Roz Brewer and John Brock to be honored at 30th annual JA Atlanta Business Hall of Fame

Originally published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle by Maria Saporta

Two iconic Atlanta business leaders will be honored at the 2019 JA Atlanta Business Hall of Fame on Feb. 23 at the InterContinental Buckhead.

They are Rosalind "Roz" Brewer, chief operating officer and group president of Starbucks Corp. (Nasdaq: SBUX); and John F. Brock, retired CEO of Coca-Cola European Partners (NYSE: CCE).

The JA Hall of Fame is one of the top recognitions highlighted in Atlanta each year. It honors people for their distinguished careers and philanthropic achievements in the Atlanta community.

The 2019 Hall of Fame will be the 30th annual for JA Georgia.

Before joining Starbucks, Brewer was president and CEO of Sam’s Club, a division of Walmart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT). She was the first woman and first African-American to fill the role of CEO at one of Walmart Stores.

Brewer is a native of Detroit who moved to Atlanta to attend Spelman College, graduating in 1984. She joined Spelman’s board of trustees in 2006, and she now serves as chair of its board. Brewer also chaired the search for Spelman President Mary Schmidt Campbell, who joined the Historically Black College and University in 2015.

Brewer joined Walmart in 2006 as its regional vice president responsible of overseeing operations in Georgia.

Prior to joining Walmart, Brewer worked for 22 years at Kimberly-Clark Corp., where she eventually became president of the Global Nonwovens Sector in 2004. Brewer serves on the board of Lockheed Martin Corp. Fortune Magazine recently named her to its 2018 Most Powerful Women in Business list.

Before retiring as CEO of Coca-Cola European Partners in December 2016, Brock served as chairman and CEO of Coca-Enterprises from 2006 to May 2016 (when there was a merger of European bottlers).

Brock began his career with Procter & Gamble and later joined Cadbury Schweppes, serving in several executive roles, becoming its COO in 2000. From 2003 to 2006, Brock was CEO of InBev.

Currently, Brock serves on the board of Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines.

Brock also has served in multiple civic leadership roles in Atlanta, and he chairs the GT Foundation. Brock, who as a BS and MS in chemical engineering from Georgia Tech, also chaired the university’s recent capital campaign.

He also is chair of Horizons Atlanta, an organization focused on summer learning for under-served children. Brock and his son, John IV, are co-owners of Team Envy and the Dallas Fuel, which are eSports teams. His wife, Mary, also is a co-owner of the Atlanta Dream. They have three children and seven grandchildren.

To find out more about the event, click here.

Defining Moments

Sometimes the most normal of days turn out to be ones that you’ll never forget.

When I started writing this post, it was from an organizational perspective, not a personal one. But the further I got, the more I realized that this story has become a defining moment for my professional life, and it made more sense for me to share it from my point of view.

I’ve been working with 3DE students at Banneker High School since we began in 2014. I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know the students – what motivates them, what makes them tick and the ever-changing status of what’s ‘cool’.

At 3DE schools, we’re creating environments where students are a part of something bigger than themselves. Not only do they feel supported by their peers and teachers, but they begin to build the skills and confidence to know that their dreams are actually within reach.

It all begins with engagement. Creating an engaging learning environment where students flourish goes beyond just providing hands-on experiences; it means developing a culture in which students are academically, emotionally and socially supported, and it goes far beyond their scores on the latest assignment. It means working to ensure that their education covers every dimension of their lives.

This defining moment came to light during a national photoshoot with Arby’s. I was excited that 3DE, JA and myself, were going to be a part of something and a brand as iconic and salient as Arby’s. Of course, it’s not about our organizations or us. It’s about the power of our mission to transform education and lives, and in this instance that story would unfold through Courteciya, a rising senior at Banneker High School whose smile and determination are contagious.

I was excited to experience this alongside Courteciya. To see her excitement as she got to have her makeup and wardrobe done, and pose for the camera, but I didn’t expect the day to become a defining moment in her personal growth, and my own professional life.

It was so much more than a photo shoot for her. It was a day spent amongst professionals –artists, stylists, photographers, national marketing firm consultants. It was fast, orchestrated, busy. To any non-marketing or advertising buff, it was foreign and even intimidating.

When you first meet Courteciya she is a little soft spoken and reserved, but as she got comfortable she put herself out there. She started asking questions – the very first a thoughtful one about the end goal of the shoot and the emotion they were hoping to capture. From there a dialog opened up and suddenly a 16-year-old was an equal in the space among professionals.

The conversation continued - What kind of shot are you looking for? What role does my outfit play in how the photo comes across? How does this all get translated to something that will be in every single Arby’s store?

She owned it and recognized that she was part of something bigger. Her actions reflected that she understood the business of the day and she delivered on meeting every goal and objective – positioning herself to be an integral piece in achieving the now collective end goal.

