Starbucks CEO to mentor 2 black men arrested at Philadelphia shop
Rashon Nelson and Donte Robinson will now “have a seat at the table,” they said alongside their attorney, Stewart Cohen, in an exclusive interview today on ABC News’ “Good Morning America.”
“The CEO of Starbucks is going to personally mentor these two young men going forward. After they met, he was so impressed and they were so impressed with one another that they’re going to have a continuing relationship,” Cohen told “GMA” co-anchor Robin Roberts. “So not only do they have a seat at the table and not only do we have this settlement, but we have the beginning of a relationship.”
The mentorship with Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson comes as Pennsylvania’s largest city has agreed to create a $200,000 fund for a pilot program that, through the help of a nonprofit, will assist Philadelphia public high school students who aspire to be entrepreneurs.
Nelson and Robinson said they want to craft a well-rounded program aimed toward helping aspiring entrepreneurs in “under-served communities” that goes beyond teaching them how to start a business by also covering business etiquette, financial literacy, taxes and “how to use money as a tool.”
“We’re working on putting together this curriculum to provide these tools to these young students,” Robinson told “GMA” in today’s interview. “We took a negative and turned it into a positive.”