are half Mexican American.&nbsp;

Specifically, she wants local schools to expand Black history beyond what seems to her like the same two examples year after year – Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks. Why not also study the many other examples of Black excellence, she asks? Amidst the current social unrest following the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, Meeks is encouraged by more people in her community speaking up about similar things.

And, she hopes through this journey, she might find her own voice.&nbsp;

“There were times when I’d be at committee meetings with the school board and the superintendent, and I would start suffering the feelings of imposter syndrome,” Meeks says. “The other moms, they have master’s degrees, and a small part of me would shrink behind my friends when it came to speaking. Even though I know I’m more than capable, that self-doubt would creep in. That’s another motivating factor with this degree. I hope it will give me a little more confidence.

“Back in my 20s, once something got hard for me, or the moment I felt uncomfortable, I would immediately find a reason to quit,” she says. “Getting this degree, I decided I won’t let anything stand in the way of this. I refuse to stop until I get to that end goal. I don’t care how old I am. I am so glad that I’ve gone back to school and done something for myself and persisted.”&nbsp;

Doing good by degrees: How 3 partners are making an impact through Starbucks College Achievement Plan - Starbucks Stories

Doing good by degrees: How 3 partners are making an impact through Starbucks College Achievement Plan

These Starbucks partners (employees) are going back to school to make an impact in their communities.

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This May, nearly 700 Starbucks partners will graduate with a degree from Arizona State University through the Starbucks College Achievement Plan, which covers 100 percent tuition for eligible partners attending ASU’s online program.

That makes nearly 4,500 total Starbucks partners who have earned first-time bachelor’s degrees since the program was announced in 2014. This is the largest graduating cohort in SCAP history. More than 14,000 partners across the U.S. are currently working towards a degree through SCAP, with more than 80 undergraduate degree options. And more than more than 20 percent of those are first-generation college students.

“This is an unprecedented time,” said Mary Dixon, SCAP director. “While this may look different than our graduates imagined the moment to be, it is still their moment. They’ve earned this. They’ve pushed boundaries and found a way here through many challenging moments. They’ve shown resilience, tenacity and an abundance of creativity to get to this milestone. As we all chart a way forward, I am hopeful because of the courage and determination they all have shown to get to this moment.”

Read on to meet three of this spring’s graduates.

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Celebrating graduates of Starbucks College Achievement Plan - Starbucks Stories

Celebrating graduates of Starbucks College Achievement Plan

This May, nearly 700 Starbucks partners will graduate with a degree from Arizona State University through the Starbucks College Achievement Plan.

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Amanda Dasher’s father is one of 10 siblings. None of them have a bachelor’s degree from a four-year college or university. Her mother is one of five siblings. None of them have one either.

When Amanda graduates in May with a degree in organizational leadership from Arizona State University – as part of the latest cohort of graduates with the Starbucks College Achievement Plan (SCAP) – it won’t be just her celebrating, it’ll be her entire extended family.

“They’re all cheering me on,” Amanda says. “My degree means the world to me and will be one of the biggest accomplishments I have ever received.”

Amanda grew up in Santa Fe, N.M. Her father was in the Navy. While she was a strong student, she never felt any expectation to attend a four-year school after graduating high school. She didn’t receive much guidance either, in terms of taking standardized tests or filling out college applications and financial-aid forms.

She worked at a restaurant in New Mexico and took classes on-again off-again at a local community college, taking about 10 years to get an associate degree in business.

In 2014, Starbucks first introduced SCAP – which covers 100 percent tuition toward a first-time bachelor’s degree through ASU’s online program. Amanda jumped on the offer soon after. Of the approximately 14,000 U.S. Starbucks partners taking advantage of the SCAP benefit, more than 20 percent, like Amanda, are first-generation college attendees.

She ran into a big roadblock that first year, though. She had just been promoted to store manager in Albuquerque, N.M., and had difficulty juggling classes with running her store full time. She ended up failing three classes and faced academic probation.&nbsp;

“I never expected that to happen,” Amanda says. “I didn’t think I’d be finishing. This was not a proud moment for me, and I knew I had to turn it around.”

But then she found out that she was pregnant with a boy. In 2017, when Mason was born, Amanda had a new motivation: making sure that her son would be proud of his mother, and making sure that he’d grow up with two parents who had college degrees. Her husband, Brandon, also a Starbucks partner, also took advantage of the SCAP benefit and received his degree in 2017. He now works at the Starbucks Support Center (SSC) in Seattle at the Partner Contact Center while she manages a store in Snoqualmie, Wash.

Amanda, 32, hopes to use her degree and continue advancing within Starbucks, maybe applying for a store support role at the SSC, or trying to become a district manager.

She’s also been an evangelist for the SCAP benefit in her stores, talking it up to partners, especially the ones who might need financial help to go to school. She’ll celebrate with one of her shift supervisors, who’s also graduating this May, and three other partners she’s close with are also taking advantage of SCAP.

Amanda was planning to go back to Santa Fe to celebrate with her extended family, but COVID-19 lockdown measures have squelched those plans. She hopes to visit her family when travel restrictions loosen. Her relatives are ready to see her.

“Inside I knew she had it in her, she is a strong individual like that,” says Amanda’s aunt and godmother, Brenda Montoya, of Santa Fe. “The way Amanda was, she just wanted to do it on her own. She just kept at it. It takes a lot of self-discipline.” &nbsp;

Amanda’s honor cords – a recognition of her high GPA – came in the mail recently. Thinking back to the classes she failed when she first started at ASU, she can’t help but be amazed.

“Sometimes, I want to not feel proud of it because it took me so long to get here,” she says. “But it feels great knowing I got it done and I didn’t quit when it got rough.”

‘They are all cheering me on’: Amanda Dasher is first in her family to earn college degree - Starbucks Stories

‘They are all cheering me on’: Amanda Dasher is first in her family to earn college degree

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