Teavana has announced a national partnership with Girls Inc., a nonprofit organization that inspires all girls to be strong, smart, and bold, while providing life-changing experiences and solutions to address challenges girls face as they look to higher education and career paths. The partnership, which is the beginning of a longer term relationship between the two organizations, will help support specific programming for college readiness and life skills training across six affiliate organizations in the U.S.
Beginning with Atlanta, Georgia; Holyoke and Worcester, Massachusetts; Orange County, California; New York City and Westchester County, New York, Teavana’s initial investment in Girls Inc. will support hundreds of young women, primarily ages 14-17, as they prepare for the transition from high school to college or from high school to a career. Girls will learn about college during summer camps and workshops, develop into strong leaders through community service and training, and be supported and honored by caring mentors, their peers, and their communities. Girls Inc. supports diverse young women ages 6 – 18 and provides tailored support for these young women of underserved communities.
To celebrate the beginning of this partnership, Annie Young-Scrivner, president, Teavana and Judy Vredenburgh, president and CEO, Girls Inc. hosted a mentoring session for New York-based Girls Inc. girls at the 9th & Broadway Teavana tea bar in New York City. The event was attended by female media correspondents and bloggers, who also participated in the speed mentoring session, providing advice to young women on how to be successful during the college years and aspire to a fulfilling career. Starbucks and Teavana partners (employees), as well as Girls Inc. staff were at the tea bar to celebrate the partnership and provide mentoring support for the girls in attendance.
“Through Starbucks and Teavana we will continue to create pathways to education, mentorship, and training by hiring youth and developing the critical life skills necessary to being a productive contributor to the economic workforce. We are so proud to be partnering with Girls Inc. to support the future leaders of our communities," she adds.
“Girls Inc. is honored to be partnering with Teavana to further deepen our programming for young women in the areas of college readiness, mentoring and training, advancing the opportunities for hundreds of girls with this first investment,” says Judy Vredenburgh, president and CEO, Girls Inc. “We are committed to inspiring girls to be strong, smart, and bold and to promote the ability of all girls to achieve academic success and higher education. We are so thankful for Teavana’s leadership in supporting our mission.”
Teavana’s awareness of the great work by Girls Inc. began more than a year ago through Starbucks partnership with Oprah Winfrey and Teavana Oprah Chai Tea. A portion of the proceeds from Teavana Oprah Chai benefits the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy Foundation, which in turn provides funding to Girls Inc., among several other youth education organizations.
Starbucks and Teavana are more committed than ever to giving back to local communities and serving young people. Starbucks recently made a commitment to hire 10,000 young people who are not in school or are unemployed over the next 3 years. Starbucks is also making college education possible for thousands of employees through the Starbucks College Achievement Plan, which has 2,000 partners enrolled in the program with a goal to graduate 25,000 partners by 2025.
As the relationship between Teavana and Girls Inc. evolves, the two organizations will look for opportunities to provide full and part-time jobs at Starbucks and Teavana through job fairs and other networking sessions, giving the girls who become employed by Starbucks and meet eligibility requirements access to health benefits, Bean Stock, and access to a college education through the Starbucks College Achievement Plan.
