Could you share an example of a time when you came up with an innovation that improved how your legal team works and did not come at a large expense? 

To simplify many internal legal activities and free up corporate lawyers’ time, we set up a global self-service tool for sales consisting in self-service contract automation which gives sales and business managers the possibility to self-generate certain type of agreements starting from on pre-approved dynamic templates. To grant quality check and consistency, each lawyer is responsible for keeping a specific template updated in the system. Moreover, with the help of the AI, each requestor can highlight a non-standard situation which needs attention; the system is then able to pass the case to the responsible lawyer who will take the lead on that request granting consistency and the right level of supervision. Therefore, we created a process where, human requestors and human lawyers can rely on contract management technology (plus the AI in certain cases); the ultimate scope was to have lawyers being able to focus on more high-level things while more standard things are managed with the help of internally developed tools.  

What measures has your company taken to embed sustainability practices into its core business operations, and how does the role of the general counsel contribute to driving and ensuring sustainable practices within the company? 

We all must do our part when it comes to protecting the health of our planet, and this includes the need for corporations to take meaningful action. As Head of Legal I’m actively involved in a number of initiatives like workshops where legal implication of climate changes are discussed and presented to the employees, or, on a more corporate side, in specific internal where legal reviews intended to assess legal requirements for a company to be considered sustainable in different jurisdictions) that achieving climate stability is vital to fulfilling our mission to drive financial health and inclusion for all global citizens. 

Environmental sustainability is critical when it comes to managing our impact, mobilising our workforce, and driving innovation on our platform. PayPal is committed to addressing our emissions and has recently signed on with thousands of other leading organizations in the America is All In movement to continue supporting climate action to meet the Paris Climate Agreement. In 2019, PayPal pledged to set greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals validated by the Science Based Target initiative. In 2020 PayPal joined the business ambition for 1.5C to align our targets with the imperative of ensuring that global temperature rise does not exceed that temperature degree. PayPal’s plan is to reach net-zero emissions by 2040. We are focused on mobilizing resources to reduce and abate our greenhouse gas emissions as rapidly as possible, and we are already making tangible progress towards these targets. In 2020 we matched 98% of the energy in our data centres with renewable generation – up from 65% in 2019. PayPal’s greenhouse gas compensation strategy is focused on financing projects in geographies where PayPal has a significant operational presence, supporting vulnerable communities, and aligning with our mission and values.   

How do you prioritise diversity and inclusion within your legal department, and what initiatives have you implemented to foster a more inclusive and equitable work environment? 

As a company, we have consistently led with purpose – standing up for our values, supporting our customers and employees, and addressing issues of equity and inclusion head on. As a global employee community, we have shown resilience and urgency around advancing this critical work for the benefit of our customers, communities and each other. And in the Legal team, we continue to support one another and embrace different perspectives. We each have a role to play in ensuring everyone at PayPal feels a sense of belonging and has the tools to do the best work of their careers in ways that are specifically tailored to living our values. At its heart, living the value of Inclusion is about broadening our capacity for empathy, which is the ability to stand in someone else’s shoes and understand their experience as they see it. And it’s in this spirit we have made available specific resources available for employees like learning tools, courses, roundtables where an internal group of leaders, representing all functions and a range of geographies, perspectives and backgrounds, aligns on companywide diversity, inclusion, equity and belonging priorities, develops action plans to connect diversity, inclusion, equity and belonging activities to PayPal’s broader business strategy, and prioritizes feedback to identify new areas of opportunity. 

At the same time, we inform employees and support them in joining any event intended to promote diversity, inclusion, equity and belonging. In Italy, we are active in celebrating, promoting and supporting the pride month, among all the other initiatives we support in this country. There is a lot to do especially in a country like Italy, one of the countries in Europe at the bottom of the rank when it comes to diversity (Italy is 22nd out of 27 in the EU).