Every Partner Counts: Starbucks

In the spring of 2010 I was hard at work trying to finish “No Woman, No Cry” for the TriBeca Film Festival, I received an email from Howard Schulz, CEO of Starbucks Coffee. We had met briefly the previous year through our friends at Product (RED) and it had come to his attention that I was working on a documentary film about maternal health. He then asked, “What can Starbucks do to support your efforts?”

The result of Howard’s offer that day has resulted in an incredibly successful musical partnership that has continued into its second year with the recent release of Every Mother Counts 2012, a compilation of artists who contributed their talents and lent their voices to support maternal health programs in coffee growing regions through the proceeds of this product. After that first email from Howard, I started to work closely with David Legry, Editorial Manager/Producer Digital Ventures. He is the person who brought my film to the attention of his boss and he is the person I have truly enjoyed sharing fantasy playlists, lyrics, and song ideas with for the past two years over email. David and his wife Andrea Langsdorf have become dear friends through our shared passion for music and maternal health. Also be sure to check out Andrea's website Red Mala Healing. It has been an honor and a pleasure to work together on these two albums that both reached the billboard charts and have collectively raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to support vulnerable moms around the world. The artists who contributed have also been incredible partners and through them we have reached potentially millions more.

Photo of David and Andrea Legry  

Photo of Martha Wainwright, David, Christy and Erin