DineSLU Partnership Brings Natalie’s Cakes & More to Campus
Natalie DuBose, whose popular signature caramel cake and other confections come to the Starbucks in Clemens’ Hall Friday, uses her entrepreneurial spirit and commitment to community to make the world a little sweeter place.
Starting Friday, Feb. 10, Starbucks will offer selections from Natalie’s Cakes & More.
The bakery, located in Ferguson, was founded by Natalie DuBose, whose popularity for her signature caramel cake and sculpted buttercream iced cakes, and a desire to provide for her children, turned from dream to reality.
Last fall, SLU Chief Diversity Officer Jonathan Smith, Ph.D., of the Office of Diversity and Community Engagement and Student Development, met with Dubose and Jenita Hladyshewsky, director of Workforce Innovation with Connections to Success. They explained that in addition to the cakes, they had launched a cookie line called Natalie's Sweet Success.
For every cookie sold, 50 percent of the profits go to the Ava's Grace Foundation through Connections to Success. It was started to support youth who have or had a parent incarcerated. Natalie's Cakes & More and Connections to Success also launched a 90-day job training program where participants spend time in Natalie's bakery gaining entrepreneurial, customer service and culinary skills.
Kent Porterfield, Ed.D., vice president of Student Development, asked DineSLU's (Aramark) resident district manager Darryl Sevier, who oversees the Starbucks on campus, to work with DuBose to see if a partnership could be formed.
Smith sees this partnership as one that fits with SLU's diversity and community engagement goals. Since the fall of 2014, the St. Louis region has had to become more cognizant of the relationships between local communities and anchor institutions like SLU. This partnership, though small, is an important piece of the University's formal commitment to initiatives that promote equal opportunity for minority business owners and advance focused economic development in disadvantaged neighborhoods.
"Our Saint Louis University partnership with Natalie's Cakes & More is a great step in the right direction," said Smith.
The agreement, which has come to be known as the Clock Tower Accords, committed the University to a program of formal and institutionalized conversations about race on our campus. The University also committed to devise short- and long-term initiatives that promote equal opportunity, and advance focused economic development in disadvantaged neighborhoods.
Natalie Cakes & More opened in Ferguson in June 2014 and started to grow an already established customer base. In the coming weeks after opening, the city faced unexpected turmoil. There was protesting, rioting and vandalism, which caused physical damage and a severe decline in business traffic for her, but she remained committed to the project.
DuBose was recognized with the community service award at the Sixth Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Tribute at SLU in January.
The SLU community is invited to enjoy free samples of the bakery's signature caramel cake beginning at 9:30 a.m. Friday, Feb. 10, at Starbucks.