New (part 1)!
- On January 2, 2019
Happy New Year! As I enter 2019 with a renewed focus on my “personal” projects, I’d like to take a moment to pictorially share highlights from 2018, which was a pretty “fantastical” year on many different levels. One of the major highlights was marching in the second consecutive Women’s March on January 20 with thousands of women and many men!
I feel brand new. I am moving with focus and intention. And I hope our singular and collective energy will propel each of us forward.

On December 31, I watched the spectacular fireworks at the Space Needle bring in 2019. It’s a new day. It’s a new year for each of us and for the world. I believe positive change is coming!

Of course you go to a Samba School when you’re in Rio de Janeiro.
Our tour group’s visit was so much fun when we visited it on November 13.

Beyonce’s and Jay-Z’s On the Run II Seattle Concert on October 4 was one of the best concerts I have attended.

I was honored to receive a Woman of Valor Award from Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) on September 28. Wow!

Friendships are important, so I made sure I attended the wedding of Nikki (my friend Peggie’s niece) and Dre on September 8. And I had a blast helping to send this lovely couple out into the world together.

My friend, Pamela Sherrod Anderson (second R), founder of Graceworks Production, premiered her latest documentary, G Force, at the Black Harvest Film Festival on August 12. Learn more at graceworks.com.

Pamela’s friend, Claudia, proudly shows us the flyer for G Force, and I was glad that I could share this moment with her.

Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority sisters share true friendships that span decades. I met Bessie in 1972 and we, along with several members of Michigan State University’s Delta Zeta Chapter, hung out at the July 2018 Boule in Houston, TX.

Our family celebrated our newlyweds, Greg and Cynthia (just in case you didn’t figure it out, my Dad is in the middle) at their July 1 housewarming in Holly Springs, NC. And we were happy to learn that our family will increase in February with the arrival of their baby!

I was in the room on June 4 when my former boss and friend, Howard Schultz, announced his retirement as CEO of Starbucks. His wonderful legacy of success and humanity will live on through the lives he touched.

I was thrilled to give the May 4 commencement address at my alma mater, Michigan State University, and to receive an honorary Doctor of Humanities degree. I am so blessed!

On April 8, Sharon Elliott, Nancy Kent, Carol Sharp and I affectionately remember our time spent with Orin Smith, former president and CEO of Starbucks, during our Starbucks days.

Orin C. Smith, a great boss, mentor and friend, passed away on March 1.

Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) visited Seattle on March 2 and I was there! Thanks to Michael Parham for introducing me to one of the possible 2020 candidates for U.S. president!

Adriane, Zabriana and I along with several other Bad Ass Black Women (BABW) came together on February 28 to celebrate Roz Brewer’s appointment to Starbucks chief operating officer and in the excitement, I missed an opportunity to take a photo of Roz (darn it)!
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