Talks & Entertainment

Live-stream this event on Facebook.

This program does not include a book signing. A limited number of signed bookplates will be available on a first come, first served basis upon arrival.

From the longtime CEO and chairman of Starbucks comes From the Ground Up, an account of the new responsibilities that leaders, businesses, and citizens share in society today. 

What do we owe one another? How do we channel our drive, ingenuity, even our pain, into something more meaningful than individual success?

These questions, at the heart of the American journey, are also ones that Howard Schultz has grappled with since growing up in Brooklyn’s housing projects and while building Starbucks from 11 stores into one of the world’s most iconic brands.

From the Ground Up shows how Schultz, the first in his family to graduate from college, went on to build the kind of company his working-class father never had a chance to work for: a business that tries to balance profit and human dignity. He also offers a behind-the-scenes look at his unconventional efforts to challenge old notions about the role of business in society, from health insurance and free college tuition for part-time baristas to controversial initiatives about race and refugees.

From the Ground Up is an inspiring account of what happens when we come together for purposes bigger than ourselves—a new vision of what can be when we try our best to lead lives through the lens of humanity. In conversation with Doris Kearns Goodwin, a renowned presidential historian and Pulitzer Prize-winning author. She is the author most recently of Leadership in Turbulent Times.