[Photo: Courtesy of eBay]
Download a PDF of the 2015 WSLA Awards.
“Embrace the spirit and practice of constantly learning.”
Duvall oversees eBay’s Greener Commerce strategy, which encompasses the company’s own environmental impacts and finds ways to drive green directions in general commerce. She works with company leaders and engages rank and file employees in the company’s environmental strategies. It’s clear by what she says here that she leads this charge broadly and holistically.
“Never think that a particular job is ‘not a sustainability’ job. We’re trying to re-engineer the global economic paradigm. I’d say that makes just about every job a sustainability job.”
“Embrace the spirit and practice of constantly learning. I mean that not only in the work context but also broadly across your whole life. You never know when an article you read or organization you heard about or skill you picked up in one place will be exactly what you need in a completely different context.”
“Voluntary action is important. But the kinds of change we need to build a sustainable world will require political courage and public investment. That’s not just at the global/national level—some of the most important policy progress is happening at the state and local level. Look for opportunities and allies everywhere.”
“‘Sustainability’ has come to mean ‘environmental sustainability.’ In truth it’s still a question that covers people, the planet, and economic viability. If you forget that, you risk partial solutions and unintended (negative) consequences.”
“Sometimes people think that becoming a leader of people is primarily about gaining power and influence over them. The very best of leaders know that the more power you have, the more selfless you need to be. It becomes less about you and more about everyone else and how you can help them be successful.”
Given the nature of eBay’s business, Duvall fairly places the reuse of goods as part of the circular economy, where “molecules/materials/products are kept at their highest value at all times,” she says. Reading Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring affected her as a teenager. “I was so mad,” she says. “Her book…definitely pushed me to choose the path I’m still on today.”
