Board of Directors

Elizabeth M. King

Managing Partner, Elizabeth M. King Consulting, LLC

Elizabeth M. King is the managing partner of Elizabeth M. King Consulting, LLC, specializing in HR Management consulting, leadership and coaching.

She recently retired as the vice president of Human Resources Solutions and Services for Starbucks Corporation. During her tenure, the company grew from 1,100 to 24,400 coffee shops in 4 countries to now 74 plus countries. This significant growth provided numerous exciting challenges and opportunities for Elizabeth during her 19+ years with the company serving in roles in Human Resources and Global Technology.

In her last role at Starbucks, she managed Human Resources (HR) systems, including in-house payroll, various HR services and a HR call center for the 180,000 employees in North America. She also led the implementation of the company’s global payroll system and several other systems in numerous international markets. King is known for talent development and provided numerous career movement opportunities for those on her team throughout Starbucks.

Elizabeth began her career at Macy’s as a point-of-sale manager and then held positions at Eckerd Drug Company, Rite Aid, and IBM. In 1997, she joined Starbucks as vice president of retail business systems and served in numerous roles in both Human Resources and Information Technology during her tenure.

King presents at a variety of venues, including the Food Service Technology Annual Meeting, Human Resources Technology conferences, Pennsylvania Public School Forums and at numerous Penn State forums.

Since 2000, she has served on Advisory Boards in the Penn State School of Hospitality Management and currently serves on the Entrepreneur and Innovation Industry Allies Advisory Board. This board is focused on providing input, coaching and mentoring to those students seeking to complete a Minor in Hospitality Entrepreneurship and Innovation.
In 2011, she created a scholarship for a worthy undergraduate student in Penn State’s School of Hospitality Management and latterly two undergraduate scholarships for females in the School of Information Sciences and Technology.

Since 2015, Elizabeth has served as a career and network mentor to the Penn State Women’s softball team.

In 2016, Elizabeth also accepted a position on the College of IST’s Advisory Board to the Dean. This Advisory Board is focused on three key areas – student success, research, and development.

She is a graduate of Bellefonte Area High School and The Pennsylvania State University. In 2013, King received the honor of Penn State University’s Alumni Fellow Award and in 2015 was inducted to the Bellefonte Area School District’s Hall of fame.

Elizabeth splits time between her home in Bellevue WA and her new home in Boalsburg, PA.