OREANDA-NEWS. The Board of Directors of Starbucks Corporation is responsible for overseeing the management of the company. They are charged with upholding Starbucks Mission and Values while ensuring that the long-term interests of the shareholders are served. Board members have diverse backgrounds, including leadership roles in retail, government, finance, software, and technology sectors. One-quarter of the current Board members are women.

Howard Schultz, chairman

Howard Schultz, chairman and chief executive officer of Starbucks, first walked into Starbucks in Seattle’s Pike Place Market in 1981. Drawn to Seattle and its extraordinary coffee culture, Schultz moved from his native New York and joined Starbucks, in 1982, as director of operations and marketing when Starbucks had only four stores. A year later, in 1983, Schultz traveled to Italy and became captivated with Italian coffee bars and the romance of the coffee experience. He had a vision to bring the Italian coffeehouse tradition to America. He wanted to create a place for human connection, conversation and one that fostered a sense of community – a third place between work and home. He left Starbucks for a short period of time to start his own Il Giornale coffeehouses and returned in August 1987 as chief executive officer to purchase Starbucks with the help of local investors.

Chairman since 2000, Schultz resumed the role of president and chief executive officer in January 2008. Since his return, he has led a transformation of the company, bringing the company to sustainable, profitable growth with a renewed focus on Starbucks coffee heritage, innovation and the customer experience. He has also galvanized leaders both inside and outside the company to take action to help local communities. He spearheaded efforts to create small business jobs through Create Jobs for USA, launched an initiative to hire more U.S. military veterans and their spouses, and opened up new educational opportunities for Starbucks partners to finish school through the Starbucks College Achievement Plan. 

William (Bill) Bradley

William Bradley has been a Starbucks director since June 2003. Since 2000, Senator Bradley has been a Managing Director of Allen & Company LLC, an investment banking firm. From 2001 until 2004, he acted as Chief Outside Advisor to McKinsey & Company’s non-profit practice. In 2000, Senator Bradley was a candidate for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States. He served as a Senior Advisor and Vice Chairman of the International Council of JP Morgan & Co. from 1997 through 1999. During that time, Senator Bradley also worked as an essayist for CBS Evening News, and as a Visiting Professor at Stanford University, the University of Notre Dame and the University of Maryland. Senator Bradley served in the U.S. Senate from 1979 until 1997, representing the State of New Jersey. Prior to serving in the U.S. Senate, he was an Olympic gold medalist in 1964, and from 1967 through 1977 he played professional basketball for the New York Knicks, during which time they won two world championships. Senator Bradley previously served on the Boards of Directors of Seagate Technology, Willis Group Holdings Limited and QuinStreet, Inc.

Mary Dillon

Mary Dillon has been a Starbucks director since January 2016. Since July 2013, Dillon has served as Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors of Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance, Inc., a beauty products retailer. Prior to joining Ulta, she served as President and Chief Executive Officer and a member of the board of directors of United States Cellular Corporation, a provider of wireless telecommunications services, beginning in June 2010. Prior to joining U.S. Cellular, Dillon served as Global Chief Marketing Officer and Executive Vice President of McDonald’s Corporation from 2005 to 2010, where she led the company’s worldwide marketing efforts and global brand strategy. Prior to joining McDonald’s, Dillon held several positions of increasing responsibility at PepsiCo Corporation, including as President of the Quaker Foods division from 2004 to 2005 and as Vice President of Marketing for Gatorade and Quaker Foods from 2002 to 2004. Dillon previously served as a director of Target Corporation from 2007 to 2013.

Robert M. Gates

Robert Gates has been a Starbucks director since May 2012. Secretary Gates served in numerous roles in the Executive Branch of the U.S. government for nearly half a century, culminating as Secretary of Defense from December 2006 to June 2011. In October 2013, Secretary Gates was elected to the National Executive Board of the Boy Scouts of America. In May 2014, he was named its National President for a two-year term. In September 2011, Secretary Gates was named Chancellor of the College of William & Mary. From August 2002 to December 2006, he served as president of Texas A&M University. Secretary Gates has previously been a member of the Board of Directors of several companies, including Brinker International, Inc., NACCO Industries, Inc., Parker Drilling Company and the Board of Independent Trustees of the Fidelity Funds.

Mellody Hobson

Mellody Hobson has been a Starbucks director since February 2005. Hobson has served as the President and a Director of Ariel Investments, LLC, a Chicago-based investment management firm since 2000, and as the Chairman since 2006 and a Trustee since 1993 of the mutual funds it manages. She previously served as Senior Vice President and Director of Marketing at Ariel Capital Management, Inc. from 1994 to 2000, and as Vice President of Marketing at Ariel Capital Management, Inc. from 1991 to 1994. Hobson works with a variety of civic and professional institutions, including serving as a Board Member of the Chicago Public Education Fund and as Chairman of After School Matters, which provides Chicago teens with high quality out-of-school time programs. Hobson also serves on the Boards of Directors of The Estee Lauder Companies, Inc. and DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc., where she is Chairman of the Board. Additionally, she is on the Board of Governors of the Investment Company Institute. Hobson served on the Board of Directors of Groupon, Inc. through May 20, 2014.

