Mastercard's Center for Inclusive Growth, in collaboration with CARE, a global humanitarian organization, has launched a groundbreaking initiative called Mastercard Strive Women at the APEC CEO Summit. With a focus on women-led businesses, this program aims to improve the financial stability and resilience of small businesses in the APEC economies of Peru, Vietnam, and Pakistan.
Recognizing the crucial role women-led small businesses play in global economies, communities, and households, Strive Women aims to strengthen the financial health of such enterprises. The program will collaborate with local partners in each market to provide tailored financial products and support services, addressing specific gender-related barriers faced by women-led businesses. With a goal to reach 6 million entrepreneurs through campaigns, Strive Women will directly support over 300,000 entrepreneurs, with a majority being women, fostering business growth and enhancing economic potential.
The $9 million grant from the Mastercard Impact Fund will fund Strive Women, building on the success of the Ignite program, which unlocked $154.9 million in loans from an initial grant of $5.26 million. Notably, 79% of female participants experienced increased sales, and 89% reported enhanced confidence in running their businesses.
Shamina Singh, Founder and President of the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth, emphasizes the transformative impact of empowering women entrepreneurs: "When women entrepreneurs have access to the tools and resources they need, they pay it back and pay it forward, enabling their businesses and their communities to thrive."
Strive Women is set to expand the reach and impact of previous programs in each market, fostering a broader ecosystem committed to providing long-term support for women-led small businesses. The initiative will tackle gender barriers related to the climate crisis and childcare, issues that disproportionately affect women. Taking a women-centered approach, Strive Women will develop strategies to help small business owners manage household and business cash flow, navigate financial shocks, and enhance women's decision-making power.
Michelle Nunn, President and CEO of CARE USA, highlights the historic challenges faced by women entrepreneurs and the untapped potential they represent. "But evidence shows that women make even stronger entrepreneurs and better financial customers than men, consistently and reliably repaying their loans," she notes. "Women also put their profits back into their families, create more jobs, and bring greater prosperity to their communities."
In alignment with CARE's broader Women's Entrepreneurship goals, Strive Women aspires to improve financial security and economic empowerment for millions of entrepreneurs, reaching 30 million people and mobilizing over $500 million USD in private capital by 2030. This initiative further exemplifies Mastercard's commitment to connecting 1 billion people and 50 million micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) to the digital economy by 2025, with recent milestones including providing solutions to 25 million women entrepreneurs to support business growth.