Mastercard Foundation


The Mastercard Foundation is an international non-governmental organization established by Mastercard in 2006. The foundation develops programs primarily in education, employment and agriculture fields.
The organization is located in Toronto, Ontario Canada, working in 29 countries across Africa and led by CEO and President Reeta Roy.

History

In 2006 Mastercard Inc. held its initial public offering where Mastercard shareholders made a donation of the newly issued shares to create an independent charitable foundation named Mastercard Foundation.
In 2008, the foundation launched partnership with BRAC to expand financial services to approximately two million people across Uganda.
In September 2012, the MasterCard Foundation Scholars Program was announced at a United Nations special session, committing $500 million toward the education of 15,000 African scholars for secondary, undergraduate and masters levels.
In 2013, the Mastercard Foundation hosted the first Symposium on Financial Inclusion, currently this is an annual event.
In 2015, The Mastercard Foundation Fund for Rural Prosperity was launched. It is a challenge fund to find, support, and scale up innovative ideas that expand financial inclusion to smallholder farmers and economically disadvantaged people living in rural Africa.
In 2018, Young Africa Works strategy launched in Kigali, Rwanda. Young Africa Works is strategy to help young people in Africa, particularly young women, secure dignified and fulfilling work.
According to the OECD, the MasterCard Foundation provided USD 263.3 million for development in 2018, all in the form of grants.

Mission

The Mastercard Foundation’s mission is to advance education and financial inclusion in developing countries. It seeks a world where everyone has the opportunity to learn and prosper.
At the African Green Revolution Forum's presidential summit in 2019, Mastercard Foundation CEO Reeta Roy stated “Our goal is simple. It is to make the invisible visible. It’s to enable young people to create dignified work where it does not exist today”.