Already noted for its sustainability initiatives, eBay Inc. is in the process of integrating efforts in this area into every aspect of the company’s operations, and Robert Chatwani, Director of Global Citizenship at eBay, spearheads that goal. An eBay Inc. employee since 2003, Chatwani and his teams are charged with helping to maximize the company’s positive social impact in full alignment with its values and growth strategy. In the Q&A that follows, he provides updates on the specific impact areas that eBay Inc. is focusing on, with more updates found in a video on sustainability.
How are you going about weaving sustainability initiatives and awareness into all aspects of the business?
Sustainability and innovation tied to social impact are core parts of eBay. We truly leverage our business assets, employees, and geographic reach to benefit society. A lot of that innovation has been very entrepreneurial, harnessing the energy of employees across the company. What we’re doing now, at John Donahoe’s direction, is taking a top-down view to further expand the company’s impact in the years to come. It is the combination of what we do ourselves and what we enable our community to do that makes it so powerful. We are also pioneering the future of commerce—a future where every connection and every transaction has the potential to fuel positive impact.
We are currently defining impact areas for the company that drive toward increasing global prosperity. These areas, broadly defined, are entrepreneurship, sustainable commerce and communities. The goal is to have specific, quantitative targets that define the social impact that we want to have in the world through our core businesses. We will announce much more as we approach our 15-year anniversary in September.
A quantitative, goal-focused approach is a signature of the company’s sustainability strategy, isn’t it?
Yes. First and foremost, we’re blessed because having positive societal impact is embedded within our business models. We sometimes need to remind ourselves that this is a unique privilege relative to many other companies. At eBay, citizenship and sustainability serve as sources of innovation and drive business value, thus allowing us to generate impact that is both lasting and scalable.
Whether it is helping a small business reach new customers, creating greener choices for consumers, or helping employees and community members connect to the causes they care most about, we make it all happen by enabling others to make a difference in the world.
How is the company reaching out to others with sustainability efforts?
We are going to bring a lot of our social ventures and programs, whether we’re talking about the eBay Green Team, eBay Giving Works, the eBay Foundation, MicroPlace or World of Good, even more closely into the day-to-day experience of eBay and PayPal customers and employees. The idea is to really engage millions of users in the opportunity to have an even greater impact. We are uniquely suited to help society address some of the world’s biggest challenges—and foster a vibrant, sustainable future.
For much more on eBay Inc.’s sustainability efforts, see the video.