Featured topic

Solidarity in action

We are helping close the racial wealth and opportunity gap for Black communities across America

As a part of our journey to build an economy that works for everyone, everywhere, we are investing $500 million in Black communities over the next five years. We believe in doing well by doing good and as a result have committed to connect 1 billion people to the digital economy by 2025. This pledge is an extension of those efforts, connecting Black businesses to products, services, technology and financial support that will help to close the racial wealth and opportunity gap.

With half of all Black Americans excluded from the financial mainstream and Black-owned small businesses blocked from funding, we’re working to deliver immediate impact for Black communities by focusing on these areas:

01
Small business: Access to capital and resources for Black-owned small businesses  

02
Financial security: Affordable financial tools and services

03
Government engagement: Expanding city programs to support Black communities

explore

Resources for small businesses

Mastercard Small Business Community

Together with our partners, Mastercard connects small businesses to capital, technology, financial tools, partnerships and more to help grow and protect businesses every step of the way.

Learn more

Social impact for fintechs

Mastercard is building sustainable solutions addressing financial inclusion, economic inequality and sustainable development that boost the bottom line. ​

Learn more

Master Your Card

Through joint efforts with Mastercard employees and committed industry partners, we enable financial equity for all through access to education, resources and best-in-class electronic payments technology.​

Learn more

Start Path In Solidarity

Supporting U.S. startups with underrepresented founders, our Start Path In Solidarity program provides early-stage startups with resources to help grow their business and close the racial wealth and opportunity gap.

Learn more

City Spotlights

In collaboration with city leaders, community and national financial institutions, venture capital partners and nonprofit organizations, we are advancing a place-based strategy to deliver digital access to essential financial tools and support for Black businesses and families. 

New York City 

Learn more

St. Louis

Learn more

Atlanta

Learn more

Los Angeles 

Learn more

Birmingham

Learn more

Browse

Stories, blogs, thought leadership, and more

 

Story
A black box theater becomes a beacon in its metro Atlanta community and beyond

At Tre’s Place in Forest Park, writer-actor-producer Tre Floyd amplifies authentic and complicated Black stories.

Story
Community catalyst: He’s sparking a clean energy revolution in Black communities

‘Climate change is one of those problems where everybody has to be involved,’ says Anthony Kinslow II, the founder of Gemini Energy Solutions.

Blog
The power of mentorship: Opening doors and shaping leaders

We can measure our legacy by how many people we raise up along the way, says Koyabi Mamam Nbiba.

Story
ShearShare is giving the salon and barbershop industry a new look

Tye and Courtney Caldwell developed an app to help salon owners make the most of their space – and to give stylists flexibility to earn more and grow their own small business.

Q&A
For everyone to win, you have to keep score

A data tool called Inclusive Growth Score is helping leaders better understand economic conditions at a granular level and make decisions that propel equity in their communities.

Story
How eye-popping Black brands are shaking up luxury fashion

A trunk show hosted by Black Fashion Movement at Mastercard’s New York City Tech Hub highlighted the creativity and hustle of Black designers.

Story
How creators can ‘bump’ up their business

The son of a musician who often struggled to get paid, James Jones Jr.’s startup Bump is ensuring that today’s generation of creators have the tools to track and manage their earnings.

Story
These HBCU students are making their cities smarter

A new challenge unlocked the innovative power of these universities to solve community challenges, from emergency response to waste management to tourism.

Story
How a mentorship program for Black men is building up community and lifting voices

Uplift, launched last year, brings together Black executives and employees for career guidance, support and a greater sense of belonging.

Blog
Lessons from Birmingham: How to build up Black-owned small businesses

The city’s small business owners were at the heart of the civil rights struggle, and they can be key today in narrowing the racial wealth gap.

Q&A
‘What’s good for Black women entrepreneurs is good for all entrepreneurs’

Natalie Madeira Cofield, who recently led the U.S. Small Business Administration’s efforts to support underrepresented business owners, shares her insights.

Story
A can-‘do’ attitude made the difference for this wig and hair-loss entrepreneur

Atlanta’s Erica Gamble has grown her small business by serving people suffering from hair loss: ‘This is a business, but this is also a ministry.’

Story
Chocolate is their heritage, but these Bronx brothers are looking to the future

Their great-grandmother farmed cacao in the Caribbean. The founders of Sol Cacao are using tech to expand their chocolate empire.

Story
In ‘Descendant,’ a history lesson still reverberates

The discovery of a lost slave ship unearths a trove of stories about the genesis of a Black community — and raises questions about equity and inclusion today.

Story
Smoke on the green: A pitmaster takes her shot

Amanda Kinsey-Joplin, who won an exclusive pop-up for her award-winning wings and ribs at the PGA Tour Championship next week, is changing the face of barbecue.

Story
Meet the woman on a mission to eliminate the racial wealth gap in banking

Kelly Ifill specialized in helping Black tech entrepreneurs raise capital. Then she realized that the challenge extended to most Black business owners.

