Staffing

Sweetgreen adds former Obama adviser, Starbucks exec to board

Valerie Garrett was the longest-serving senior adviser to President Barack Obama. Photos provided

August 24, 2020

Sweetgreen has just scored two high-profile execs to join its board of directors — President Obama's former senior adviser, Valerie Jarrett, and Cliff Burrows, group president of Starbucks Siren Retail business.

"Both Valerie and Cliff have shown that they challenge the status quo, know how to make an impact and can create solutions where the customer, community and company wins," CEO Jonathan Neman said in a company press release. "Their arrival to the board will be instrumental in evolving the way Sweetgreen supports the communities we serve, and we couldn't be happier to have them join us on our mission of connecting people to real food."

With nearly 20 years of experience at Starbucks, Cliff Burrows was most recently responsible for elevating the signature customer and employee experience for which the brand is known.

Jarrett, a senior distinguished fellow at the University of Chicago Law School, was a senior adviser to the Obama Foundation. With a background in both private and public sectors, she's served as CEO for a number of companies, in addition to serving as the director of a variety of corporate and not-for-profit-boards. Jarrett was the longest-serving senior adviser to President Obama and oversaw the Offices of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs and chaired the White House Council on Women and Girls.

With nearly 20 years of experience at Starbucks, Burrows was most recently responsible for elevating the signature customer and employee experience for which the brand is known, according to the release. Prior to this role, Burrows served as group president of Starbucks' Siren Retail business. Under his leadership, the coffee chain set records across almost every measure of sales and customer experience.

Founded in 2007, Sweetgreen has more than 100 restaurants. It topped FastCasual's 2020 list of Fast Casual Top 100 Movers & Shakers.