For the week of April 25, Starbucks senior leaders and chief executive officer Howard Schultz traveled around the country to listen, learn and exchange ideas with store partners (employees) in collaboration sessions that will shape the future of the company. This week, collaboration sessions were in San Diego, Dallas, Boston, New York, Atlanta, Schaumburg, Illinois, and are continuing Friday in Maryland and San Francisco.

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Co-creating benefits for partners of all ages

In his 12 years at Starbucks, Vic feels like he’s taken advantage of several significant partner (employee) benefits: a career-development opportunity to be the first manager of the downtown Disney Starbucks store in Anaheim, Calif.; a degree through the Starbucks College Achievement Plan; and tens of thousands of dollars in reimbursements as he and his wife went through adoption and in vitro fertilization.

“It’s what makes me proud to be a partner, it’s absolutely amazing,” said Vic, now a store manager in San Diego. “But the reality is that not all of our benefits apply to every single partner.

“We need to start reevaluating what some of our younger partners want in terms of benefits so that they stay with the company longer, and they feel proud 12, 15 years down the road, like I feel.”

Vic was one of 16 store partners who shared their thoughts at a collaboration session Wednesday in San Diego, as Starbucks partners and leaders continue to meet in facilitated groups across the country to re-imagine and co-create the future of the company. The meeting took place in an upstairs conference room at the Feeding San Diego food bank, a partner in Starbucks FoodShare program.

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Like most of the sessions, the time in San Diego was split in half, with the first spent sitting in a circle reflecting on the current retail experience and the second standing up – workshopping, imagining and discussing solutions. The group focused on the themes of more relevant benefits and the eroding partner experience, exacerbated by the COVID pandemic.&nbsp;

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'Creating uplifting human connection in a world that needs it.’

As he reflected with the group, Starbucks chief marketing officer Brady Brewer, told them, “The past two years have taught us so much about where we’ve invested and where we haven’t, and what we need to do to be who we want as a company.”

After the session ended, Brewer continued the conversation with a barista who’s worked part-time for 17 years. She told him she’d love to see a thank you to all the store managers who’ve made it through the pandemic.

“That hit me,” Brewer said. “We need to meaningfully honor what we’ve been through together and ensure that our partners in the stores feel truly appreciated for all they have done and continue to do each day.

"There’s so much we can do as a company to have a positive impact on this world,” Brewer said. “I don’t know of any other brand at our scale that puts human connection at the center of its purpose. I think there’s going to be an increasing premium on genuine human connection over time. That is one of the most exciting opportunities for Starbucks: creating uplifting human connection in a world that needs it.”

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As Starbucks senior leaders and chief executive officer Howard Schultz wrap up a month of dozens of collaboration sessions with store partners around the country, they’re focusing on taking ideas and turning them into action.

Week in Review: After a month of listening and collaboration sessions, Starbucks looks to the future

Stories to inspire and nurture the human spirit

Starbucks Stories

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For the week of April 18, Starbucks chief executive officer Howard Schultz and other senior leaders continued to meet with partners around the country during sessions designed to co-create the next chapter of the company. At each session, partners talked about their day-to-day realities with leaders and shared their hopes and ideas for the company.

When Bria joined Starbucks as a barista in Bronxville, N.Y., almost eight years ago, she remembers how her store manager at the time, Manny, created an environment that felt like something more than work.

“He was one of those managers that was inspiring,” she said Wednesday. “It was really not just a work environment. It was a safe haven. I always said if I were to move up, I wanted my store to feel like that as well.”

She had the vision for what she wanted to create and, when she became a store manager, more than four years ago, that’s exactly what she did. “I made it a place where partners could come if they needed to, where partners were safe, where partners felt like they always had a voice,” she said.

Bria shared her story during conversation in White Plains, N.Y., with other Starbucks partners and leaders on how to co-create the Starbucks experience. The sessions, which are happening around the country, are designed for partners to give feedback – and also dream of the company they want to build as Starbucks enters a new phase. As Bria created in her own store, they are a place where partners truly have a voice – and leaders are listening.

In addition to New York, Starbucks leaders this week also talked with partners from stores in Orlando, Fla., and at the Starbucks roasting plants in South Carolina, Georgia and Pennsylvania. Collaboration sessions were also held throughout Canada.

