Seattle’s Most Influential People 2018: Starbucks CEO, Kevin Johnson
Under his leadership, Starbucks has partnered with Mary’s Place, a shelter for homeless women, children and families, in the No Child Sleeps Outside campaign
By Niki Stojnic October 23, 2018
This article originally appeared in the November 2018 issue of Seattle magazine.
This article appears in print in the November 2018 issue, as part of the Most Influential People of the Year feature. Click here to subscribe.
In the year since he became CEO of Starbucks, Kevin Johnson has demonstrated that some corporations can do the right thing. Earlier this year, when two black men waiting for a business partner in one of Starbucks’ Philadelphia locations were arrested for “trespassing,” Johnson’s response was swift: He flew to Philadelphia to offer a sincere apology and personal mentorship to the men, told them Starbucks would pay for them to complete their college degrees and announced a plan of action that included shutting down the coffee chain nationwide for an afternoon of employee racial bias training in May. And then there is Johnson’s local commitment to our city’s most visible problem, homelessness.
Under his leadership, Starbucks has partnered with Mary’s Place, a shelter for homeless women, children and families, in the No Child Sleeps Outside campaign, contributing $2.5 million so far; partnered with Pearl Jam this summer to raise funds for unsheltered families; and earlier this year, gathered 50 business leaders, government officials, service providers and families at Starbucks’ headquarters to discuss how the county can better reach homeless families. All told, Johnson is showing us his progressive vision for leading one of Seattle’s most iconic companies forward.
Follow Us
From the Archives: Most Influential—Before That Was a Thing
Remembering the kind of leadership that built Washington—and still echoes today.
Washington state once had Dan Evans, a leader whose impact still endures, and who governed with a sort of principled presence that helped shape the soul of our region. A three-term governor and later U.S. senator, Evans embodied a kind of civic leadership that feels both mythic and arguably elusive now. He was pragmatic, optimistic,…
The Coach: Sonia Raman
The history-making coach leading the Seattle Storm into the future.
In the early 2000s, Sonia Raman was on the traditional track to a successful career in law, but coaching basketball kept bouncing back to her. A lifelong fan of the sport, Raman—who played at Tufts University and coached throughout her collegiate and post-grad career—eventually heeded the call, making a pivot that would change her life….
The Civic Spacemaker: Tommy Gregory
A next-gen curator improving your airport experience.
“I love the saying, ‘sleep when you are dead.’” Few embody it like Tommy Gregory—tireless artist, curator, and connector who seems to be everywhere at once, installing work, throwing receptions, or plotting the next show. Gregory joined the Port of Seattle as senior project manager in 2019, just as airport art collections were gaining global…
The Piano Teacher: Payam Khastkhodaei
The instructor rethinking the approach to music lessons.
When Payam Khastkhodaei began teaching piano to a family friend’s daughter in his Bothell home at 16, he relied on the same method he had been taught as a kid—classical songbooks, rigid practice, and pieces he never connected with. It didn’t take long to see she was losing interest. “I had learned from the Alfred…