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

Dean is a consultant and mentor to mission-driven businesses, communities and nonprofits with a focus on sustainable urbanism, food & beverage, ratings and certification systems. He has lived and worked in Europe, Asia and Latin America.

His work in sustainability began in 1993 when as a Technology Director of Weyerhaeuser Company, he designed and led its first global sustainability office in Geneva, Switzerland… working with businesses, governments, NGOs, and the United Nations on many aspects of sustainability. Dean represented the North American forest industry on the WWF 95+ Group, a small multi-stakeholder task force which developed the implementation standards for the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification process worldwide.

Subsequently, he worked in Asia/Pacific for a few years before taking the helm of a $300 million beverage packaging business. In that role, he served on a number of national policy boards in Brussels, Tokyo, Washington and Sydney. Most of that work related to packaging, recycling, health, forestry, sustainability and biodiversity policy.

He also chaired the World Affairs Council and served as a global business adviser to the University of Washington Foster School of Business for 17 years. From 2015-17 he was Chief Governing Officer of Central Co-op, a $50 million natural foods retailer with stores in Seattle and Tacoma.

Jess Canose is a food systems researcher and consultant. She currently works as a photographer and graphic designer for a number of food businesses located in Pittsburgh, PA. Her work in the food system has ranged from coordinating CSA programs and food rescues, to facilitating conferences, and farming around the East Coast. She holds a M.A. in Food Studies from Chatham University and has spent the past few years researching and publishing about food waste. During the academic year, she also serves as the Director of Community Development and educator for City of Bridges, a progressive independent high school.