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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact Alfredo Tryferis Starbucks Coffee Company Receives WSBA Excellence in Diversity Award
The Starbucks Law and Corporate Affairs Department strongly supports the company's diversity efforts by hiring a workforce and using outside law firms that reflect a diverse population. Of the department's 36 attorneys, 50 percent are women and 22 percent are of color, and every corporate counsel since 1992 has been a woman or a person of color. Starbucks was the first Fortune 500 company to name an African-American woman as general counsel. In fact, every general business counsel has been a woman or person of color since the company went public. In addition, each summer, Starbucks hires at least one of its two summer law clerks from the Northwest Minority Clerkship Program. Starbucks participates at job fairs targeting lawyers of color, and uses search firms specializing in providing a diverse slate of legal candidates. In 2002, Starbucks joined more than 350 companies as signatories to the Fortune 500 General Counsel's Statement of Principles on Diversity. The law and corporate affairs department's philanthropic outreach programs include local and national bar associations that promote professional and legal advancement for people of diverse backgrounds. Last year, Starbucks received a Minority Corporate Counsel Association Employer of Choice Award. "Starbucks is not limited to simply improving opportunities within our company," wrote Starbucks General Counsel Paula Boggs of Starbucks's diversity efforts. "It extends to exploring ways to improve diversity within the legal profession as a whole." About the WSBA As a regulatory agency, it administers the bar admission process, including the bar exam; provides record-keeping and licensing functions; and administers the lawyer-discipline system. As a professional association, the WSBA provides continuing legal education for attorneys, in addition to numerous other educational and member-service activities. The governance of the WSBA is vested in its 14-person Board of Governors. There are three governors from the seventh congressional district; one from each of the other eight districts; and three at-large members, one of whom represents the Young Lawyers Division. The 2005-2006 president is S. Brooke Taylor, of Port Angeles, and the 2005-2006 president-elect is Ellen Conedera Dial, of Seattle. The board meets regularly (every six weeks) at various locations around the state, and its meetings are open to the public. Much of the work of the Bar is carried out through 23 standing committees; 24 sections; and a Young Lawyers Division, with its many committees.
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Seattle, Washington, September 21, 2005 — The Washington State Bar Association (WSBA) announced today that Starbucks Coffee Company received its 2005 Excellence in Diversity Award. The Excellence in Diversity Award is presented to a lawyer, law firm, or law-related group that has made a significant contribution to diversity in the legal profession's employment of ethnic minorities, women, and disabled persons. 2004-2005 WSBA President Ronald R. Ward presented the award to Starbucks Corporate Counsel Kathleen Albrecht at the WSBA's Annual Awards Dinner held September 15 at the Fairmont Olympic Hotel in Seattle.