Sometime in late 2011 I found myself traveling to California to visit a friend of mine. I'm always pretty bad with packing and realized I didn't bring anything to keep me entertained during the flight but I remembered that my Starbucks recently gave me a copy of Howard Schultz's book Onward. With no other options and in a pinch I snagged it before jumping into the car. An hour into the flight the dull white noise finally started to get to me and I dug through my backpack for that book I shoved into the side compartment. Back then I had started with the company not long and didn't know much about Howard Schultz except that all my fellow partners seemed to revere him. I had no expectations when I opened the first pages but when I had finished I had gotten a sense of this man's character and determination to do what was right for those that worked for him and his yearning to provide a soul and voice to a community. He demonstrated an ability to act in the best interest to those that relied on him for their prosperity and their family's well-being. I remember thinking to myself, "there should be more people like this leading businesses." It convinced me that this wasn't just another fast-food establishment where no one knew your name or your story. This was something different, this was a company that wanted to be a medium for people to share their stories, to support one another, that place between work and home: the third place. Maybe we've all heard it too much, maybe we as a company are so ingrained in the fabric of American society that we've started to take that for granted but it meant something to all of us.

It was that inspiration from the leadership that gave us partners a sense of empowerment to make the moment right. That led me to push further and learn more about coffee and treat each individual that walked into my store with respect and always assume the best of intentions. Of course when I was given the opportunity to become a Coffee Master I was thrilled, it was right there on the apron on the inside collar so you could see it every time you put it on, embroidered the words *"To inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time."* This was and still is our mission statement. This is what we stand for. Our values further elaborate on this, stating:

>*With our partners, our coffee and our customers at our core, we live these values:*
*Creating a culture of warmth and belonging, where everyone is welcome.*
*Acting with courage, challenging the status quo and finding new ways to grow our company and each other.*
*Being present, connecting with transparency, dignity and respect.*
*Delivering our very best in all we do, holding ourselves accountable for results.*
*We are performance driven, through the lens of humanity.*

(Source: $1)

At the risk of sounding naive, I truly did believe that. Even though we are a company driven by profits that needed to be responsible to our shareholders, I still believed that there was a place where we could satisfy both creeds equally.

Howard Schultz left the company on June 26th, 2018. I didn't agree with his proposed presidential run but that didn't chip away at my respect for him as a leader and as a human being. He had instilled his values in this company that he had poured his heart and soul into. I thought we would be okay. Maybe I was shortsighted because in hindsight even in 2018 Starbucks was no longer a leader in providing benefits to its workers nor was it paying as much as other retail hourly work of the same skill level. We, as a company, only started allowing our hourly partners to accrue sick time after President Donald Trump's massive tax cuts to corporations including Starbucks. I shrugged this off at the time because Howard Schultz came out and said that the tax cut for corporations was "fool's gold" (source: $1).

Where are we today? Its 2020, Starbuck's CEO is Kevin Johnson and we find ourselves in the critical weeks of the spread of a global pandemic. It's time for us to take a long look at ourselves. What do we stand for? Are we truly a company that is driven by performance "through a lens of humanity" like our values states? Is this what we are now? A company trying to squeeze as much revenue day by day before we are inevitably forced to close by the local or federal government? Starbucks is a multi-national corporation. Arguably this company has more experience with COVID-19 than the US government. We have stores in Wuhan, China and even a Roastery in Shanghai. We have stores all over Italy as well as another Roastery in Milan. We know how real this threat is to our community and our partners. Are we acting with courage as our values dictate?

We serve coffee but above all we nurture community and the human spirit and we know in our hearts what we have to do. Howard Schultz is as flawed of a human as you and I but I applaud the vision that he set out on for this company. I'm calling on this company to be brave and do what's right. Make the tough decision, make the right decision.

**Shut down our stores.**

Humbled to be your fellow partner