College Achievement to Human Achievement

I’m loving this just announced partnership between Starbucks and Arizona State University. I was lucky enough to work within this relationship to tell the stories of the Starbucks College Achievement Plan. This new effort looks to build on this relationship through the development of an innovation and rapid research facility designed to build platforms to support the “Future of People and the Planet” (heady stuff…) and will feed into the existing Starbucks transformation agenda by leveraging ASU’s applied research, networks and faculty.

The partnership will focus on Greener Stores, Food & Wellness, Community Betterment and Innovation Test Stores (there are 9 on the ASU campus).

Composed of a dedicated team of scientists, researchers, and support staff, including subject-matter experts from Starbucks and ASU, the center’s objective is to positively impact the future of our planet.

I’m a massive fan of Michael Crow, President of ASU and his book, “Designing the New American University.” The relationship between Starbucks and ASU is a special one and I love to see it continuing to make both organizations better.

If you’ve not visited or heard about the Tryer Center Innovation Lab on the bottom floor of HQ, here is a great write-up on it’s mission. This effort will be developed along the same lines.