During an open forum at the York, Penn., plant, partners shared ideas for improving retention, pay and training – topics that have been <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2022/week-in-review-starbucks-partners-share-ideas-on-restoring-trust/">raised in collaboration sessions and visits</a> since they began. In a session Tuesday in Florida, a partner who was hired right before the pandemic and saw how the company had to pivot quickly to more “to go” service, shared hopes that now Starbucks could return to focusing more on coffee culture and being able to share tastings with customers. “I’d love to be able to share that and have time to be able to share that with everybody on my team,” the partner said.

Partners create their ideal Starbucks

During the collaboration session In White Plains, about 25 miles north of Manhattan, the 15 store partners were a mix of baristas, including some in role for just a few months, and seasoned shift supervisors and managers. During the more than three-hour session inside a hotel conference room, they were asked for their ideas to build their ideal Starbucks store from the ground up, and to identify changes to current practices that could improve their professional and personal lives and make them feel more supported.

They wrote their ideas on sticky notes, put them on a scroll on the wall and “upvoted” their favorites with green dot stickers. Among the recommendations they discussed:

‘What happens next is what builds trust’

During the Florida session, Schultz apologized to store partners for “not keeping up with demand and putting you in a situation where there is anxiety and pressure. I can promise you that we are doing our best to try and accelerate these ideas and the other ideas we’ve heard to make things better.”

Marcus Eckensberger, regional vice president for Northeast – Region 8, who attended the New York session Wednesday, acknowledged, “It’s OK to listen and it’s great, but what happens next is what builds trust, what builds value.”

When the White Plains session ended, the partners grabbed box lunches as they left the meeting. In a hallway, Bria shared her aspiration for the company.

“My hope for Starbucks is that we are equipped with transformational leaders,” she said. “My hope is that every single partner can have the same story as me, where they feel like they had a leader that really listened to them, they had a leader that helped them believe in the company, and they had a leader that helped them believe in themselves.”

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Starbucks ceo Howard Schultz and other senior leaders continued to meet with partners around the country this week.

Week in review: As collaboration sessions continue, Starbucks partners share hopes, ideas

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For the week of April 11, Howard Schultz and senior leaders continued meeting with partners throughout the company, listening and promising to work with them to co-create a new Starbucks. Communicating across multiple channels, partner voices are more critical than ever.

Meeting with U.S. Store Managers

On Monday, Schultz appeared in a biweekly virtual meeting of Starbucks U.S. store managers and retail leaders. He shared his thoughts on his first days back at the company, went over learnings from the <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2022/inside-collaboration-sessions-with-starbucks-ceo-howard-schultz-and-partners/">collaboration sessions</a> that are taking place over the course of April and promised to act on partner (employee) feedback. Schultz spoke passionately of Starbucks longstanding culture of caring for and nurturing a direct relationship with its green apron partners, who have been the heart and soul of the company.

“We're going to make promises that we can keep,” Schultz told retail partners. “We're going to make promises that are real and we're going to solve the problems that exist in your stores to give you a better opportunity to succeed.”

Watch an excerpt of Schultz’s comments here:

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As leaders spoke, Starbucks partners reacted in the chat box for the virtual meeting. Here’s a sampling of the comments that were shared:

“Thank you, leaders for trying to lead this space with hope and empathy. Your transparency is appreciated.”

“Stopping the stock buyback should be a huge indicator to all partners that we are making a huge change in our approach and refocusing on partners.”

“I am a 20 year partner here. So glad to have you back Howard Schultz. I believe in you and your leadership and know this company can be great again like it was when I started. We can make these changes together, and I will continue to create the Starbucks Experience.”

“I am with you Howard…almost 19 years of trust and I’m not giving up on you now. 😊”

“...My hope is that the rebuilding of the foundation is lasting.”

“No shareholder is working harder than our partners.”

“Being clear about our values will help with the trust factor.”

“I am so grateful with this conversation around unions, it will help me in my conversations with partners. We have a long road to go to recover from the past, but we really have the best leader to guide us. I am grateful every day I put on the green apron. Thank you for your transparency and respect during all of these hot topics.”

“As a 21-½ year partner I can attest to the statement that I have benefited from the Starbucks Experience, and I pay that forward to the partners around me. #proudtobeapartner #ourbestyearsareahead”

“The talk of benefits relevance is appreciated, but I do not want to minimize the discussion around base pay. As we evolve ‘total pay,’ many hourly partners are as concerned if not more about wage than available benefits.”

