I traveled to Nepal last December and had the amazing opportunity to spend time with Seva, our partner charity that is committed to transforming lives by restoring eyesight. While visiting hospitals and meeting patients from different backgrounds and circumstances, I was told a story of a mother of four who was blind with cataracts. Seva discovered her via their remote screening camps and arranged for her to be transported from her mountain village to the local eye hospital. After having operations on both of her eyes, thanks to Seva, her vision was fully restored!
This is one story of many that illustrates how the lost-cost surgeries MediaMath funds can dramatically change the lives of individuals and families in some of the poorest regions of the world.
In 2017, we launched a high-impact eyesight program, in which MediaMath funds one eye surgery for every 20 campaigns run in our programmatic platform TerminalOne. We also executed our first Global Impact Week in June and secured long-term funding through MediaMath equity.
A highlight from 2017 for both me and MediaMath CEO Joe Zawadzki was talking to our board of directors about MediaMath.org. We discussed the impact of the organization since its creation only one year prior, how it had made an impact on local communities through donations and hundreds of hours of time spent volunteering, as well as the over 2,000 eyesight-restoring surgeries performed in poverty-stricken regions across the globe. Upon the conclusion of the meeting, the board unanimously agreed to pledge 1% of equity to MediaMath.org, a bonus to our commitment to dedicate 1% of our time and technology for social good.
In 2018, we will focus much of our 1% efforts on helping great non-profits become great marketers. We believe that this initiative will allow us to make a tremendous impact at scale. We here at MediaMath strive for marketing to be a force for good, and want our clients, partners and the entire marketing ecosystem to be involved and engaged. Won’t you join us?