Here’s the latest news on Race Together, directly from the Starbucks headquarters.

To:         Starbucks partners; managing directors for company-operated and joint venture markets

Date:    March 22, 2015

Re:         Message from Howard: Race Together – A Heartfelt Thanks

               

Dear partners,

I want to offer my heartfelt thanks to every one of you for your fearless and energetic support of the Race Together initiative.  Our objective from the very start of this effort – dating back to our first open forum in Seattle last December – was to stimulate conversation, empathy and compassion toward one another, and then to broaden that dialogue beyond just our Starbucks family to the greater American public by using our scale for good.

After a historic Annual Shareholders Meeting that focused on diversity and inequality, and an initial push for much-needed national discussion around these difficult topics, it is time for us to take stock of where we are, what we have learned from our efforts so far, and what is next.

This phase of the effort – writing “Race Together” (or placing stickers) on cups, which was always just the catalyst for a much broader and longer term conversation – will be completed as originally planned today, March 22.

But this initiative is far from over. We have a number of planned Race Together activities in the weeks and months to come: more Partner Open Forums, three more special sections co-produced with USA TODAY over the course of the next year, more open dialogue with police and community leaders in cities across our country, a continued focus on jobs and education for our nation’s young people plus our commitment to hire 10,000 opportunity youth over the next three years, expanding our store footprint in urban communities across the country, and new partnerships to foster dialogue and empathy and help bridge the racial and ethnic divides within our society that have existed for so many years.

While there has been criticism of the initiative – and I know this hasn’t been easy for any of you – let me assure you that we didn’t expect universal praise. The heart of Race Together has always been about humanity: the promise of the American Dream should be available to every person in this country, not just a select few.  We leaned in because we believed that starting this dialogue is what matters most.  We are learning a lot. And, will always aim high in our efforts to make a difference on the issues that matter most.

I want to thank those of you who took time this week to share what you were seeing, hearing, feeling and thinking as we rolled out Race Together across the country.  An issue as tough as racial and ethnic inequality requires risk-taking and tough-minded action. And let me reassure you that our conviction and commitment to the notion of equality and opportunity for all has never been stronger.

Take care of yourselves and each other.  I am proud to be your partner.

With great respect,

Howard