Community: a Catalyst for Good

Yesterday, the Starbucks Alumni Community hosted the first ever alumni + current partner joint volunteer event for 星巴克 #GlobalMonthofGood here in Nashville. Today the words tumbling around in my head, leaving streaks of meaning like crayons in a dryer are “community” and “catalyst”.

Community

As the community manager for our Starbucks Alumni Community, I’m often the one interacting directly with alumni, and "in the weeds" (pun intended) with our data, both qualitative and quantitative, demographic and psychographic. One of the questions we ask alumni upon first joining our community is: “What do you miss most about working at Starbucks?”

The answers are simultaneously not at all surprising and deeply insightful. “I miss the coffee.” “I miss making drinks for people” “I miss having regulars and a team that felt like family” “I miss seeing people smile because of something I did” “I miss the being a part of our community and giving back.”

"I miss being a part of a community"

When you zoom out, the needs captured in those responses are so deeply human, so fundamental and basic; the desire to connect, to feel part of something, to be good at a skill, and see that skill make a difference in some small way in someone else’s life. Isn’t that the definition of meaning? Isn’t that a core need for all humanity?

These answers resonate deeply for me, as well. I’ve worked for Starbucks for eleven years: five in stores, and now six out of stores, four of which have been remote. And while I am a passionate advocate for remote work, sometimes I too miss making things with my hands, being good at a physical skill, pouring a latte art heart and seeing the face of my regular light up in response; being a part of a team, a community.

Catalyst

Did you know volunteering in the U.S. is at a decline and has been steadily for the past few years? This is due to several factors, but two of the main ones are that people often need a community and a catalyst to volunteer. We say we want to volunteer. And we do want to. But in order to overcome the obstacles of finding a cause, signing up, making it work within our schedule, and then actually going to do the thing…there’s a lot to overcome, especially by yourself, and the best intentions often fall by the wayside.

Which is where a community can become your catalyst: whether a church, a Scout troop, fraternity, or a company that prioritizes service work like Starbucks. Often when I tell people what I do, you can see the wheels turning. “So you manage a group of people who don’t work there anymore?” Why an alumni community for a coffee company?

Why does anyone choose to belong to any group, whether collegiate alumni groups or local kickball league? To be a part of something; to connect; to belong; to have something in common. There’s no mystery behind the Starbucks Alumni Community, (though there may be a bit of magic). People often find their time at Starbucks to have been transformative in some way, impactful, meaningful, and they’re looking to have an extension of that impact and meaning after they no longer work there.

A shared history and past, is important, but it’s often not enough. What does belonging to this community bring to alumni’s lives in their present? How can a history lead to a future?

Grow

Yesterday I got together with a handful of local Starbucks partners and leaders, along with a number of alumni, who now work in different spaces, some working for or running their own nonprofits now. Alongside alumni Virginia Tenpenny President, North America and Chief Impact Officer of Goodera , the incomparable and incredible Goodera host Lakia Brandenburg , alumni Ginger-Rose Krueck the Executive Director of GROW ENRICHMENT , Selah Speich regional director of licensed stores, Jessica Picard the regional directer and thier amazing local team of licensed and company operated district managers and store managers; we worked (hard) with our hands to fight back the intrusive, invasive, non-native plants to give the indigenous fruited trees and plants quite literally room to breathe and grow.

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We shared a coffee tasting, took photos of Milo their goat mascot, connected and networked, laughed and shared, in nature, while giving back to our community (very nearly my own backyard). And afterwards, we all felt amazing.

Someone remarked to me on the way back, “These things always require so much planning and work, but in the end they’re always more than worth it. I always leave an event like this wanting to do more”. Live events can be really hard, just like the obstacles preventing us from volunteering, but they are always worth it in the reflection.

Just like we gave those native plants a chance to grow and thrive, sometimes in our live we have to uproot the obstacles keeping us from our human needs, pull out the distractions, the nerves, the anxieties, and give connection, giving back, working with our hands alongside others a chance to grow. It may not be easy. But we’ll always be glad we did it.

We’re still learning and growing as an alumni team, searching for ways to unlock the power of our common connections and harness a network of 1.5 million people with shared experiences. Looking for the catalysts, to build community in the service of good. ??