Starbucks Brazil Announces 2nd Edition of its Transgender Employability Initiative

The ‘I Am Working’ Project will offer job interviews and career coaching for members of the transgender community.
São Paulo – Starbucks Brazil, operated locally by SouthRock, today announced the second edition of its "I Am Working" initiative, focused on employing members of the transgender community in Brazil. Seeking to amplify its impact, the brand has invited other food and beverage brands operated by SouthRock to participate this year.
Launched in 2022, the “I Am Working” initiative turns Starbucks São Paulo’s Alameda Santos store into a recruitment hub for a day and includes job interviews and a training program developed for members of the transgender community – a community that has historically had fewer opportunities in the Brazilian job market.
"Starbucks Brazil is an ally of the LGBTQIAPN+ community, and we are constantly looking for new ways to broaden our support. It is with great pride that we announce the second edition of our transgender employability project, 'I Am Working,'” said Claudia Malaguerra, Managing Director of Starbucks Brazil. "Starbucks remains committed to building a welcoming culture where all of our partners (employees), customers, and business partners feel welcome. We are very happy to be able to expand the project this year and invite more companies to join us in our efforts to promote inclusion & diversity (I&D) and increase the visibility of this very important cause," she added.
This year, Starbucks Brazil has the support of the employability hub O Trampo É Seu, which is dedicated to raising awareness of the importance of I&D amongst companies and recruiting candidates. The mapping of interested professionals was done in collaboration with the NGOs Casa Florescer and Casa de Acolhimento João Nery “I Am Working” candidates will attend a workshop in preparation for the interview task force, which will be conducted at the Alameda Santos store on September 21. Participating companies will also undergo training to welcome their new employees, including topics such as empathy and behavioral neuroscience, focusing on unconscious biases.
"Through the ‘I Am Working’ initiative, we strive to meet candidates where they are and, in a humanized process, connect with the reality of each person to understand their profile, preferences, and style,'" said Sandra Gioffi, CEO of O Trampo É Seu. "The selection process is a two-way choice, and we aim to communicate clearly and demonstrate our genuine interest in meeting and welcoming all members of the community."
SUPPORT FOR THE TRANS COMMUNITY
In Starbucks stores, every person who orders a coffee or a beverage has their name written on the cup, whatever it is, without question. This served as inspiration for the launch of the "I Am" project in January 2020 in support of Brazil’s National Trans Visibility Day.
The project offers free legal and psychological support to partners (employees) who wish to change their names and genders on their birth certificates. Since its launch, more than 100 Starbucks Brazil partners and members of partnering NGOs have had their names amended. With the permission of the participants, the emotional journey of the first year of the project was recorded to give the public an insight into the significant impact the initiative has. The video won the Grand Prix at the Cannes Lions Festival in 2021 and two Effie Awards, as well as other industry awards.
The "I Am" project served as inspiration for Starbucks Brasil which, in 2022, launched "I Am Working" as a second phase of the initiative, focused on employability for the transgender community. The initiative won the bronze prize at Cannes Lions last year.