I recently participated in a conference call with BlogHer, Starbucks Chairman and CEO Howard Schultz, and Starbucks Global Chief Marketing Officer Annie Young-Scrivner about their new Create Jobs for USA initiative that launched yesterday. You buy this (very cute) wristband for $5 and it’s all donated to a fund at the Opportunity Finance Network for capital grants to local lenders who fund small businesses that make a difference.
Schultz says, “The question I’ve been asking myself is, ‘how can Starbucks use our scale for good?’ … the lifeblood of job creation in America has been and continues to be small businesses.”
“100% of the money we raise will go to the OFN … think of them as the United Way of community-based loan organizations in America… they will get millions of dollars in the hands of these enterprises that will start lending money to small businesses, start-up businesses, that will be a catalyst for job creation.”
“The intent here is to give the benefit of the doubt to the business and provide access to credit.”
Donations have a multiplier effect times 7 … so that for every wristband purchased, $35 can actually be lent out from OFN. The organization estimates that $20,000 creates one sustainable job. There’s no set end date for the program.
Bonus! Young-Scrivner briefly talked about women in business, giving her thoughts on what makes a woman successful in a global company like Starbucks: “Stay consistent and centered on who you really are. Work for a company that you care about. The balance between profitability and social benevolence … I think as women it’s really critical that we understand what we want, we have a map we develop for ourselves, focus on our skill set, and have good mentors inside and outside the company.”
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