For more than three decades Sandra E. Taylor has moved sustainability out of the policy binder and into the supply chain — as Starbucks’ SVP of Corporate Responsibility, as the architect of C.A.F.E. Practices, and today as CEO of Sustainable Business International, LLC.
Speaking represented by the Leading Authorities speakers bureau. Based in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Sandra had what not everybody had: a heart and passion for doing this and the understanding of what it’s like for our coffee growers at ground level working on the farms.
Her path into sustainability began in the public sector — and took an unusual arc: U.S. diplomat, corporate sustainability executive, and one of the wine world’s clearest voices on sustainability and equity.
Embassy postings abroad, including Switzerland, then legislative work on international trade policy in the U.S. Senate. A visit to small producers in Burgundy sparked the wine “epiphany” that became a second professional identity.
Spoke for the company after the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, when it had to explain the fertilizer supply chain to the public. The experience changed her view of what companies owe communities, and she went on to help draft Responsible Care, the chemical industry’s accountability standards.
A corporate officer responsible for public affairs, trade policy and corporate citizenship worldwide. When Kodak returned to post-apartheid South Africa, she backed a young Black-led marketing firm and trained the country’s self-taught street photographers — a market others had overlooked, and one where Kodak began beating Fuji.
Reported to the CEO and sat on the executive team. Directed global CSR — community affairs, the Starbucks Foundation, disaster relief, ethical sourcing and the annual CSR report — and built it into business strategy so firmly that none of the programs were cut in the 2007–2009 downturn.
Advising food, beverage and consumer-products companies on environmental sustainability, ESG risk management and CSR strategy. Alongside it, she organised the La Pietra Coalition, whose Third Billion campaign put women’s economic opportunity on the G20 agenda in 2011 and 2012.
Coffee and Farmer Equity Practices, the signature program she initiated at Starbucks: a scorecard of more than 200 social, economic and environmental indicators that every farm, co-op and exporter must pass to sell to the company. She brought in Conservation International as a partner, and it estimates the program has benefited more than a million farm workers.
A rating system she built that works like a Robert Parker score for sustainability rather than taste — assessing a winery across winemaking, agriculture, transportation, certification and humanity, so consumers can choose sustainable wines with confidence.
A monthly wine course for women she founded in Washington, D.C. — grape origins, geography and terroir, tasting technique, sustainable growing and food pairing. Education as a route into the industry.
Columnist, Wine Review Online. Member of the Magnum Club, a global network of women wine producers, sommeliers, writers, and critics.
One written for the people who make and sell the wine. One written for the people who drink it.
How to Build Brand Equity in a 21st Century Wine Industry
For producers and industry professionals. Analyzes sustainability trends across major wine regions worldwide and gives winemakers, brand owners, and retail buyers practical tools for integrating sustainability into growing, branding, and marketing decisions.
Where to buy
A Consumer’s Guide to Sustainable Wine
For everyday wine drinkers and collectors alike. How purchasing choices that favor environmentally and socially responsible producers support healthier farming communities and ecosystems further down the supply chain — opening with her own story as a Black American woman entering an industry that wasn’t always built with her in mind.
Where to buy
Her wine expertise isn’t a hobby layered on top of a corporate career — it’s the same sustainability lens turned on a specific, deeply agricultural industry.
Represented by the Leading Authorities speakers bureau. Keynotes, fireside conversations, and panels for corporate conferences, industry summits, university programs, and trade events.
Interviews with the Aspen Institute, Salzburg Global and others — hear how she makes the case before you invite her onto your stage or your show.
First Movers: Sandra Taylor
Beyond the Bottle: Uncorking Sustainable Wine
Why Salzburg? Sandra E. Taylor explains
Oral history interview with Sandra Taylor
Through Sustainable Business International, LLC, Sandra works with food, beverage, and consumer-products companies — the sectors where sustainability decisions land hardest on farmers, growers, and land.
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