“I think the lack of knowledge of our benefits is an issue with [store manager] communication. It's our job to let our employees know everything they are entitled to. The number of partners who don't know they can use sick time for doctors appts, etc. is insane to me.”

“The most relevant benefit for me and my family right now would be pay that reflects the complexity of the work I do.”

“We didn't have half the benefits when I started, I am proud of all the benefits we get. Our voice is why we have them. Thank you. Our best days are ahead of us.”

Collaboration Sessions Continue

On Wednesday, more than 15 area partners from stores in the Seattle region gathered at the Starbucks Support Center to provide their honest feedback and big ideas in a forum facilitated by Camille Hymes, Starbucks vp for community impact in the U.S. Following the format used in four previous collaboration sessions held last week, the partners (ranging from store managers and assistant store managers to shift managers and baristas with less than one to more than 15 years of experience) shared with Schultz their in-store experiences.

“This is a waste of time if you’re not honest and truthful,” Schultz told the group during opening comments, reiterating “this is not for show” and that insights would lead to rebuilding trust in each other and improvements to be announced as early as May 3.

The partners took his comments to heart, offering a range of emotions to describe how they were feeling as they work to uphold the company’s mission with customers.

While the forums can feel like a vent session, they are also designed to keep participants engaged and thinking forward. Schultz stays in the background for most of the two hours, but he pipes up when he is curious (“We have to look at this holistically. Do you prefer higher wages and more cash or less benefits?” and “Do you think Starbucks cares about you? Or are we just trying to make more money?”). The partners use sticky notes to jot down their ideas to three questions, adhere those thoughts to a large white scroll posted at the front of the room, then use stickers to vote for the concepts that resonate most.

Some key themes that emerged among this group include:

“I did not know Howard would be here,” one 10-year partner said after the session, adding, “It was a lot more conversational than I expected. I’m hopeful. There’s a lot of re-learning that needs to happen, though.”

Partner Experience Survey Launches

From April 11 to 24, Starbucks is conducting its bi-annual confidential survey among hourly partners to gather their feedback on areas of the partner experience that matters most, like their relationship with their team and managers or the adequacy of resources needed to be successful at their job. The goal? To give all partners, whether they participate in a collaboration session or not, the chance to make their voices heard and contribute to the co-creation of Starbucks future.

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Collage of Starbucks partners participating in collaboration sessions

In Howard Schultz’s second week back as ceo, company leaders continued the push to hear from green apron partners (employees) through a new survey, a hometown collaboration session and a national virtual meeting with retail teams.

Week in review: Starbucks partners share ideas on restoring trust

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Starbucks ceo Howard Schultz tells all U.S. Store Managers, “We will become the best version of Starbucks by co-creating our future directly as partners. And we will strengthen the Starbucks community by upholding each other’s dreams; upholding the standards and rituals of the company; celebrating partner individuality and voice; and upholding behaviors of mutual respect and dignity.”&nbsp;

We have much to discuss tomorrow after my first week back at Starbucks and the thousands of connections I’ve already had with partners across the U.S. and China.&nbsp;

With significant pressures leading to the fracturing of our partner and customer experiences, I’ve been transparent about our missteps and the reason for my return – to reimagine Starbucks – built on our core values and guiding principles. I have complete confidence that together we will restore the trust and belief of our partners and deliver an elevated Starbucks Experience to our partners and customers.&nbsp;&nbsp;

As I shared <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2022/our-best-days-are-in-front-of-us-howard-schultz-shares-vision-for-starbucks-future/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">on Monday</a>, a first order of business was to stop stock repurchases so we have the opportunity to invest more in our partners and stores. Since then, I have been meeting with partners at both large open forums and intimate, immersive <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2022/week-in-pictures-partners-begin-co-creating-starbucks-next-chapter/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">collaboration sessions</a> across the country to get underneath the challenges in the company that need to be addressed.

