Join Starbucks partners in celebrating Disability Pride Month
Starbucks Disability Advocacy Network is building more inclusive communities through awareness and acceptance.
Join the Starbucks Disability Advocacy Network in celebrating Disability Pride Month in July by building more inclusive communities through awareness and acceptance and also encouraging allyship and positive action. This year, Disability Pride Month marks the 32nd anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. It’s an opportunity to promote inclusion and visibility – and to help redefine the public perception of what it means to have a disability, whether it’s apparent or non-apparent.
Partner (employee) groups like the Starbucks Disability Advocacy Network 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.
Read on to learn more about how our partners – including Sami, a Deaf partner who is also a member of the Starbucks Disability Advocacy Network – are working to improve accessibility in their communities and find out how you can get involved.
Engage
Starbucks partners are doing good in local communities across the country, and one of the organizations they support is Deaf-REACH, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit committed to maximizing the self-sufficiency of Deaf and hard of hearing people who need special services like housing, counseling and life skills training.
Starbucks partners at a Signing Store in Washington, D.C. have built a strong relationship with Deaf-REACH. Based on nominations from Starbucks partners, The Starbucks Foundation has supported Deaf-REACH with multiple grants to help create employment opportunities and address hunger in the Deaf community.
We are also working to create more inclusive experiences within all our stores. A few ways we’re doing that is by offering braille and large print menus as well as Aira, a service that provides visual interpretation, free-of-charge in our stores, for customers who are blind or have low-vision.
Learn with us
In partnership with Disability:IN, Starbucks is committed to fostering inclusive interactions that build community and enable a more equitable world. In this article, you’ll learn general dos and don’ts of disability etiquette as a starting guide to respectfully communicate with and about people with disabilities.
Partner Network member spotlight
Meet Sami, a member of the Starbucks Disability Advocacy Network and partner in the Tryer Center, Starbucks innovation lab. A former barista, Sami is passionate about helping make sure every store feels welcome for everyone – including people who are deaf like herself.
“I am very motivated to improve access [for Deaf customers and customers with disabilities]. Often at the [Tryer Center], they would think about new technology or new products, and [I would ask], ‘Could that be applied to Deaf people and people with disabilities? Or Deaf-Blind people? Could they use that?’ I just want to make sure that there’s access so everyone can participate.”
