Celebrating National Native American Heritage Month
See how the Starbucks Indigenous Partner (employee) Network is taking action to uplift their communities. Join us in celebrating these diverse cultures and see how you can get involved.
Join the Starbucks Indigenous Partner (employee) Network in celebrating National Native American Heritage Month, and see how we can all take action to understand these diverse cultures and uplift communities. Celebrate with us and discover ways to get involved.
At Starbucks, partner networks help create connections over shared experiences and values, encourage professional growth, raise awareness of important issues and serve as a bridge between our stores and the communities we serve.
Building Community
We invite you to get involved with some of the causes important to our partners (employees).
As part of our commitment to support young people of color, The Starbucks Foundation is working with The Boys & Girls Clubs of America to promote youth equity. Our grant supports Boys & Girls Clubs in integrating a racial equity lens throughout the organization by training staff and creating strategies and opportunities to support our journey to racial equity for youth-serving programs across the country.
The Indigenous Partner Network supports local organizations across the U.S. through volunteer service and by nominating organizations for grants from The Starbucks Foundation’s Neighborhood Grants program. This includes local Boys & Girls Clubs that celebrate the unique strengths of Native communities and work in partnership with Tribes to support young people in being resilient, healthy and successful.
Native Land Digital is an interactive map* that allows you to view the territories and additional information about the Indigenous Peoples in your area.
*This map should not be used as an academic or legal resource. Sourcing data on Indigenous territories is a delicate process, therefore the map should be used with an understanding that areas may be incorrect according to local nations and individual interpretation. The organization is in a constant state of research and adjustment to the map in an effort to remain as accurate as possible. However, errors may exist.
Discover Native American & Indigenous artists
Our Indigenous Partner Network is a proud supporter of the 100th anniversary of the Gallup Intertribal Ceremonial, an annual event featuring diverse Native American and Indigenous intertribal culture and art in both traditional and contemporary presentations.
While the events are complete, you can still explore the Native American and Indigenous Virtual Artisans Market.
Partner Network Member Spotlight
Nelshaylynn is an assistant manager at the Starbucks Community Store in Gallup, New Mexico. The store was dedicated in November 2021 to the nearby Navajo Nation, one of the most populous Indigenous Nations in the U.S. The store, staffed almost entirely by Navajo partners (employees), is also where the Starbucks Indigenous Partner Network started.
Starbucks has a commitment to open 100 Community Stores dedicated to providing economic opportunities in rural and urban communities across the country. The stores focus on hiring locally, reflecting community pride with local art and working with diverse contractors.
Nelshaylynn remembers having a conversation with her friend Danielle, a Starbucks shift supervisor at the time, about the complexities of leadership. Both Nelshaylynn and Danielle are Navajo, or Diné (the people). Nelshaylynn had struggled with her own doubts before embarking on her leadership journey, trying to continue the legacy of strong women leaders in Indigenous communities. She thought she understood what Danielle needed. “So I taught her, helped her, guided her, in the way I would have wanted,” Nelshaylynn says.
Danielle is now also an assistant store manager, taking the lead on local community events like a Halloween “trunk or treat” in the store parking lot, a pet costume contest for customers and regularly making gift baskets and goodie bags for fellow partners for special occasions. “She’s taking the reins, she’s spreading kindness,” Nelshaylynn says.
“My goal is to inspire people, not only in their own self journeys, but in whatever troubles they’re going through,” Nelshaylynn says. “With the store, I hope to do that with everyone who comes into contact with it. Me being in a leadership position, I hope to inspire them to do their best in all they can. We’ve got to make the world a little nicer.”
Click here to read more about Nelshaylyn’s story.
