Alice Acciarri, general manager of eBay Italy, what prompted you to join the Women’s Division of the FIGC? How important is this combination on the occasion of the newborn professional women’s soccer championship in Italy?
“Football is a world that we preside over through numerous partnerships. We are the marketplace of passions and football is one of those capable of catalyzing the attention and enthusiasm of millions of people. A passion that over the years has seen an ever growing involvement of girls and boys, also in Italy.As a company committed to the inclusion and empowerment of women, in every context, we have welcomed the transition to professionalism of the women’s movement with great enthusiasm and we wanted to be actively involved in this moment We are therefore proud to be Premium Partner of the Women’s Serie A Championship for the 2022/2023 season, the first officially recognized as a professional”
There is a harmony of values and perspectives between women’s football and your company. What are the main shared values and objectives?
“eBay has in its DNA a well-rooted attention to gender equality and the strengthening of female leadership, and has always proposed itself as the point of reference for the passions of Italians. The partnership with FIGC allows us to support professional female soccer players, their passions and aspirations. This is a collaboration that looks beyond mere sports sponsorship, creating training and growth opportunities for female players beyond the practice of sport. Women who tomorrow will be able to decide to develop their professionalism and their passion for football in a different way by expressing themselves in other fields. Football represents a world of positive values such as team spirit, education in fair play and sharing. Values that are also part of eBay’s DNA. Supporting a passion that also has a theme such an important value – female empowerment – becomes a further challenge for eBay to contribute to by activating different levers bodies, which only partially relate to sports performance”.
How does your company engage in the issue of inclusion and women’s empowerment on a daily basis
“eBay is a global marketplace that creates economic inclusion, a community made by people for people who share the same values of inclusion and openness to diversity. Our founder, Pierre Omidyar, believed in building an open and trust-based market where anyone could succeed. Now as then, we remain committed to becoming an open, fair and inclusive place where people can develop their business or make their purchases. We are committed to the ever greater involvement of women in work and in leadership positions, in promoting a more inclusive work culture and with real professional growth opportunities for all.To this end, eBay launched the Women@eBay initiative in 2011, to attract and involve more and more women within, help them grow professionally and obtain top positions.Through this network eBay has doubled over the years the presence of female leaders within it. Our inclusive vision is also confirmed by the numbers: according to the latest D&I Report, from 2021, 41% of the eBay workforce is female. Overall percentage that rises in Italy, given the extensive presence of women in Italian management. Furthermore, eBay implements policies such as the extension of parental leave for both parents and innovative selection processes which, also thanks to the use of technologies, can overcome any prejudices in the selection. On the wage gap front, eBay has achieved 100% gender pay equity globally. Without forgetting that we are a marketplace that naturally favors female entrepreneurship, giving women the opportunity to start their own business in a simple way on our platform”.
The survey commissioned by eBay to the Human Highway research institute highlights the survival of bias and stereotypes when it comes to women and sports: which ones are the most difficult to demolish? What research results surprised you positively?
“This research aims to better understand the attitudes towards women who want to build a future in the field of sport, still encountering many obstacles and prejudices. Knowing the opinions and critical issues better, the conditions are created to face them and build a new path together, in which the culture of inclusion guides everyone’s choices. The research clearly shows how the cultural legacy persists according to which women are not considered suitable for certain sports, including football. Almost 40% of Italians argue that football is one sport by men In general, 67.5% of Italians believe that there is discrimination against women: for two out of three people, women are penalized in their career opportunities and some professions are still considered more masculine today, such as engineer or the surgeon. The younger generations, however, show a very different openness, even if they still fear the consequences that choices, such as playing football or playing sports considered to be masculine, can lead to, for example, being ridiculed or pushed aside by one’s group. For the youngest it is obvious that a woman may want to play football, while greater resistance has been found among young adults, between 25 and 44 years. I therefore look to the younger generations with great optimism and to the older ones with the strengthened conviction that it is necessary for us all to commit ourselves to creating favorable conditions so that girls and boys can indulge their passion without limitations”.
Let’s talk about the eBay Values Award: an award for values expressed on and off the field, a bridge between a sports career and a non-football career. How do you help female players plan their future after retirement?
“As eBay we want to tell and share the stories of these girls, the challenges they faced to fulfill their passions and achieve their professional and personal goals, so that they can be an inspiration and example for future generations. For this we have established the l ‘eBay Values Award, a recognition that eBay assigns monthly to the footballer of the 10 Serie A teams who has particularly distinguished herself for the dimensions of values, demonstrated on and off the pitch.Values that speak of commitment, courage and passion.?With this award we provide high-level training courses, thanks to the collaboration with SDA Bocconi School of Management in Milan and the Italian Footballers’ Association.We believe that the training and development of non-football skills are useful and necessary tools for the personal enrichment of these girls and help both for their realization in the field and for the continuation of the lo ro professional career. To stand out on and off the field, you don’t only need talent, experience and physical strength, but you also need to nurture the soft skills, transversal skills related to emotional intelligence and the natural abilities that each of us possesses. Characteristics such as leadership, autonomy, flexibility, ability to work as a team, resistance to stress and ability to adapt, to relate, are just some of the skills that an athlete possesses and develops over the course of his career and which increase his versatility. These skills are the same ones you need to possess or develop in any work environment, regardless of the industry you wish to work in. These are the factors that serve to differentiate and that any employer looks for in a potential candidate who aspires to have a successful growth path”.