It was exposure to a world that Courteciya had never seen, in a setting that she likely would’ve never experienced without 3DE. For the day, she wasn’t just a student – she was a model. A model in front of the camera, but more importantly for others.

When I started reflecting back on the day I realized that her engagement and maturity were no accident – she had been unknowingly preparing for this moment for the three years prior. Every site visit that tested her nerves before presenting to a panel of professionals, every case challenge that she was forced to work with people outside of her comfort zone, every lesson that challenged her to look beyond the face value and to analyze a situation, to ask the right questions to get to the desired point. All of these moments, combined with the overall culture of persistence and community that had formed at 3DE at Banneker High School, had made her ready.

By the end of the day, Courteciya wasn’t ready to say goodbye. I watched her transition from a nervous teen to joking and conversing with professionals she’d shared the day with. Everyone was impressed – to watch a high school student carry herself with such poise, and to be engaged in something that was larger than herself – how could you not be inspired?

It’s been months since that day and Courteciya is still in regular contact with the adults she met that day. Is she going to become a creative director, marketing manager or national photographer? Probably not -- she wants to be a vet.  What I do know though, is that she can hold her own in unfamiliar situations and thinks beyond the world she knew when she entered 3DE at Banneker High School just four years ago.

These are the kinds of moments that begin to define a student’s trajectory.

What was just another day at work for a handful of professionals ended up being a defining moment for a student, and one of the first times I internalized the full impact and opportunity that 3DE represents for students. That’s the difference between a conventional high school experience and 3DE. That kind of impact is what we mean by education for every dimension of life.

Sarah Lippert is on the Marketing Team at JA of Georgia.

JA Discovery Centers hit five-year milestone

Two hundred seventy-two thousand. That’s the number of Georgia students that the JA Discovery Centers have served in their first five years.

In 2013, opening a JA BizTown and JA Finance Park was not a completely new idea – there were more than a dozen across the country. But building a truly authentic experience, one that would grow, flourish and evolve in lockstep with our city, was. Especially one that was so focused on reflecting the real world; to offer students something immersive, authentic and experiential that had potential to energize them around their academics and their futures.

The vision for this began with the JA of Georgia Board, and a catalytic investment from the Chick-fil-A Foundation that allowed the conversation with other local partners to begin. That vision and dedication spearheaded the compelling momentum that continues to propel the JA of Georgia mission five years later.

From the opening of the JA Chick-fil-A Foundation Discovery Center, it became evident that JA BizTown and JA Finance Park were providing far more than a supplementary opportunity for students. The time spent preparing for their experience during class, coupled with the 360-degree, hands-on learning that happens within space has led to notable and lasting outcomes.

As the results and reactions began rolling in, so did the demand to extend the opportunity to more students. In 2015, we launched the JA Discovery Center at Gwinnett, and in 2018 added our first hybrid facility, extending our impact into North Georgia through the Mike & Lynn Cottrell JA Discovery Center at North Georgia.

The success of these innovative programs hinges on the collaboration between the business and education communities.

Businesses who activate within our spaces bring an authenticity that breaks through the noise for students. While they’re working and budgeting throughout the simulations, they are making connections to their day-to-day life. From specific positions at companies, to entire industries, students get a hands-on look at the myriad of possibilities that exist in their own communities and across the globe.

Partnerships with the education community are integral to the success of the programs. By working together with school system leaders, we are able to ensure consistency from the delivery of the in-class curriculum to the experience on-site. After seeing connections and ah-ha moments during the simulations, teachers often state that they are motivated to incorporate more real-world connectivity and authenticity in their own teaching. They are driven to engage their students in day-to-day learning and help them understand how and why their lessons matter in life beyond the classroom walls.

The most phenomenal part of hitting this five-year milestone is that the impact has only just begun.

The facilities, programs, staff, partners, and volunteers haven’t become stagnant over the course of these foundational years. Instead, there’s been more innovation and growth across regions and relationships that are continuing to drive the impact that’s possible.

Over the past year there have been significant investments from legacy partners, as well as new companies, that have substantiated the results and potential of JA Discovery Centers.

Five years, 272,000 students and 100% commitment from the business community to inspiring and preparing our students. As our communities and the broader economic landscape have evolved, so have the JA Discovery Centers. An exciting example of that evolution: WestRock Foundation recently took on the title of presenting sponsor of JA BizTown, and Mercedes-Benz USA and The Home Depot became storefront partners.

Unveiling of JA BizTown presented by WestRock Foundation

The Mike & Lynn Cottrell JA Discovery Center at North Georgia - Photo Credit: Rank Studios

These monumental new commitments, combined with long-standing partnerships, are testaments to the power that learning can have when it is hands-on, authentically connected to the real world, and exposing students to new ideas. It’s evidence that these strategic partnerships continue to create value for our students, and more importantly that we all play an integral part in it.

The impact of the JA Discovery Centers is only beginning, and we can’t wait to see where the next five years takes us.