As an opening moment in the collaboration sessions, we showed a poster that framed a set of issues we have been hearing from partners. This led to discussion in which partners have been open, at times raw with emotion, and clear in their aspirations for themselves and the company. By providing space for the needed dialogue, we have been capturing a treasure trove of perspectives, solutions and big ideas as we reimagine the future of Starbucks, together.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

The vast majority of partners believe in the heritage, traditions and rituals of Starbucks. As leaders in the company, we must embrace our newest partners who do not yet know the history, culture and intention of the company that goes way beyond the last few years.&nbsp;&nbsp;

As one long-standing store manager said to me: “With 80% of baristas being partners less than a year, we have to do better to teach and share how we started and why we do what we do while better supporting each and every partner.”&nbsp;&nbsp;

This is a powerful statement encouraging more accountability from all of us to lead and nurture our partners.&nbsp;&nbsp;

We will become the best version of Starbucks by co-creating our future directly as partners. And we will strengthen the Starbucks community by upholding each other’s dreams; upholding the standards and rituals of the company; celebrating partner individuality and voice; and upholding behaviors of mutual respect and dignity.&nbsp;

We plan to move forward constructively with all Starbucks partners.&nbsp; However, we must not be distracted by the different vision being put forward by union organizers at some Starbucks stores.&nbsp; And while not all the partners supporting unionization are colluding with outside union forces, the critical point is that I do not believe conflict, division and dissension – which has been a focus of union organizing – benefits Starbucks or our partners.&nbsp;

Our collaboration sessions have not been without efforts at disruption by union organizers. During a session in Long Beach, a partner captured <a href="https://youtu.be/1YwTsNam864" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">a raw moment</a> in which I explain what happened in the middle of a memorial for a deceased partner in Chicago. It was upsetting. I go on to explain the personal responsibility I feel as I return to reinvent the company I founded – one where our people are never left behind but rather always propelled forward.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Put simply, the law gives our partners a right to organize, and it also protects the right to work without having a union. I have learned that only a very small fraction (less than 1%) of more than 200,000 Starbucks partners in the U.S. have voted for unionization, and in union elections that have occurred at Starbucks stores, roughly 65% of Starbucks partners in these elections have not voted at all.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Going forward it will be important for all of you to recognize that outside labor unions are attempting to sell a very different view of what Starbucks should be. In stores where any union election occurs, it is important for all partners to have a voice – by voting – because otherwise these important rights may be dictated by what a minority of partners actually support. You have resources available to you to ensure partners <a href="https://one.starbucks.com/faq/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">get the facts</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;

With our resilience, entrepreneurial spirit, and innovation, we will invest our resources to reinvent the company, meeting our partners and customers where they are as we journey to the future. I am looking forward to our time together at tomorrow’s WP Live event.&nbsp;

Onward as partners,&nbsp; Howard&nbsp;

Howard Schultz with Starbucks partners looking at a white board with sticky notes

Starbucks ceo Howard Schultz tells all U.S. Store Managers, “We will become the best version of Starbucks by co-creating our future directly as partners. And we will strengthen the Starbucks community by upholding each other’s dreams."

Starbucks CEO: Restoring the trust and belief of our partners

Starbucks CEO: Restoring the trust and belief of our partners

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Howard Schultz, who returned to Starbucks as chief executive officer on April 4, is meeting with partners around the U.S. and China this week. He’s visiting stores, roasting plants and support centers in person and virtually to listen, learn and co-create with partners the next chapter of Starbucks. &nbsp;

Collaboration sessions continue over the next several weeks, with Schultz and other senior leaders&nbsp;meeting with&nbsp;partners&nbsp;to hear their perspectives, challenges and ideas to evolve the company, together. In turn, those will inform future investments in partners. 

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Week in pictures: Partners begin co-creating Starbucks next chapter - Starbucks Stories

Week in pictures: Partners begin co-creating Starbucks next chapter

Howard Schultz, who returned to Starbucks as chief executive officer on April 4, is meeting with partners around the U.S. and China this week.

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Something happened the morning after Starbucks announced it would pay partners for the next 30 days whether they go to work or not as it closed its cafés and moved to drive-thru and delivery only. Many, many of them still went to work.&nbsp;

They showed up before dawn to help open their drive-thrus. They showed up to fill in at short-staffed neighboring stores. They showed up in the face of a collective global uncertainty they have not experienced in their lifetimes.

“If you are looking for signs of hope, look no further than Starbucks partners,” said Kevin Johnson, Starbucks chief executive officer. “I am proud of how Starbucks partners around the world are rising to the occasion and demonstrating our resilience and our commitment to the communities we serve.”

