Our Programs | Mastercard Foundation

Our Programs

The Mastercard Foundation works with partners in Africa and Canada and beyond to develop and implement programs that support young people’s pathways through education and enable their access to dignified and fulfilling work.

A woman smiling. A young woman in an office. A woman wearing a headscarf, smiling at the camera. A First Nations woman holding traditional beadwork.

Our programming approach is rooted in understanding young people's aspirations, needs, and realities. We focus our efforts on areas where they can have the most equitable and sustainable impact at scale.

Through our Young Africa Works strategy, we work to advance education and financial inclusion to catalyze prosperity for young people in Africa, particularly young women, refugees and displaced persons, and young people living with disabilities.

Our programming seeks to: improve the quality of education and vocational training to equip young people with the skills employers need; leverage technology to expand access to, and the quality of, education and digital literacy; and enable entrepreneurs and small businesses to expand through access to financial services.

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Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program

The Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program is a global initiative designed to develop the next generation of transformative leaders by enabling highly talented, service-oriented young people, primarily young Africans, to pursue higher education and cultivate their leadership potential. We work with education institutions, NGOs, and the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program community to create the conditions that will enable young people to attain inclusive and relevant education, transition smoothly into dignified and fulfilling work, and lead transformative lives.

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EleV

Indigenous youth are the fastest-growing population in Canada and are powerful agents of change for their communities, Nations, and Canada as a whole. Our goal is to enable 100,000 Indigenous young people in Canada to complete post-secondary education and transition to meaningful livelihoods by 2030, transforming education and employment systems based on the vision and values of Indigenous youth.

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Centre for Innovative Teaching and Learning

The Mastercard Foundation Centre for Innovative Teaching and Learning drives the innovative use of technology to improve access to quality education, particularly for the most underserved communities.

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Saving Lives and Livelihoods

The Saving Lives and Livelihoods initiative is assuring the long-term health security of the continent by developing the workforce for vaccine manufacturing in Africa.

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All Our Programs

Our programming approach is rooted in understanding young people's aspirations, needs, and realities. We focus our efforts on areas where they can have the most equitable and sustainable impact at scale.

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