eBay Foundation Awards $3M to Help Drive Inclusive Entrepreneurship

eBay Foundation Awards $3M to Help Drive Inclusive Entrepreneurship

eBay News Team

With the aim of unleashing the power of entrepreneurship and building economically vibrant and thriving communities, the eBay Foundation is proud to announce our 2024 Global Give grantees, with a total award of nearly $3 million to 31 grantees across the globe.

The program is an extension of eBay Foundation's grantmaking, enabling us to partner with nonprofit organizations around the world that are addressing and removing barriers to entrepreneurship for people who identify with historically excluded groups.

This year's grantees reflect that purpose. From U.S.-based Defy Ventures, Global Sisters in Australia, to U.K. based Hatch Enterprise, our Global Give nonprofit partners span the globe.

Defy Ventures: Providing a Second Chance Through Entrepreneurship

[Link]

For the more than 5 million formerly incarcerated people in the U.S., a second sentence often begins upon release, marked by unemployment rates five times higher than the general population. Defy Ventures strives to break this cycle, giving people with criminal histories a second chance through entrepreneurship, career readiness, and personal development training programs.

Since 2012, Defy has supported the launch of over 200 businesses by currently and formerly incarcerated people across the U.S. Last year alone, they provided programming for more than 1,000 people across 20+ correctional institutions and in the community, engaging hundreds of volunteers as coaches and mentors for their Entrepreneurs-in-Training along the way.

Defy Ventures aims to leverage this year's Global Give grant to continue driving down recidivism (return-to-prison) rates and expanding economic opportunity for participants by investing more into their transformative entrepreneurship programs.

Hatch Enterprise: Bridging the "Opportunity Gap" in the United Kingdom

Multi-year grantee Hatch Enterprise is focused on building a better, more inclusive world through entrepreneurship across the United Kingdom.

In 2023, the nonprofit's programs supported over 1,100 underrepresented entrepreneurs through 14 in-depth cohorts and over 100 community events.

Through their Launchpad, Incubator, and Accelerator programs, Hatch Enterprise supports businesses every step of the way, from ideation to launching and scaling a business. Upon completing the Hatch program, founders become members of the Hatch alumni network and have access to the Hatch Fund, which provides start-up grants to program graduates.

With this new round of support from the eBay Foundation, Hatch can continue offering their high-impact development events - including peer coaching, workshops, and clinics - at no cost to participants. Additionally, they plan to further expand their existing in-person networking events, peer-to-peer coaching, mentoring, and pitch days

Global Sisters: Removing Barriers to Women's Economic Security

[Link]

Global Sisters aims to provide women in Australia with the opportunity to generate income flexibly so they can own their economic future. They offer a life cycle of comprehensive, flexible, and accessible micro-business support, with the goal of fostering long-term economic security.

To date, over 6,500 women nationwide have benefited from Global Sisters' programming, many of whom were unemployed or underemployed, escaping gender-based violence, living with disabilities, residing in remote locations, or identifying as First Nations. That year, they also launched an app to connect their participants (or "sisters") with 1:1 coaching.

Global Sisters will allocate the 2024 Global Give Grant towards expanding their no-cost business support programs with a vision of making women's economic security a tangible reality in Australia.

Learn more about eBay Foundation and its grantmaking strategy (including Global Give) here.

Topic:Announcements

Previous Story:eBay Announces Fifth Annual Up & Running Grants Recipients