MEET THE FOUNDER

Sandra Taylor, President & CEO

FULL BIO

Sandra Taylor is president and CEO of Sustainable Business International LLC (SBI), a consulting business she launched in 2008. SBI assists companies at various stages of environmental sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR) practice. Taylor’s expertise provides innovative approaches to sustainability strategy, including supply chain sustainability, strategic philanthropy and partnerships for social investments.

Previously Taylor was senior vice president of Corporate Responsibility at Starbucks Coffee Company in Seattle, Washington (2003 – 2008), where she led the strategic development and day-to-day direction of all global corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs, including: community affairs; the Starbucks Foundation; disaster relief support; development of responsible, ethical and sustainable standards for procurement of coffee, tea, cocoa and manufactured goods; reduction of the environmental impact of business operations; and the publication of the company’s award-winning CSR annual report. During her Starbucks tenure Taylor led the creation of C.A.F.E. Practices, a code of conduct for coffee farmers worldwide; and also developed cause-marketing programs in Starbucks stores to fund clean drinking water programs in Africa, Central America and India, and to support literacy efforts for children in low-income communities in the United States.

From 1996 until 2003, Taylor served as vice president and director of global public affairs for Eastman Kodak Company. As a corporate officer, she had overall responsibility for public affairs, international trade strategy, including directing the company’s pursuit of a WTO case against the government of Japan and Fuji. She also led corporate citizenship worldwide. Additionally, Taylor has held several senior leadership positions at top-tier organizations, such as vice president of public affairs for ICI Americas Inc. (the U.S. subsidiary of Imperial Chemical Industries Plc., a London-based chemical company). She also served as a legislative assistant in the United States Senate, focusing on international trade policy and legislation and worked as a Foreign Service Officer in the United States Department of State. She speaks French.

Ms. Taylor serves on many nonprofit boards, including the Center for International Private Enterprise, a subsidiary of the US Chamber of Commerce; Landesa (formerly Rural Development Institute) in Seattle, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and Island Press of Washington, DC Taylor has been as Expert in Residence at Presidio Graduate School in San Francisco. In April 2009, she was selected as a Fellow for Aspen Institute’s First Mover Fellowship in the inaugural class. From 2006-2011 she was a board director of Capella Education Company located in Minneapolis, a for-profit online education company traded on the NASDAQ. In June 2012 she joined the board of directors of D. E. Master Blenders 1753, an international coffee company headquartered in Amsterdam, where she served on the Sustainability Committee and Remuneration Committee. Taylor has a Bachelor of Arts in French and a Juris Doctorate from Boston University School of Law. In 2012 she earned a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) in Wine Management from the Bordeaux School of Management in France.

In her spare time, Taylor volunteers for and supports numerous organizations devoted to the empowerment of women in Africa. Taylor is a wine collector, wine educator and founder of Fine Wine Divas of Washington, DC, a learning experience for women on the wine and food pairing.

Awards & Recognition

• World Environment Center Gold Medal Award 2006

• Puget Sound Business Journal Women of Influence Award 2006

• Outstanding Black Alumni Award, Boston University School of Law 2010

• Johnson Institute, University of Pittsburgh, Exemplary Leadership Award 2015

A woman of global environmental impact

A pioneer in the field of sustainability and CSR, Sandra Taylor has been responsible for the development of groundbreaking global strategies and initiatives, bringing major brands, including Starbucks and Eastman Kodak, into the global sustainability realm. As an executive for Starbucks, she led the creation and launch of C.A.F.E. Practices, influencing global standards for environmental sustainability and ethics throughout the coffee industry, with major focus on equitable supply chains.

She possesses deep expertise applied to meet the growing need to balance sustainability and prudent risk management. In her corporate roles and as an entrepreneur, she has been a builder and motivator of diverse teams that transcend cultural, geographic and political barriers to achieve challenging goals and transform organizations in a competitive business climate.

From coffee to wine: A discerning palate

As an expert in coffee sustainability, Taylor has traveled the world of coffee – Central and South America, East Africa, Papua New Guinea and Indonesia – honing her palate regarding the distinct regional differences, unique flavors, acidity and varietals of coffees from around the world. Her work with coffee helped develop and expand her decades-long avocation of wine study, tasting, wine collecting and tourism. She decided to make a transition to the wine industry after completing a master’s degree in Business Administration (MBA) from the prestigious Bordeaux School of Management.

Taylor is a writer and published author. Her book: The Business of Sustainable Wine: How to Build Brand Equity in a 21st Century Wine Industry was released in July 2017. In her book, Taylor offers a new view of how the industry can be an important actor in sustainable agriculture. Like fair trade cocoa and shade grown coffee, wine must, sooner or later, meet the powerful demands of social activists and a growing consumer contingent for ethical and organic products.