Wanderwell Responsible Business Guide & Bylaws

Updated December 26, 2023 21:44

Our Mission Statement

Wanderwell is committed to guiding people towards comprehensive, yet cost-effective plans, giving customers and partners peace of mind in planning trips and experiences. We are passionate about promotion and practice of environmental conservation. We pledge to donate 20% or more of annual profits - at minimum 1% of annual sales revenue - to established Environmental Partners of 1% for the Planet, an organization focused on social impact and environmental stewardship, as well as to other nonprofits that promote sustainable, regenerative travel.

Protection + Purpose = Insurance for good

Wanderwell is a registered Oregon Benefits Corp and has been a Certified B Corporation since 2017. Wanderwell was recognized in the Best for the World categories for Community and Governance in 2018 and 2019 by B Lab.

Governing Body

The governing body of Wanderwell consists of:

Founders: Erin Fish, Phil Gordon, Robby Kushner
Operations: Eli Gill
Legal: Leemore Kushner

Wanderwell also works with an official Board of Advisors, who separately and collectively advise the governing body on a semi-annual basis - established in 2023.

Entity Registration
Wanderwell is registered as an LLC and Benefits Corporation in the State of Oregon as eatapea, LLC (dba Wanderwell Insurance Services).

Shareholder Meetings
Shareholder and Governing Body meetings are held on the first Tuesday of each month.

Changing the Company Bylaws
This process can start with a member of the Governing Body or Board proposing modification of the bylaws. The length of time for changes to be created depends may take more than two meetings to complete. For legality and compliance, the changes should first be approved and documented before they are adopted.

Value of Using Wanderwell

Wanderwell presents a self-service model that curates your travel insurance search with a seamless user experience that makes purchasing and understanding your travel insurance coverage a breeze.
We offer less than a handful of comprehensive plans from reliable insurance carriers to simplify your search and offer options which appropriately cover you and your trips.
Easy access to dedicated customer service and claims assistance and advocacy.
Protection + Purpose = Travel insurance…for good
- Wanderwell is a Certified B Corporation* (since 2017)
- At least 1% of Wanderwell's annual net revenue is donated to established nonprofit members of 1% for the Planet, which focus on social impact and environmental stewardship, as well as to other nonprofits that promote sustainable, regenerative travel approaches.
- Wanderwell is a registered Oregon Benefits Corp.

*The B Impact Assessment - a rigorous third-party certification process provided by B Lab, a “nonprofit organization that serves a global movement of people using business as a force for good.”TM The B Impact Assessment is a digital tool that can help measure, manage, and improve positive impact performance for environment, communities, customers, suppliers, employees, and shareholders; receiving a minimum verified score of 80 points on the assessment is also the first step towards B Corp Certification.

Key Customer Segments

Individual domestic and international travelers embarking on trips for one (1) to ninety (90) days for leisure and/or business travel and are seeking insurance to cover the investment of their trip (“trip protection” style products)
Individual international travelers embarking on trips for one (1) to 360 days for leisure and/or business travel and are seeking insurance to primarily cover the potential medical expenses incurred in their trip (“travel medical” style products)
Travel groups sponsoring groups of five (5) or more travelers
Institutions of higher education who enroll students studying abroad in foreign countries
Independent students studying abroad in foreign countries, through a foreign college or university
Corporations with employees who consistently travel for business
Expats and anyone living outside their home country

Employee-Centered Values

Compensation above the livable wage for the employee’s city/region
Scalable employee benefits include:

Comprehensive Medical, Dental, & Vision insurance
Short-term disability insurance
15 days of Paid Time Off per year
10 paid Holidays per year, plus 1 floating holiday
Paid Leave for all eligible employees
Commuter benefits (bus/metro pass, car sharing)
Bike Locker on-site
Employees encouraged to limit use of paper by utilizing Google Workspace, Slack, and more for cloud-based communication
Each employee, including owners/officers, participates in semi-annual and annual organized volunteering events in the local communities. Wanderwell will pay employees for up to 10 hours per year of volunteer work at approved 501c3 organizations.
“Golden Ticket” after three (3) years of full-time employment = One week with volunteering component in region of employee’s choosing.

Employee Expectations

We aim to provide a culture that is fair, inclusive, full of opportunity, accountability, education, engagement, sustainability, and fun. By exemplifying these values, we intend to enable and promote positivity in all aspects of our organization. This is essential to our commitment to extraordinary customer service and exceptional quality. Everyone in the company is involved in its successes and evolution.

Employees are expected to:

Present a clean and professional appearance when representing Wanderwell, inside or outside of the office.
Dress in appropriate business attire, and to behave in a professional, businesslike manner, extending the highest courtesy at all times to co-workers, visitors, suppliers, vendors, customers, and clients.
Maintain a clean, orderly workspace that provides a professional environment conducive to working efficiently - free of items that will inhibit the ability to perform the job appropriately. The workspace should portray Wanderwell’s overall dedication to providing quality service to our clients.
Report to work when scheduled.
Notify the immediate supervisor or designated manager in advance if absence from work is expected.
Notify the immediate supervisor or designated manager in advance if absence from work is *unexpected*. Such notification can be made no later than one hour before employee is due at work.

Environmental Policies

Wanderwell is a business that serves global travelers. We believe we have the obligation and ability to positively affect global environmental change. As a group of experienced adventurers, we encourage critical thinking about responsible travel practices, species and habitat conservation, proactive community engagement, and sustainability. As we practice these beliefs our responsibility to act in such a way expands. Traveling breeds environmental consciousness, which extends into our workspaces.

