WeWork Hasn’t Gotten It All Wrong

Just last week we were all gasping at the horrendous stories from ex-WeWork employees and how they had to deal with used condoms and vomit.

This week, however, WeWork has our hearts melting as co-founders Adam Neumann and Miguel McIvey do whatever is in their power to help save an employee’s life.

CNNMoney reported a few days ago that, “WeWork founder donates $1 million to help find bone marrow donors.”

As we report often, many flexible workspace companies are carrying out acts of social good all over the world. But the real value of the story isn’t the one million being donated, but the story of for whom Adam Neumann is doing it.

“Neumann and Rebekah Neumann, his wife and founding partner, have been trying to find a bone marrow match for one of the company’s earliest employees, Valerie Batista. Batista joined WeWork in 2011 as its 15th employee.”

Batista was diagnosed last Spring with severe aplastic anemia. Batista needs a bone marrow donor in order to survive this life-threatening disease. Finding a bone marrow match can be extremely difficult, and Batista had already given up hopes of finding one when she reached out to WeWork for help with legal advice.

It was at this point Neumann and McIVey took matters into their own hands and decided to circulate a video “detailing their mission to find a match for Batista.”

Soon after, “WeWork partnered with Be the Match, the largest and most diverse bone marrow transplant registry in the world, to host seven registration drives in the US, Israel and the UK.” Additional to this, CNNMoney reported that, “The Neumanns are personally donating $1 million to Be the Match to help bolster the organization’s efforts, in the hopes of raising awareness and expanding the registry’s reach.”

Neumann and McIvey’s good-heartedness has made an impact among the WeWork community, as “1,000 Wework employees and members have registered their DNA with Be the Match and entered the database as potential matches for others like Batista.”