Michael Kobori is Chief Sustainability Officer at Starbucks Coffee Company, where he is responsible for leading the company's aspiration to become resource positive. Prior to joining Starbucks, he spent 22 years at Levi Strauss & Co. where he served as Vice-President of Sustainability. Michael has also served as Vice-President at Business for Social Responsibility. Prior to that, he spent nine years at The Asia Foundation, where he supported human rights and economic development in Bangladesh, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Michael is a lecturer in corporate sustainability at the Haas Business School, University of California at Berkeley. He is also the Executive Producer of Utopia Theatre Project, an artist-led social justice theater company. Michael has served on a number of boards and advisory commissions, including the Cotton Board, Better Cotton Initiative, Sustainable Apparel Coalition, ILO Better Work, Levi Strauss Foundation, and The Asia Foundation.
Michael received his A.B. in Asian Studies and Psychology from the University of California at Berkeley, where he also received his Masters' Degree in Public Policy. He also spent a year studying at International Christian University in Tokyo and studied sustainable finance at Oxford University.