Amid the ever-shifting global COVID-19 crisis, Starbucks has moved to an adapted drive-thru and delivery only service model for at least two weeks, <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2020/starbucks-temporarily-moving-to-primarily-drive-thru-only-in-us-confirms-expanded-catastrophe-pay-for-worried-partner/">closing its cafés</a> in the U.S. and Canada (with the exception of some cafés in or around hospitals and health care centers). On Friday, the company <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/press/2020/what-customers-need-to-know-about-starbucks-response-to-covid-19/">committed to paying its retail workers</a> in the U.S. and Canada for the next 30 days, even if their store is closed or they are worried about or uncomfortable going to work.

And then, on Saturday morning, Starbucks drive-thru stores opened for business. In many ways, it was business as usual – Starbucks partners hustling to make beverages and food and chatting with customers. In other ways, it was business as unusual as the world works to navigate this global health crisis.&nbsp;

In Kentwood, Mich., Curtis Monaghan waited nervously in his car Saturday morning to see if the partners scheduled to open the store with him would show up, and was delighted when both of their cars pulled into the parking lot. Throughout the day, the store manager had a chance to speak with each member of his team. A few chose to stay home, some chose to work, but all the conversations felt good and honest, he said.

“Inspiration was the last thing I anticipated feeling walking into my store at 5:30 a.m. to open,” Curtis said. “I was truly inspired at how my team held together.”&nbsp;

Cameron Melcher, a partner since 2008 and two-year store manager, said it was never a question for him what he wanted to do.

“I think it goes back to being an embodiment of the company we say we want to work for and can be proud of,” Cameron said. “I’m thankful to have a store still functioning and still serving our community, a majority of which are now hospital workers and first responders. I know what we represent to people in our area, especially right now, and I didn’t want to see that falter.”

He took over managing a new store in Manassas, Va., a little over a week ago.

“It’s a high-volume, 24-hour, drive-thru store. And it’s next to a Costco,” Cameron said. “So, yeah, it’s been one heck of a week.”

Though he was certain about his own personal decision to keep going to work, he showed up Saturday morning unsure what others on his new team would choose to do.

“I don’t know these partners yet, and they don’t know me. But I do know they have been given this amazing opportunity to take some leave – to take some time to unwind and destress from this crisis,” Cameron said. “I showed up to work this morning with donuts, not sure what to expect, to find everyone was there. Not a single one has taken the time off, other than a couple who are self-quarantining to be safe.”

The store was incredibly busy Saturday – he said the drive-thru line wrapped around the building twice. Still, Cameron said customers expressed gratitude it was open, even with extra wait time.&nbsp;

Cameron's email sign-off is a Starbucks saying quoted many times by Howard Schultz, “'We are not in the coffee business serving people, but in the people business serving coffee,’” he said. “With all the quarantines and social distancing, humanity is feeling some serious disconnect right now. I think it’s important that we can be there for our community and maybe even look at our role a little differently – as essential personnel – because of what we are doing and who we are serving. I guess I can speak for my new team and say they do as well, considering they were all there. Today, we changed things up.”

Tomi Herl is managing two Starbucks stores in Euless, Texas, this week – her own, and another for a store manager who is in self-quarantine. She arrived at the second store Saturday morning to find it was a little short-staffed, as more than half of its partners chose to stay home. Tomi reached out to some fellow managers, and she was soon joined by other partners from the area who volunteered to work with her. The store is next to an urgent care facility, and Tomi said many of the customers in the drive-thru Saturday were health care providers.&nbsp;

“A lot of them said, ‘You have no idea how much we need this,’” she said. “So much of what I heard from our customers was to thank us for being open.”

The store is also next to a popular fitness trail, and the sun was out Saturday, and Tomi said people on foot and on bicycles also approached the drive-thru menu asking if they could order without a car. (She told them for safety reasons, unfortunately not.)

“Oh my gosh,” Tomi said, laughing. “Of all the scenarios I imagined for today, people out walking their dogs trying to use a drive-thru wasn’t one of them.”

This week, she has counseled plenty of partners at both stores who are uncertain and afraid, including plenty who decided to stay home.

“I’m not going to lie, there are several days I’ve been overwhelmed with emotion,” Tomi said. “I was talking to one partner who was worried about taking the 30 days now. ‘What if I get sick after that?’ she said. I realized, after it took me quite a while to go through all the different benefits and options he has available to him, how much we all have available to us. It’s so comforting. I’m so grateful.”

