Starbucks is investing $100 million to create the Starbucks Community Resilience Fund, which will support small business growth and community development projects in neighborhoods of Black, Indigenous and People of Color. The goal is to advance racial equity and environmental resilience, according to a company press release.

In addition, Starbucks is partnering with the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture to share the museum's educational resources and digital volunteer opportunities.

"Starbucks has always been a company focused on caring for our partners, creating experiences for our customers and playing a positive role in our communities and throughout society," Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson said in the release. "We are excited to make this investment as it aligns with our Mission and Values and supports our aspiration to advance equity and opportunity in the communities we serve."

Advancing racial equity
The $100 million investment, which will be complete by 2025, will initially focus on 12 U.S. metropolitan areas and their surrounding regions: Atlanta, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, New Orleans, New York City, Philadelphia, San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle and Washington D.C.

In partnership with community leaders, community development finance institutions and other impact-focused financial institutions, the fund will provide access to capital intended to support small businesses and neighborhood projects, including those addressing the inequitable impacts of climate change.

As part of the initiative, Starbucks will work with partners like the Opportunity Finance Network to allocate funds to local CDFIs that will provide borrowers with access to capital, ongoing mentorship and technical assistance.

"Starbucks is investing in the survival of small business by working with CDFIs in key cities across America. CDFIs deliver affordable credit as well as training on disaster recovery and rebuilding, and that is exactly what small businesses need right now to withstand ongoing economic and climate changes," OFN President and CEO Lisa Mensah said in the release. "With partners like Starbucks and CDFIs, these small businesses will have a fighting chance to recover, rebuild, hire workers and serve their local economy."

The effort expands on Starbucks 2019 commitment to invest $10 million in four Chicago-based CDFIs: Accion Chicago, Chicago Community Loan Fund, IFF and Local Initiatives Support Corporation.

"As Chicago continues down the road to recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, Starbucks commitment to bettering the cities and communities they serve has been incredibly invaluable," Chicago Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot said in the release. "Thanks to their investment, Chicago's CDFIs, such as Accion, CCLF and more, will be able to both continue the necessary work of increasing access to funding for our small businesses — especially those located in neighborhoods struggling with historic disinvestment —and support our ongoing, citywide efforts to provide COVID relief grants to our business community."

Green Era Sustainability was among the first organizations to receive loans from CDFIs that Starbucks invested in last year. Green Era has been raising funds to construct a sustainable campus in the Auburn Gresham neighborhood of Chicago. The campus will include a two-acre clean energy generation facility, an urban farm, green houses, an outdoor fresh produce market, a visitor center with classrooms for community activities and a STEM education center. Among other positive impacts to the community, Green Era is expected to create 247 construction jobs and 25 permanent jobs.

"Starbucks investment means we've been able to drive more capital to small businesses and nonprofits that are innovating and providing critical services in local communities," said Matthew Roth, IFF President of Core Business Solutions, who leads the agency's CDFI wing. "The pandemic has highlighted how important CDFIs are in the financial ecosystem, ensuring capital reaches non-profits and small businesses serving low-income communities that are traditionally left out of mainstream finance."

CDFIs often collaborate with multiple lenders to make large projects like Green Era's sustainable campus possible. Two of Starbucks investees — IFF and CCLF —each made loans to Green Era to support the project, in addition to other impact-focused financial institutions. Additional financing for the project also came from Partners for the Common Good and Reinvestment Fund as well as the local impact investor Benefit Chicago.

"Given the severe impact of the pandemic on the long-disinvested communities CCLF serves, our lending is more important than ever to help these communities grow and thrive," Bob Tucker, COO for the Chicago Community Loan Fund, said in the release. "Our customers have urgent needs, and Starbucks investment in CCLF will help tremendously in bringing them the resources they need."


Honoring Martin Luther King Jr.'s legacy
As part of Starbucks' collaboration with the National Museum of African American History and Culture, Starbucks will invite partners and customers to participate in the Freedmen's Bureau Transcription Project. Through the project, volunteers may help digitally transcribe handwritten records containing information from newly emancipated Black people during the Reconstruction period.

The initiative helps African Americans discover their ancestors and historians better understand the years following the U.S. Civil War. These records will be used later in a museum exhibition planned for 2021 on the Reconstruction Era, according to the release.

Starbucks customers can access the museum's content through the Starbucks App and Starbucks Stories.

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