Sara Kelly

About Sara Kelly

As executive vice president and chief partner officer for Starbucks, I am responsible for helping our green apron partners realize their career potential and building global partner capability to enable growth and help deliver Starbucks strategic plan. As we remain dedicated to reinventing Starbucks for the future, I am proud to lead an incredible group of people who are working to boldly reimagine the partner experience, setting the foundation for the actions we will take to support our long-term growth and success. As a 20-year Starbucks partner, I have held various positions across Partner (Human) Resources embracing new challenges and opportunities along the way. I initially started as a coordinator supporting retail and moved up the generalist path taking me to a newly acquired Evolution Fresh business to Seattle for a role supporting our Channel Development business. Then in 2015, I took a four-year assignment leading Partner Resources for Asia Pacific out of the Hong Kong office. In Hong Kong, I found my deep passion for advancing equity for female partners in Asian markets which is a commitment I have carried forward as an executive sponsor of Starbucks Women\'s Impact Network. I returned to Seattle as vice president, Organizational & Leadership Effectiveness. In this role I worked closely with our executive leadership team and led the Enterprise change management journey through the COVID pandemic and our management of the partner and leader experiences as we evolved towards our first-time hybrid workforce. Prior to my current role, I was senior vice president, Talent & Partner Experience, where I was responsible for advancing Starbucks talent and organizational leadership agenda, focused on amplifying the strategic work being defined and led by the center of excellence teams, and helped influence, align, and execute across the enterprise with a specific focus on global partnership. I am a native of Southern California and have enjoyed calling both the US and Asia my home. My passion is people-my family, my friends, and my partners.

Experience

1. Executive Vice President, Chief Partner Officer

   Starbucks

   Aug 2022 — Present · Seattle, WA, US

Education

• California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo

  Bachelor of Science

Skills

• Store Operations
• Customer Service
• Customer Satisfaction
• Training
• Onboarding
• Driving Results
• Income Statement
• Payroll
• Profit
• Talent Acquisition
• Time Management
• Program Management
• Process Scheduler
• Team Building
• Management
• Recruiting
• Hiring
• Retail
• Performance Management
• Employee Training
• Organizational Effectiveness
• Workforce Planning
• Employee Engagement
• Leadership
• Talent Management
• College Recruiting
• Multi-Unit
• Employee Relations
• Interviews
• Leadership Development
• New Hire Orientations
• Applicant Tracking Systems
• Coaching
• Human Resources
• Sales
• Strategy
• Succession Planning