Tomi said it’s only natural to experience panic and frustration, especially given the way the global and local response to COVID-19 is changing so frequently, but she keeps going back to a mantra.&nbsp;

“Give grace, and show love,” she said. “Oh, and gratitude. We will be OK. We will get through this.”

On Friday evening, Benjamin Knowles – a nearly five-year Starbucks partner and one-year manager at a store in Manchester, Tenn. – spoke to every one of his team members in person or by phone to explain the closing cafés and the options available to them. In the end, most of his team members decided to stay home. His store has a drive-thru, but because it is in a rural area – the closest Starbucks that could provide backup team members is nearly an hour away in every direction – Benjamin made the difficult decision to close the doors for two weeks.&nbsp;

“It was, in a very weird way, the most physically and mentally exhausting but also the most rewarding day in my four years at Starbucks,” he said. “Everyone was sad, but everyone pitched in to help close up, and we were also able to donate a lot of our food to local shelters and nursing homes.”

Then, in an effort to lift spirits as his team worked their way through the closing checklist, Benjamin did something his partners have been begging him to do for months – he joined the popular video app TikTok (and debuted in a big way with an enthusiastic lip sync of “Into the Unknown” from Frozen 2 using a mop as a microphone).

“I just channeled my inner Elsa and went really hard,” he said, laughing.&nbsp;

“I have this thing I tell my partners and myself a lot – we can only control what’s in our control. For the things in our control, we have the responsibility to handle ourselves well and to make and execute the best plans we can. For the things that are out of our control, we can only control how we respond,” Benjamin said. “That’s the rock I keep going back to, especially this past week.”

Store manager Leah Lavasseur said she will miss the café while it is closed, but the drive-thru still offers a lot of chances to safely connect with people. Years ago, an experience as a customer in a Starbucks drive-thru is what led her to where she is now.

“I realized after I ordered, but before I got to the window, that I’d forgotten my wallet. I was like, ‘No, no, no!’ I’ll never forget – it was a vente nonfat latte and a pumpkin scone,” Leah said. “I told them at the window what happened, and that I’d have to run home and come back later, and they said, ‘Sounds like you’re having a rough day. Don’t worry about it. Your order is all ready to go – hope your day gets better.’ I left feeling wonderful and thinking, ‘Wow, I want to work there.’”&nbsp;

Leah has now been a Starbucks partner for 12 years and a store manager for five, most recently at a store in Glendale, Ariz. This week has been one of her toughest on the job, but also one of her most meaningful.

She recently transferred to Arizona from Minnesota, where everyone in the area knew her well. She’s been in her new store for a few months and is still getting to know her team, so when she reached out to them Friday, she was unsure how they’d react to the news that their store’s drive-thru would remain open, and that Starbucks would pay them for the next 30 days whether they come to work or not. Then came the texts and phone calls.&nbsp;

“Hey, just want you to know I’m here for you.”

“As long as I can wear gloves in the drive-thru, I’m good.”

“I’m not a crier. I’ve never cried at work. But I’ve been crying all day today,” Leah said. “When you share your heart with people, and do what you can for them, and then get responses like that? What on earth? How awesome is that, that we’ve crossed that threshold together.”

Leah and her partners had the opportunity to chat briefly with many customers as they passed their orders out the window, and conversations frequently turned to lines at the grocery stores and supply shortages, including toilet paper. A highlight was when a couple who had been through the drive-thru earlier in the day returned to order more – and also to deliver a bag with a few rolls of toilet paper to the barista working the window. Everyone laughed, and Leah snapped a photo.

“It’s so easy, day to day, to kind of be bogged down with the negative stuff and frustration and the crabby attitudes and I get it. It’s scary and it’s hard. But people can have a complete 180 by being shown care. Genuine care,” she said. “When I get frustrated with people and hard situations and feeling like I don’t want to love a person, I remind myself of Mr. Rogers. I have loved Fred Rogers since I was a small child, and some things I’ve taken from him are one, to be calm. Panicking doesn’t help any situation. And two, that people matter. All of this is worth it if I make sure my partners know and my customers know they matter to me and they matter to Starbucks. It’s the heart of who we are.”

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'It's at the heart of who we are:' Starbucks drive-thrus continue to serve - Starbucks Stories

&#8216;It&#8217;s at the heart of who we are:&#8217; Starbucks drive-thrus continue to serve

The morning after Starbucks closed its cafés in the U.S. and Canada amid a global response to COVID-19, Starbucks drive-thru partners share their experiences serving their communities.