We encourage the following practices:

Limit use of paper, utilize technology for cloud-based communication
Recycle glass, plastic, metals, and paper appropriately in our on-site recycling bins
Compost in our on-site composting bin (managed by Wanderwell)
Limit the use of waste products and utensils destined for landfills
Reduce commute time by either residing close to work, if feasible, and/or use cleaner modes of transportation (ie. bus/metro pass, car sharing, carpooling, walking, biking)
Purchase food and supplies from aligned companies (B Corps, regenerative & organic farms, etc)
Make use of the indoor, secure bike locker located on-site

Supplier & Vendor Screening Policies

Wanderwell values the relationships we cultivate with our suppliers, vendors, and business resources. It is important that we select such relationships with measurements for social, environmental, and service-focused criteria. We do not track diversity of ownership among our suppliers, but have a policy to give preferences to aligned suppliers with diverse ownership from underrepresented populations.

Insurance Carriers:

Warranty: The carriers we represent will have a look-back/free-look period of at least seven (7) days for purchased plans.
Better Business Bureau: The carriers we represent will have a minimum grade of “A-“ from the Better Business Bureau
Customer Service & Claims: Wanderwell will evaluate carriers’ customer service and claims assistance performance on an annual basis. This practice will enable us to better advocate for our customers.

Banking:

Wanderwell has elected to manage our business banking with Beneficial State Bank, a Certified B Corp with an engaged local branch. Their mission focuses on building community prosperity by investing in local businesses and organizations in an economically and environmentally sustainable manner.

Vendors:

Our Legal Advisors are based locally in Portland, OR and Los Angeles, CA, within a short distance from Wanderwell headquarters and Governing Body households.
Our Web Developer is remote, and we regularly review the carbon footprint of our website, making adjustments to keep emissions low.

Stakeholder Engagement Policy

Statement of Policy
It is the policy of Wanderwell to recognize that we impact our stakeholders and to solicit their feedback and input when making business decisions.

Wanderwell will:

Identify relevant stakeholders
Identify potential topics that may be relevant to them
Gather feedback from stakeholders via surveys, individual interviews, focus groups/meetings, or other means
Review and organize the feedback received
Develop an action plan that ensures that stakeholder feedback will be addressed and integrated into your business decisions
Implement the action plan and reevaluate it annually

click here to review Wanderwell's complete Stakeholder Engagement Policy

Ethical Marketing Policy

Statement of Policy

It is the policy of Wanderwell to always ensure that all marketing related to our products and services meets the highest standards of honesty and integrity.

This policy sets out marketing practices that align with socially and environmentally responsible business practices such as those followed by Certified B Corps.

Wanderwell will ensure that all marketing, both online and offline, will:

Honestly represent Wanderwell products and services, without intentionally misleading clients in any way
Follow best practices for permission-based email marketing by requiring a double opt-in where clients must confirm their email address and their wish to subscribe to the newsletter
Not share client’s email addresses without their express consent

click here to review Wanderwell's complete Ethical Marketing Policy*

Key Performance Indicators (KPI)

Carbon footprint: Keep carbon footprint per employee under 50 tonnes CO₂e per year. We can also offset our footprint with carbon offsets and/or investments in carbon sequestration projects.

Charitable Giving: We commit to donating 20% of profit to established Environmental Partners of 1% for the Planet, focusing on social impact and environmental stewardship, as well as to other nonprofits that promote sustainable, regenerative travel approaches. In 2022 we donated 3.28% of annual revenue. KPI for 2023 - donate at least $10,000 to beneficiary nonprofits.

Civic engagement: Each Wanderwell employee will participate in two civic engagement activities per year - either political or apolitical, including: electoral poll volunteer, National Registration Day volunteer, work with youth development programs, public health, local government engagement (attending city council meetings, town halls, meetings, hearings, votes).

Volunteering: Wanderwell employees, including owners/officers, each commit to volunteering a minimum of 10 hours per year in 2024. We have partnered with many nonprofits to organize volunteering opportunities internally, in conjunction with the B Corp/B Local PDX, 1% for the Planet, Place to B, Global PDX, and Business for a Better Portland communities. *130 cumulative hours volunteered in 2019-2023.

Customer Advocacy: Our goals in 2024 include making improvements in...

setting proper expectations of coverage, via better Help Center and Chat architecture
introducing a customer portal with quick access to plan documents, ability for the customer to make changes to their policies, access to claims support
advocating for the customer during the claims process

Impact Reporting

Wanderwell will report annually on its social and environmental performance. The report will include Wanderwell’s B Impact Score and provide updates on key areas, including Governance, Workers, Community, Environment, and Customers. The report will be published on Wanderwell’s website.

Access Wanderwell’s 2023 Impact Report here

Timeline

2023

Update website design to clearly invoke and portray the mission of Wanderwell and the simplicity of our service
Refine quoting and purchasing pathway
Introduce Post-Departure (travel medical) style plan!
Expand Wanderwell Affiliate Program Network to 50 affiliates by end of 2023
Employees to volunteer 10+ hours with 1% for the Planet Environmental Partners

2024

Introduce new retail and custom Trip Protection style plans for general travel, business travel, summer camps
Increase market exposure through email marketing, SEO, and blog
Expand Wanderwell Affiliate Program Network to 50 affiliates by end of 2023
Expand Wanderwell Affiliate Program Network to 100 affiliates by end of 2023
Employees to volunteer 10+ hours with 1% for the Planet Environmental Partners