MasterCard Foundation
Overview
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Founded Since 1850
Company Description
Our Foundation
The Mastercard Foundation is a registered Canadian charity and one of the largest foundations in the world. It works with visionary organizations to advance education and financial inclusion to enable young people in Africa and Indigenous youth in Canada to access dignified and fulfilling work. Established in 2006 through the generosity of Mastercard when it became a public company, the Foundation is an independent organization separate from the company, with offices in Toronto, Kigali, Accra, Nairobi, Kampala, Lagos, Dakar, and Addis Ababa. Its policies, operations, and program decisions are determined by the Foundation’s Board of Directors and leadership.
History
The Mastercard Foundation was created in 2006 by Mastercard International and operates independently under the governance of its own Board of Directors. Since its founding, the Foundation has grown from a small “start-up” with just three employees to one of the largest foundations in the world. With commitments of approximately US$4.4 billion, we have partnered with visionary organizations to increase financial inclusion and access to youth learning in Africa. Together, we have improved the lives of more than 51 million people and their families.
Milestones
2006: On the day of its initial public offering, Mastercard shareholders make an unprecedented gift of shares to create an independent foundation
2008: The Foundation launches partnership with BRAC to expand financial services to two million people across Uganda
2009: Decision to focus on Africa
2011: $500 million Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program established to educate next-generation ethical leaders
2013: The inaugural Mastercard Foundation Symposium on Financial Inclusion elevates the focus on clients within the industry
2013: Intake of 2,907 Wings to Fly Scholars ranked in the top five percent of national primary school exam scores welcomed
2014: Partnership launched with the White House on the Young African Leaders Initiative to promote entrepreneurship across Africa
2015: Inaugural Young Africa Works Summit sets the bar with youth-led solutions to employment in the agricultural sector
2015: The Mastercard Foundation Fund for Rural Prosperity spurs innovative financing to smallholder farmers
2016: The Foundation celebrates its first ten years and prepares for the next decade of impact in Africa
2017: Decision to focus on youth unemployment in Africa and shift to a country-based approach to programming
2017: EleV, a learning partnership focused on removing barriers to post-secondary education for Indigenous youth in Canada, launched with Vancouver Island University and Yukon College.
2018: Young Africa Works strategy launched in Kigali, Rwanda, with the announcement of an ambitious goal: enable 30 million young people, particularly young women, to secure dignified and meaningful work
2019: Young Africa Works programming launched in Kenya, Ghana, Senegal, and Ethiopia.
2020: Young Africa Works programing launched in Nigeria and Uganda.
2020: Launched the COVID-19 Recovery and Resilience Program to assist institutions and communities in Africa and within Indigenous communities in Canada to withstand and respond to the short-term impacts of this pandemic, while strengthening their resilience in the long-run.
Our Work
Our Work in Africa
At the Mastercard Foundation, we are driven by a belief that all people should have an equal chance to succeed, no matter where they started in life. To date, our programming has improved the lives of more than 50 million people and millions more in their households.
Looking forward, our work is unified around the single most complex challenge that young people in Africa face — unemployment. Our goal is to enable 30 million young people to secure dignified and fulfilling work by 2030.
Youth at the Centre
How we work is just as important as what we do. Young people are at the centre of our work and their insight and aspirations guide us. We believe in respectful collaboration — with governments, the private sector, educators, and, most importantly, with young people. Through our work, we look to find new insights and share them with others to magnify our impact.
Our Strategy
Young Africa Works, the Foundation’s strategy for the next decade, reflects our optimism for Africa’s future. It builds on our experience in financial inclusion and education and training, using youth employment as an indicator of our progress in improving lives.
With the knowledge that securing employment is a leading pathway out of poverty, our strategy focuses the Foundation’s work on finding solutions for Africa’s youth employment challenge. In Africa, the world’s youngest continent, youth employment is a particularly important measure of poverty reduction. The strategy is a natural extension of our learning from our first decade and is the result of extensive consultation with leaders of African governments, private sector organizations, educational institutions, civil society, and, most importantly, young people themselves.
Youth Employment Challenge
Within a few decades, a demographic boom will make Africa’s workforce the largest in the world.
Our Approach
In addition to our shift in focus, we are shifting our approach to our work.
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