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'It's at the heart of who we are:' Starbucks drive-thrus continue to serve

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‘It’s at the heart of who we are:’ Starbucks drive-thrus continue to serve

On World AIDS Day, as Starbucks partners with (RED) to raise awareness and funds to end the disease, a Starbucks store manager is preparing to spend a year in sub-Saharan Africa caring for those with HIV.&nbsp;

Inside Ryan Wooten’s West Hollywood, Calif., apartment is one of his most poignant possessions: a big black box that once held a Prada messenger bag he bought to spoil himself, after he was diagnosed with HIV. Now, it holds dozens of empty prescription bottles – six years’ worth of Stribild and more recently, Biktarvy – reminders of the medication he’s used to keep himself alive since he was 23 years old.

“When the bottle’s empty, it’s powerless,” Wooten explains. “And it made me feel a sense of accomplishment. I’m alive for another month. I outlived another bottle of pills.” &nbsp; 

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Wooten, a Starbucks store manager in Los Angeles, is the beneficiary of a public health success story. Considered an almost-certain death sentence in the United States in the 1980s and early 1990s, the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which causes AIDS, can now be suppressed with a once-a-day pill regimen – to the point where Wooten’s viral load is undetectable and not even transmittable.

Still, there’s so much more work left to do. Approximately 38 million people around the world are living with HIV; an estimated 15 million don’t have access to life-saving antiretroviral medication. Last year, approximately 1.7 million people were newly diagnosed with HIV, and 770,000 people died from AIDS-related illnesses.

“I appreciate only having to take one pill; I feel grateful for living in 2019 instead of the 1980s,” Wooten says. “That’s why I did the AIDS Walk (in Los Angeles) this year. I’ve walked every year since 2013. I walk for the people that can’t walk. I walk for the people who aren’t here anymore.”

On World AIDS Day, Starbucks is proud to celebrate the progress that’s been made and continue to work towards ending AIDS. For the 12th consecutive year, Starbucks is partnering with <a href="https://www.red.org/">(RED)</a> to raise awareness about the global AIDS epidemic and directly fund efforts to end the disease. For every latte sold Dec. 1 in its U.S. and Canada stores, Starbucks will give 25 cents to the Global Fund to help fight AIDS.

Since 2008, Starbucks has generated more than $15.5 million in donations to help fight AIDS with (RED). The money supports HIV/AIDS programs, which provide HIV testing, counseling, treatment, prevention and education services. 

<a href="https://www.theglobalfund.org/en/">The Global Fund</a> – a collaboration between governments, businesses and health organizations – works to accelerate the end of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria as epidemics. It raises and invests nearly $4 billion annually to support programs run by local experts in countries and communities most in need.

On last year’s World AIDS Day, Starbucks donations were directed to the Rwandan Ministry of Health to help some of the communities from which Starbucks sources coffee. One of the grantees was the&nbsp;<a href="http://imbutofoundation.org/">Imbuto Foundation</a>, which works with young mothers in remote areas, many of whom are living with HIV and face a stigma as a result of their status.

The organization brings the women together in peer-led support groups that offer empowerment through community, job training and access to sexual reproductive health education – particularly important in Rwanda, where only half of young women have comprehensive knowledge on how to prevent HIV.

Of the millions living with HIV around the world, 68 percent are living in sub-Saharan African countries like Rwanda, according to statistics compiled by <a href="https://www.unaids.org/en">UNAIDS</a>, a United Nations agency working to end AIDS by 2030. Globally, young women (aged 15-24) have a 60 percent higher infection rate than young men of the same age, and in sub-Saharan Africa, young women are twice as likely to acquire HIV as young men.

“We think about our bigger mission, to empower and nurture the human spirit, and that has to happen wherever we are, wherever we can touch,” says Kelly Goodejohn, Starbucks director of ethical sourcing and traceability, who visited the Imbuto Foundation in May to see the impact of the company’s donations. “Rwanda is core to our coffee history and legacy. We’re connected to Rwanda. This partnership with (RED) is part of living our mission and values.”

Wooten, the Starbucks store manager, says support is critical after an HIV diagnosis, wherever you live in the world. 

Now 30, Wooten remembers all the details of the night he was diagnosed. It was Nov. 19, 2013, 8:59 p.m., at the Los Angeles LGBT Center. He remembers the roller coaster of emotions after the doctor told him the news – crying, seeing red, frantically asking the doctor to retest him. And he remembers the doctor’s compassion.