Kevin Johnson

Kevin Johnson has served as Starbucks president and chief operating officer since March 2015 and has been a Starbucks director since March 2009. Johnson served as Chief Executive Officer of Juniper Networks, Inc., a leading provider of high-performance networking products and services, from September 2008 to December 2013. He also served on the Board of Directors of Juniper Networks from September 2008 through February 2014. Prior to joining Juniper Networks, Johnson served as President, Platforms and Services Division for Microsoft Corporation, a worldwide provider of software, services and solutions. Johnson was a member of Microsoft’s Senior Leadership Team and held a number of senior executive positions over the course of his 16 years at Microsoft. Prior to joining Microsoft in 1992, Johnson worked in International Business Machine Corp.’s systems integration and consulting business. He also serves on the board of directors of Auction.com, LLC.

Joshua Cooper Ramo

Joshua Cooper Ramo has been a Starbucks director since May 2011. Since July 2015 Cooper Ramo has served as Co-Chief Executive Officer and Vice Chairman of Kissinger Associates, a strategic advisory firm where he has served as Vice Chairman since 2011 and been employed since 2005. He was previously the Managing Partner and a senior advisor for the Office of John L. Thornton, a corporate advisory specialist and an advisor to Goldman Sachs, from 2003 to 2005. Cooper Ramo spent his early career as a journalist, most recently with TIME magazine, from 1996 to 2003 serving as Senior Editor and Foreign Editor. He is a leading China scholar and has written several papers on China’s development that have been distributed in China and abroad. In 2008, Cooper Ramo served as China Analyst for NBC during the Summer Olympics in Beijing. He is the author of The New York Times best-selling book, “The Age of the Unthinkable.”  Cooper Ramo has been a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations, Asia 21 Leaders Program, World Economic Forum’s Young Global Leaders and Global Leaders for Tomorrow, and co-founder of the U.S.-China Young Leaders Forum. He also serves on the Board of Directors and Audit Committee of FedEx Corporation.

James Shennan, Jr.

James Shennan has been a Starbucks director since March 1990. Shennan served as a General Partner of Trinity Ventures, a venture capital organization, from September 1989 to July 2005, when he became General Partner Emeritus. Prior to joining Trinity Ventures, he served as the Chief Executive of Addison Consultants, Inc., an international marketing services firm, and two of its predecessor companies. Shennan previously served on the Board of Directors of P.F. Chang’s China Bistro, Inc. until July 2012.

Clara Shih

Clara Shih has been a Starbucks director since December 2011. Shih is Chief Executive Officer and a Board Member of Hearsay Social, Inc., an enterprise software company serving Fortune 500 brands that she co-founded in August 2009. From June 2006 to June 2009, she served as Product Management Director, AppExchange of salesforce.com inc., an enterprise software company. From 2004 to 2006, she served as Associate, Strategy and Business Operations for Google, Inc. Previously, Shih was a software engineer at Microsoft Corporation. Shih, the creator of the first business application on Facebook, is the author of “The Facebook Era,” a marketing textbook at Harvard Business School. In 2011, she was named one of  Businessweek’s  Top Young Entrepreneurs, one of Fortune’s  Most Powerful Women Entrepreneurs and one of CNN Money’s “40 under 40: Ones to Watch.”

Javier Teruel

Javier Teruel has been a Starbucks director since September 2005. Teruel served as Vice Chairman of Colgate-Palmolive Company, a consumer products company, from July 2004 to April 2007, when he retired. Prior to being appointed Vice Chairman, Teruel served as Colgate-Palmolive’s Executive Vice President responsible for Asia, Central Europe, Africa and Hill’s Pet Nutrition. After joining Colgate in Mexico in 1971, Teruel served as Vice President of Body Care in Global Business Development in New York and President and General Manager of Colgate-Mexico. He also served as President of Colgate-Europe, and as Chief Growth Officer responsible for the company’s growth functions. Teruel currently serves as a Partner of Spectron Desarrollo, SC, an impact investment and consulting firm and as Chairman of Alta Growth Capital, a private equity firm. He previously served on the Boards of Directors of The Pepsi Bottling Group, Inc. and Corporaci?n Geo S.A.B. de C.V. He currently serves on the Boards of Directors of J.C. Penney Company, Inc. and Nielsen Holdings plc.

Myron Ullman, III

Myron Ullman has been a Starbucks director since January 2003. Since August 2015, Ullman has served as Executive Chairman of J.C. Penney Company, Inc., a chain of retail department stores. From April 2013 to August 2015, Ullman served as Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors of J.C. Penney Company, Inc. Ullman had previously served as Executive Chairman of J.C. Penney Company, Inc., from November 2011 to January 2012, and as the Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer from December 2004 to November 2011. Ullman served as Directeur General, Group Managing Director of LVMH M?et Hennessy Louis Vuitton, a luxury goods manufacturer and retailer, from July 1999 to January 2002. From January 1995 to June 1999, he served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of DFS Group Limited, a retailer of luxury branded merchandise. From 1992 to 1995, Ullman served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of R.H. Macy & Co., Inc. Ullman previously served on the Boards of Directors for Ralph Lauren Corporation, Taubman Centers, Saks, Inc. and Pzena Investment Management, Inc. He served as the Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas through the end of 2014.

Craig Weatherup

Craig Weatherup has been a Starbucks director since February 1999. Weatherup worked for PepsiCo, Inc. for 24 years and served as Chief Executive Officer of its worldwide Pepsi-Cola business and President of PepsiCo, Inc., retiring in 1999. He also led the initial public offering of The Pepsi Bottling Group, Inc., where he served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer from March 1999 to January 2003. Weatherup also serves on the Board of Directors of Macy’s, Inc.