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Biography

Mr. Chris Carr, a board member since 2019.  

Chris Carr has been a board member since 2019.  Most recently, Chris served as the Chief Operating Officer at Sweetgreen, the fast-casual salad restaurant chain, which was recently named the "most innovative" company by Fast Company magazine, where he was instrumental in supporting the company's successful initial public offering. 

Prior to Sweetgreen, Carr was a former Executive Vice President for Starbucks Coffee Company. He most recently served as EVP, Chief Procurement Officer, where he was responsible for shaping the global supplier base spend of $7.5 billion and accelerating customer-insight driven innovation. Most of Carr’s Starbucks experience was leading two of their largest business units. As the EVP, Licensed Stores Americas, he was responsible for the strategic planning, annual operations, market planning, and sales for 6,500 licensed stores, generating $3.4 billion in systemwide sales. He worked in partnership with other Fortune 500 companies to ensure that the Starbucks brand was positioned to exceed the expectations of our customers across multiple segments, including: retail, travel, college & university, and hospitality.

As Executive Vice President, U.S. Retail Stores, he was accountable for the brand and customer experience across 13,000 company-operated and licensed retail stores that generated revenues of $15 billion. Carr played a critical role in developing and implementing several key strategic initiatives in both the physical and digital space that delivered all-time highs in partner engagement, customer satisfaction, and shareholder value.

Before joining Starbucks, Carr spent most of his career with ExxonMobil, developing, leading, and implementing retail operational strategies for its Global Fuels Marketing downstream businesses. Over his career, he has been recognized for his leadership contribution and was the recipient of Savoy Magazine’s 2016 and 2018 top 100 Most Influential Blacks in Corporate America, 2021 Most Influential Black Corporate Directors in America, and recognized as one of Black Enterprise’s 2017 Most Powerful Executives in Corporate America.

Carr holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the University of San Diego and a Master of Business Administration degree from the New York Institute of Technology. He serves as a board of director for Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc, Recreational Equipment Inc. (REI), and Equity Residential.  He also serves as a Trustee of Howard University and a Trustee of the University of San Diego.