After he finally calmed down, Wooten told the doctor, “You’re not going to give me a death sentence and not buy me some ice cream. Buy me ice cream now.”

They drove to McDonald’s together in the doctor’s car. 

“It’s so juvenile, but it was in that little moment, eating a vanilla ice cream cone, that I realized I’m still alive,” Wooten says. “I don’t know what’s going to happen next but I’m here and I’m alive, and tomorrow will happen, and the next day will happen.”

After his diagnosis, Wooten learned more about HIV – specifically that he could overcome it. 

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&nbsp;“We’re at the point where somebody who is diagnosed with HIV relatively early has the same life expectancy as someone who doesn’t have it,” says Julie Dombrowski, associate professor of medicine at the University of Washington, and the deputy director of the Public Health Seattle/King County HIV/STD program. 

The greatest challenge now, Dombrowski says, is making sure that everyone who needs medication has access to it. Most of the people who aren’t getting it in the U.S. have complicating factors, such as homelessness, mental illness or substance use disorders. The other battlefront is stigma, Dombrowski says, which prevents some people from getting diagnosed or even seeking treatment.

The urgent goal for the international health community is a “90-90-90” target: that 90 percent of all people living with HIV will know their status; 90 percent of those people will be receiving antiretroviral medication; and 90 percent of those people will be virally suppressed.

“The world has made tremendous progress in battling HIV – in expanding access to services, reducing new infections and advancing science and technology so that antiretrovirals serve as both treatment and prevention in one pill,” says Luisa Engel, Chief Impact Officer at (RED). “But we won’t reach the finish line without increased funding and focus at a global scale. It’s precisely why it’s so incredible to have iconic partners like Starbucks who are raising cash and awareness for the issue impacting their communities – from baristas in California to coffee growers in Rwanda.”

Wooten credits the <a href="https://lalgbtcenter.org/">Los Angeles LGBT Center</a>, one of the premier support centers for LGBT people in the world, for guiding him through the dark early days of his diagnosis – “I have a million stories of crying,” he says. They connected him to a counselor, a nutritionist and a life coach, and provided free medication. Those people and others there – the doctor who diagnosed him is now one of his closest friends – helped him establish a routine, helped guide him towards a normal life.

Now, Wooten is giving back. He volunteers weekly as a facilitator at the LGBT Center, working with the area’s large population of homeless youth, some of whom are just coming out as gay or transitioning, or who have HIV but haven’t told anyone yet. 

Born and raised in Los Angeles, Wooten himself was homeless for a while when he was 18 years old, right before he was hired as a Starbucks barista. He lashed out and lived recklessly, he says, while trying to find his identity; he can relate to the kids at the center. 

Starting next year, he’ll take an even bigger step. Starbucks offers partners who have been with the company for 10 years the option of taking a sabbatical. Wooten is going to spend his on a one-year volunteer assignment with the Peace Corps in Namibia, another sub-Saharan African country, where approximately 200,000 people live with HIV. There, beginning in April, he’ll support the AIDS fight by working with local public health officials and caring for HIV-positive Namibians. 

Wooten believes he was selected specifically because of his disease, because of how it changed him after his diagnosis. It shaped new perspectives, gave him a crash course on one of the biggest public health crises in the world and forced him to live and lead with empathy. Having HIV has caused him to see the world differently, Wooten says, and he’s chosen to turn it into a positive experience. 

Wooten’s Starbucks store is on Sunset Boulevard, near the Hollywood Walk of Fame, across the street from movie and television production studios. But tent encampments are also on both sides of the street next to his store. His customers include movie stars, cast members of big television shows, local news anchors and people experiencing homelessness. 

How does he connect with that broad spectrum of humanity? How will he live a meaningful life, in ways big and small? 

“It’s crazy to think that the thing I thought would kill me or make me a weak person is the thing that’s making me strong,” Wooten says. “I’m helping change the world, I’m going to make a difference, and the reason I’m doing it is because of my status.” 

How a Starbucks store manager is working to fight AIDS around the globe - Starbucks Stories

How a Starbucks store manager is working to fight AIDS around the globe

On World AIDS Day, a Starbucks store manager is preparing to spend a year in sub-Saharan African caring for those with HIV.

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