Karen Little and David Hessekiel at the 2023 EFG conference
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Engage for Good member Karen Little, whose career has stretched from the venerable halls of the American Heart Association through the digital alleyways of Kiva, and into the bustling marketplaces of PayPal. Below, Karen spills the tea on corporate social impact and how strategic partnerships have evolved—from “Let’s slap our logo on this charity event” to “How can we actually do something meaningful?” Throughout this evolution, Engage for Good has played a pivotal role, acting as a connective thread, bringing together like-minded organizations and individuals. This story has been streamlined for both length and impact.
My journey with Engage for Good started with a meeting in Chicago, and it has blossomed into these key moments that have led me to have a deeper understanding and commitment in the social impact space.
My first experience was back when the organization was called the Cause Marketing Forum. At that time, I was with the American Heart Association. And while I had never attended the conference before, it was on my radar.
Fast forward to my time at Kiva, where we were just beginning to explore what meaningful and lasting corporate partnerships could look like.
We had a small team on the development side at Kiva, but we had big dreams, and we saw an opportunity to do much more with employee and consumer engagement.
To act on these ideas, we launched a creative consumer engagement partnership with TripAdvisor in 2012. TripAdvisor reviewers who left a review would receive a Kiva credit via email to lend $25 to an entrepreneur in the country they had just visited. It was a great way to empower consumers to fund entrepreneurs’ needs and make a difference in their lives.
I quickly realized this wasn’t just a good business practice—it was a beautiful way to create opportunity with lasting ripple effects. That realization got me thinking, “What more can we do?”
The next year, in 2013, was my first time attending the conference. I was invited to a nonprofit gathering before the conference got started, and instantly I knew I was in the right place. The meeting was a mix of leaders from leading organizations like UN Women, UNICEF, Save the Children, CARE, and the American Red Cross.
The gathering provided a much-needed space to talk about everything from consumer engagement strategies to the most impactful ways to involve employees in philanthropy.
I left that conference full of ideas and inspiration.
I’m forever grateful for the incredible community I’ve found in Engage for Good. It’s been filled with learning, growth, and, most importantly, a whole lot of heart. — Karen Little, PayPal
In 2014, I was back at Engage for Good, this time with my Hewlett Packard counterpart sharing the story of a massive $7 million employee engagement program we had launched with HP called “Matter to a Million.” Our partnership won the Golden Halo Award for best employee engagement campaign, which was a very special moment. It was a testament to the shared long-term vision we had, our year of hard work, and the many late nights. It was a moment of immense pride—not just for me and my HP counterpart, but for everyone involved.
Transitioning to PayPal opened a new chapter in my Engage for Good story.
PayPal has been a corporate member of Engage for Good for a long time. The landscape had shifted, but the essence remained the same—creating impactful partnerships and driving meaningful change. And one of the things that makes Engage for Good unique is the recognition and awards for this type of work. It’s such a meaningful celebration, and I’m always enlightened by the learnings and best practices shared in peer case studies.
I’ve been able to apply the lessons I’ve learned through a number of projects at PayPal. In 2020, we launched a $535 million commitment to helping close the racial wealth gap, which we deployed within a year. This was a massive, cross-functional effort that required so many parts of the business to come together to execute.
In 2022, we facilitated over $623 million in consumer donations to more than 200 nonprofits supporting humanitarian relief efforts in Ukraine and enabled people in Ukraine to receive critical peer-to-peer funds.
Some of the proudest moments of my career have been winning a Halo Award for our racial equity investments, and then for our humanitarian relief efforts in Ukraine.
Looking ahead, I’m excited about PayPal’s ongoing work to support global small businesses and help the communities we serve build financial security. As part of this, we’ve made several investments that are aimed at financially empowering women globally, including providing microloans to women, ensuring there is pay equity within the company, and mobilizing our employees to volunteer for causes that support women and girls.
I’m deeply committed to advancing gender equity, both personally and professionally.
Despite notable strides, the global gender pay gap remains stark, with women earning just 51 cents for every dollar earned by men. This disparity is even more pronounced for women of color. As a mother of two young girls, I’m profoundly invested in ensuring their opportunities, as well as those of the next generation of women. In my early years, I witnessed firsthand the strength and resilience of my single mother, who served as the sole provider for our family. Her unwavering determination continues to inspire me.
Being part of this work to create economic opportunity for small businesses and, especially, to uplift and empower women is special—and it’s a privilege to be a part of it.
Some of the most special moments so far have been the unexpected ones—those full-circle moments.
Like last year in Atlanta at Engage for Good, when colleagues from all my past and present jobs at the American Heart Association, Kiva and PayPal were at the conference at the same time in conversation together. It was a beautiful reminder of the collective journey we’ve all shared, the wealth of knowledge we’ve acquired, and the contributions we’ve made towards creating impact.
I’m forever grateful for the incredible community I’ve found in Engage for Good. It’s been filled with learning, growth, and, most importantly, a whole lot of heart.
Onwards!
