Starbucks, the Host Partner of the 2019 AWESOME Symposium – May 1-3 in Seattle – will open the program on Day One in a uniquely Starbucks way. Following a welcome from Hans Melotte, EVP, Global Supply Chain Operations, and Lucy Helm, Chief Partner Officer, AWESOME leaders attending the Symposium will participate in a coffee tasting guided by Virginia Tenpenny, VP, Global Social Impact and Executive Director, Starbucks Foundation.
Virginia also will tell the Starbucks story of empowering women in origin communities. On International Women’s Day on March 8, 2018, The Starbucks Foundation announced a new goal to empower 250,000 women and girls in origin communities by 2025. Since 2018, the Foundation has made 11 grants totaling nearly $4 million to organizations working with coffee and tea communities across Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Learn more