WEN DY JO N ES ' 83
All in a Day's Work Spotlight on Distinguished Alumna Wendy Jones '83
It was early April 2020 and Wendy Jones '83 was nestled into her home office in Los Gatos, California, illuminated by the glow of the iridescent blue eBay logo of her virtual Zoom background. Her dog barked jauntily in the background as we dove into a long-distance, coast-to-coast conversation. The Severn alumni team's original plans to visit Wendy at eBay's impressive San Jose headquarters took a sharp turn in March as all of our lives changed amidst the looming spread of COVID-19. Always generous in sharing her time with Severn despite a packed corporate executive's calendar, Wendy's inherent warmth and affable nature came clearly through the screen. She's so authentic and relatable. It's easy to forget that she has had an extraordinary career as a key leader at one of the world's largest online global marketplaces. A self-described “operator,” Wendy began her eBay career in 2003 as vice president of customer service for North America and Australia after being hired by former CEO Meg Whitman. She's held various other leadership roles at the firm in marketing, advertising, and operations, and has focused much of her career on growing eBay's global presence. Jones has worked in Europe, Canada, and the U.S., leading geographic expansion efforts, launching eBay into markets like Brazil, Russia, and Mexico, and spearheading eBay's cross-border trade efforts. During her time in Europe, she was responsible for leading marketing, operations, and advertising for eBay's European sites. A respected mentor and champion of eBay's Communities of Inclusion, Wendy is committed to furthering others' ambitions through personal mentoring and professional affiliations. In the early days of the pandemic, Jones focused on getting eBay's 12,000 employees from 95 offices worldwide transitioned to working from home. Despite the daunting nature of such an endeavor, Jones saw this as an
