The New Rules of Engagement

What do we owe each other? How do we channel our drive, our ingenuity, our passions, even our pain, into something more meaningful than individual success? And what is our duty to others where we live, work and play?

I have spent my life trying to answer these questions.

I grew in the public housing projects of Brooklyn. My only inheritance was my mother’s belief that I could create a better life for myself. I became the first in my family to go to college, and went on to live the American Dream.

When I joined Starbucks in the mid-80s, I never set out to build a global brand, but to build a company that cared about profits as well as humanity. From our earliest days, we set out to share our success with our people and to care for communities that we served, as well as those beyond our own. By staying true to our values, Starbucks redefined the role of a company in society. Time and again, especially during these past few years, we challenged preconceived notions of what it means to be a responsible corporate citizen.

Never has it been so important for we as citizens to use our creative muscles to help society solve its most pressing problems, including more equal access to education, jobs and healthcare. Today, I’ll be sharing with you some of the most important lessons I have learned, including what it means not to be bystander, and that we are all in this together.

Programming descriptions are generated by participants and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of SXSW.