SAN JOSE, Calif., June 11, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- PayPal
Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: PYPL) today announced a $530 million commitment to support Black and
minority-owned businesses and communities in the U.S., especially
those hardest hit by the pandemic, to help address economic
inequality. As part of its investment, the company is bolstering
its internal programs to further increase diversity, equity and
inclusion within the PayPal community.
"For far too long, Black people in America have faced
deep-seated injustice and systemic economic inequality. Black lives
matter and we need to drive transformative change. We must take
decisive action to close the racial wealth gap that sustains this
profound inequity," said Dan
Schulman, president and CEO, PayPal. "PayPal is uniquely
positioned to help in this area, and we are committed to doing our
part to address the unacceptable racial divide by advancing a more
just economy and society. We've listened to leaders in the Black
community about the challenges facing Black business owners and the
support and investments needed to sustain Black-owned businesses
and create long-term economic opportunity. The holistic set of
initiatives we are implementing are designed to help address the
immediate crisis and set the foundation for sustained engagement
and progress towards economic equality and social justice."
The commitment includes short-term, medium-term, and long-term
investments in the community:
- $10 million fund for empowerment
grants to Black-owned businesses impacted by COVID-19 or civil
unrest. These grants will provide direct support to business owners
to cover expenses related to stabilizing and reopening their
businesses. The fund will be managed in partnership with
Association for Enterprise Opportunity, a leading national
nonprofit expanding economic opportunity for Black entrepreneurs
through its Tapestry Project. Interested businesses can apply for a
grant at aeoworks.org/paypalgrant/.
- $5 million fund for program
grants and employee matching gifts for PayPal's nonprofit community
partners that are working to strengthen Black business owners by
providing them with microloans, technical assistance, information,
mentoring and access to digital solutions to speed their recovery
from the impact of the pandemic. Local partners are best positioned
to know the needs of their communities and these grants are
intended to catalyze and further empower the necessary work they
are doing to sustain Black-owned businesses. Initial organizations
receiving grants through the fund include Association for
Enterprise Opportunity, Baltimore Business Lending, Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives Micro Finance
Group, Expanding Black Business Credit Initiative, Kiva, MORTAR,
Nebraska Enterprise Fund, Opportunity Fund, Rising Tide Capital,
Start Small Think Big, Walker's Legacy Foundation and Women's
Opportunity Resource Center. As part of this the company will
expand the PayPal Gives Employee Matching Gifts program. PayPal
will match $2 for every $1 employees donate and $10 for every volunteer hour dedicated to racial
and economic justice efforts in local communities, up to
$500,000.
- $500 million commitment to create
an economic opportunity fund to support and strengthen Black and
underrepresented minority businesses and communities over the long
term, and designed to help drive financial health, access and
generational wealth creation. This initiative will include
bolstering the company's relationships with community banks and
credit unions serving underrepresented minority communities, as
well as investing directly into Black and minority-led startups and
minority-focused investment funds. Startups and investment funds
are invited to express interest to the PayPal Ventures team
here.
"AEO advocates for economic inclusion and works to create
transformational change in the marketplace for small businesses,"
said Connie Evans, president and
CEO, Association for Enterprise Opportunity (AEO). "Now, more than
ever, it's critical to invest in Black-owned businesses, create a
more equitable system and break through the barriers that have
historically challenged Black business ownership and wealth
creation."
PayPal is committing $15 million
to strengthen its internal diversity and inclusion programs to
foster greater awareness, build equity, and support recruiting,
hiring and career advancement of Black and minority employees. This
also includes increased funding for the company's employee resource
groups as well as supporting community partners through pro bono
work and secondments by its employees.
These initiatives build on the extensive financial health and
small business empowerment programs PayPal already supports. They
will add a particular emphasis on Black-owned businesses, sharpen
the focus of that work, accelerate the deployment of PayPal's
resources and fuel employee engagement. PayPal previously announced
the company was donating $500,000 to
organizations doing meaningful work to build toward racial
equality, healing and reconciliation, including the Chicago
Urban League, Leadership Conference
on Civil and Human Rights, Minneapolis African American Leadership
Forum, NAACP Legal Defense Fund, National Urban League, Repairers of the Breach and The
Empowerment Network.
About PayPal
PayPal has remained at the forefront of
the digital payment revolution for more than 20 years. By
leveraging technology to make financial services and commerce more
convenient, affordable, and secure, the PayPal platform is
empowering more than 300 million consumer and merchant accounts in
more than 200 markets to join and thrive in the global economy. For
more information, visit paypal.com.
About Association for Enterprise Opportunity
AEO is
the leading voice of innovation for microbusiness and microfinance.
We create economic opportunity for underserved entrepreneurs
throughout the United States. We
engineer transformational change through Research, Incubation,
Convening & Advocacy to foster a robust and inclusive
marketplace. For more information, visit aeoworks.org.
Contacts
Media Relations Contacts
For
PayPal:
Josh Criscoe
jcriscoe@paypal.com
Janine Kamwene
jakamwene@paypal.com
For Association for Enterprise Opportunity:
Molly Boyle
press@aeoworks.org
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SOURCE PayPal Holdings, Inc.