Inspiring good: How innovation and inclusion shaped our world in 2023
December 28, 2023 | By Rebecca Oliver DiGenova
Across industries and continents around the world, innovation is the force that moves everyone forward together. Whether it’s simple modifications that make everyday payments more accessible or a digital marketplace that keeps rural beekeepers buzzing, connecting people to opportunities is an engine of change.
These partners and innovators left their mark in 2023 by fostering inclusion and growth in the communities they serve, reinforcing the idea that everyone deserves access to the tools they need to thrive in our increasingly connected world.
Inclusive design levels the ‘court’ for people with low vision
Courtney Webeck pursued a variety of sports as a child in New South Wales, Australia, defying a serious visual impairment she likens to peering through dense fog. Now a bona fide champion of blind and low-vision tennis — which makes the game more accessible with modifications like a jingling ball — Webeck’s tenacity is paying off. She made waves at this year’s Australian Open, in a Mastercard-sponsored exhibition match that raised awareness of low-vision sports.
Mastercard is working to make payments more inclusive, too, with its uniquely notched Touch Card, which helps visually impaired users distinguish between account types and orient their cards at points of sale.
The ‘Superhuman’ mission to fit Ukraine’s wounded soldiers with bionic limbs
Vitalii Ivashchuk and Andrii Hidzun are among the tens of thousands of Ukrainian soldiers who’ve suffered life-altering injuries in the ongoing conflict with Russia. Although their paths never crossed on the battlefield, the two are now brothers in (bionic) arms, thanks to advanced, custom-made prosthetics they received through the nonprofit Superhumans.
Vitalii Ivashchuk, a Ukrainian soldier who lost his left arm in fighting last year, shakes hands with Inga Andreieva, the Mastercard country manager for Ukraine and Moldova. Ivashshuk and another soldier were flown to Munich earlier this year for fitting for his new prosthetic through Superhumans, a Ukrainian nonprofit supported by Mastercard. (Photo courtesy of Mastercard)
Andrii Hidzun lost his arm in a mine explosion in April 2022 but was also fitted with a prosthetic arm through Superhumans, which recently opened a clinic in Lviv for soldiers and civilians injured in the war. (Photo courtesy of Superhumans)
Helder Goncalves is a prosthetist with Open Bionics, which developed the Hero Arm, a lightweight 3D-printed bionic arm. (Photo courtesy of Superhumans)
The Hero Arm enables a much wider array of motor skills than other prosthetics, including the ability to grip, grab, pinch and offer high-fives, thumbs-up and fist bumps. (Photo courtesy of Superhumans)
Superhumans CEO Olga Rudneva and Ivashchuk at his fitting in Munich in February. (Photo courtesy of Superhumans)
Denys Kryvenko, left, who lost both legs and an arm while defending the road to Bakhmut, and Petro Buriak, who lost both legs and some fingers in anti-tank mine explosion near Kherson, at the opening of the Superhumans Clinic in Lviv in April. (Photo courtesy of Superhumans)
The Superhumans Clinic in Lviv includes a prosthetics production center, a hydrotherapy pool and a full range of clinical services, including psychologists. It plans to expand its services to six regions of Ukraine by 2025. (Photo courtesy of Superhumans)
Mastercard partnered with Superhumans to help fund these veterans’ first prosthetic fittings in February 2023, and launched a matching funds campaign to support the April opening of a war trauma center in Lviv that provides free psychological and medical support for wounded soldiers as well as civilians. The project drew praise from Ukraine’s First Lady Olena Zelenska, who called Superhumans “a social contract expressed in one word.”
Buzzworthy digital tools for Bulgaria’s rural beekeepers
Bees have spent 30 million years perfecting the art of pollination — a process that supports 87 leading global food crops and contributes $150 billion in value to the agriculture industry. But with a mysterious disorder devastating both wild and managed bee colonies, Bulgarian tech entrepreneur Sergey Petrov, top photo, launched the startup Pollenity to bring the ancient practice of beekeeping into the digital future.
The company’s tech brand, Beebot, created a device that monitors key metrics of colony health, including temperature and noise levels, to alert beekeepers to potential problems. Mastercard was instrumental in the 2019 launch of Pollenity’s marketplace platform, including an Adopt-a-Hive program where sponsors support local beekeepers in exchange for fresh honey and a chance to name the queen bee. This year, Pollenity partnered with Mastercard on HoneyPot, a digital wallet and rewards program that lets users exchange points for unique rural tourism experiences — sweetening the deal for bee-based small businesses and bee-loving consumers alike.
This mother-daughter baking team strives to empower others
Opening a bakery was hardly in her plans when Oksana Kulachek improvised the perfect cake for her daughter Daria’s 17th birthday. But a few years later, when circumstances changed, the pair found they had all the makings of a successful small business. At the height of the pandemic in May 2020, Defidu Bakery began turning out cakes, breads and pastries in the center of Prague.
With orders streaming in, the Kulacheks quickly expanded. But entrepreneurship was challenging — especially when Daria, now 25, faced an army of male bureaucrats questioning her credibility.
Sexism is just one barrier the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth is tearing down with Strive Czechia, a three-year program to empower small businesses with tools, training and support to thrive in the digital economy. The initiative aims to reach 250,000 Czech small and micro businesses, with 100,000 spots earmarked for those owned or led by women. Through Strive Czechia, Defidu has access to a host of digital solutions and financing options to optimize its business. For Daria and Oksana, serving as Strive ambassadors is the icing on the cake.
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