The Opportunity Project is a program of eBay Foundation. The Foundation was created to provide social and economic well being in our communities. The Foundation currently has two main areas of focus: supporting our employees in providing grants and doing volunteer work in their local communities, and our new strategic program called The Opportunity Project. The Opportunity Project will support and help scale organizations that are creating economic opportunities and generating employment for people who otherwise face barriers to participating fully in the global economy.
The success is owed to Dave's laid back, "help anyone" attitude. Dave has a wealth of knowledge about bike commuting and routinely makes trips to local bike shops with would-be bike commuters to give them input about bike purchases and to help them assemble commuter packs with bike to work necessities. He watches eBay and Craigslist closely to assist people looking to get into bike commuting on a budget, and he's even been known to make an after hours run back to the office to help second shift and overnight team commuters repair a flat. Lucky for them, Dave had the foresight to buy extra tubes for all of the tire sizes and types represented on the bike commuter team so we'd have them available on site, complete with floor pump, for these situations.
Leading up to, during and beyond Earth Day 2011, Omaha's eBay Green Team plans to continue many of the great sustainability programs they have introduced in the past year and also look for ways to expand and introduce more great initiatives. The Community Garden Project continues to go strong, with 40 plots and 80 employees represented. Named aBike Friendly Business by the League of American cyclists, Omaha's eBay Green Team is planning to continue an awesome cycling tradition and give away their 5th bike to another lucky employee as part of Bike to Work Week this year. Last but not least, employees who participate in the Nebraska State Parks initiative will receive free State Park passes.
While our new Team TOP members come from a diversity of backgrounds, they are united in their passion and interest in helping people. Their talents will help social innovators enable more people around the world to earn a living wage and participate in the global economy. For me,<a href="http://topslv.com/">louis vuitton replica</a> this is the true power of Team TOP. Perhaps one of our employees said it best: "I am convinced that nurturing economic growth through small businesses is one of the greatest benefits to societies around the world," wrote Liam Garstang, Director of EU Risk Management in Dreilinden. "That is one of the main reasons I joined eBay and am proud to still be here."
From a baseline diversion rate in 2008 of 73.5%, the go green goal at program rollout was 95.5%. This past December, an unprecedented (and somewhat unexpected) waste diversion rate of 99% was achieved. This means that only 1% of what went into a trash can at both our San Jose eBay campuses ended up in a landfill.
I am incredibly proud to help launch The Opportunity Project. When Pierre Omidyar and Jeff Skoll created eBay Foundation, they had a vision to extend the eBay opportunity beyond buyers and sellers on our site. We want to invest the Foundation's financial resources, leverage the expertise of the business, and harness the passion of our employees to identify innovative new solutions that provide economic opportunities to people who need them most.
It should be pointed out that this competition is just the beginning of what I think promises to be a wonderful endeavor. It also builds on the great work of the eBay Foundation to date. Since inception, eBay Foundation has contributed over $21 million to nonprofits around the world. eBay Foundation will continue to support local communities and the charitable interests of our employees through the GIVE Team grant program.
THE OPPORTUNITY PROJECT IS A NATURAL EXTENSION FOR EBAY AND EBAY FOUNDATION," SAID LAUREN MOORE, PRESIDENT, EBAY FOUNDATION. "BY SUPPORTING AND RECOGNIZING ORGANIZATIONS THAT ARE IMPLEMENTING DISRUPTIVE SOCIAL INNOVATIONS, WE HAVE THE ABILITY TO HELP CREATE ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES AND GENERATE EMPLOYMENT FOR PEOPLE WHO OTHERWISE FACE BARRIERS TO PARTICIPATING FULLY IN THE GLOBAL ECONOMY
The Dreilinden eBay Green Team kicked-off their Earth Day 2011 events with a hazardous waste collection initiative – collecting old paint, eWaste, batteries and all types of other things you can't just throw out with the garbage or put in a recycling bin. They also collected unwanted working electronics and are collaborating with a local eBay seller who will in turn resell them on the site for them. The money received will be put towards funding a green initiative project in Dreilinden.
Personally, I'm excited to welcome additional experienced social entrepreneurs directly into the eBay family making it possible for us to serve the nonprofit sector even better than before. Great stuff!eBay recognizes that the go green goal of a "zero waste" city, or world for that matter, is extremely demanding, and tackling waste diversion, as well as other environmental challenges, requires dedication and teamwork. It is our Work Place Resources team's objective to incorporate environmentally friendly values in their day-to-day operations and, in some small way, be a part of the solution.
As our competition unfolds and we develop new partnerships, we'll be matching employees like Liam with the projects and areas of need that our nonprofit partners identify. If the initial response we got for the Team TOP program is any indication, we'll have some amazing stories to share.