Story
In Birmingham, this restauranteur cooks up family, community and fine dining

Bernadine Birdsong reinforces her love of community through Michael's, her family's fine-dining restaurant.

Story
Out of grief, a garden grows. Now this woman’s urban farm feeds a community

Briann Battle cultivated her business skills through a South Los Angeles entrepreneurship program, helping expand her business supplying fresh produce in neighborhoods known as ‘food deserts.’

Story
When the economy stumbled, these Black entrepreneurs rose up

Black entrepreneurship is on the rise as founders find their way around financial roadblocks.

Story
FTW: This chatbot helping underserved students access aid for college

A national nonprofit that connects people in need to essential public benefits is now using tech and texts to help high school seniors find money for college.

Story
How St. Louis is changing what it means to be a first responder

A new program pairs mental health counselors with police officers to give people in crisis the help they need, keeping them out of ERs and jails. Data analytics shows it's working.

Story
This startup helps college athletes score endorsement deals

Founder Ashton Keys says the old NCAA rule prohibiting such deals put Black athletes — about half of all Division I men’s basketball and football players — at a particular disadvantage.

Story
A pandemic, then a pivot. Now this Black entrepreneur is empowering others

“You have to be able to roll with the highs and the lows,” says clothing designer Michelle Cadore, who embraced digital during the pandemic and saw sales skyrocket.

Story
A year of solidarity

In the wake of nationwide racial justice protests, we expanded our commitment to using our talent and our resources to combat racial discrimination and to create equal opportunities for all.

Story
How FOMO could be the secret to building personal wealth

Inspired by group savings clubs in Asia, Africa and Latin America, two American women are modernizing this tradition to help people build wealth better together and give the underbanked more opportunities to thrive.

Story
AI bias harms Black families and businesses. Howard University is working to change that

As data increasingly guides decision-making in many parts of our lives, Howard is establishing a new center to train the next generation of data scientists.

Blog
What equity means to me

“Equity is what makes us all accountable,” says Randall Tucker, Mastercard’s Chief Inclusion Officer. “It’s what makes this a team effort, not just the mission of a vocal few.”

Story
Elevating Atlanta’s Black entrepreneurs takes a ‘Village’

This Atlanta nonprofit gives Black business owners the training to grow. ‘Support is a verb,’ its founder says.

Blog
How I became the investor of my dreams

Empowering businesses owned by women of color makes the economy stronger, says Arian Simone, the co-founder of Fearless Fund.

Podcast
Inside the Circles podcast: The power of HBCUs in closing the Black leadership gap

In Mastercard’s podcast on the future of work, three alumni of HBCUs discuss how the experience shaped them, expanded their networks and gave them opportunities to rise in corporate America.

Story
Black-owned restaurants have supported their neighbors. Now they need help

The heart of Black neighborhoods, these restaurants have struggled during the pandemic. Their closures could leave an outsized hole – but there is hope.

Story
A small D.C. daycare takes its first steps to recovery

Data suggests that Black-owned businesses are less likely to receive PPP loans than white-owned ones. These banking nonprofits are helping Black entrepreneurs get the credit they need.

Story
How DA SPOT NYC pivoted to survive the pandemic

Michelle Cadore opened her boutique to showcase Black designers, who often struggle to get picked up by major retailers. Then she struggled to keep her own business going.

PARNTER SPOTLIGHTS

Investing in Black founders


Mastercard is investing directly in Black and minority-led startups and increasing procurement with Black-owned businesses. These investments are designed to have a catalytic impact on economic growth for Black communities.

 

Greenwood

In Atlanta, Mastercard has made a capital investment in Greenwood, a new, minority-owned Fintech founded by Killer Mike, former Atlanta mayor Andrew Young, and Bounce TV founder Ryan Glover, launching a robust mobile-banking program targeting the mass-affluent African-American community. Greenwood’s core mission is to foster new wealth generation and financial education, inclusive of Black and Brown prosperity. Greenwood selected Mastercard as its network of choice in bringing its first financial offering to market. The Greenwood matte black debit Mastercard will provide cardholders a digital-centric user experience along with innovative giveback programs focused on supporting Black and Latino causes and businesses.

Learn more

Goalsetter

Tanya Van Court’s Goalsetter app, launched in 2019, combines a savings account, financial literacy lessons and a Mastercard-powered debit card to help teach children, particularly children of color, how to save and manage their money. Kids with savings accounts are six times more likely to go to college, she says, viewing Goalsetter as a starting point for closing the racial wealth gap in America.

Learn more

MoCaFi

Founded by former Wall Street banker Wole Coaxum, MoCaFi, short for Mobility Capital Finance, extends financial tools and access to credit to people of color who are vastly undeserved in banking. Mastercard has recently invested in the company to help address these inequities and provide alternate financial services to underserved communities with a specific focus on providing tailored digital tools, and new payment cards to low wealth minority and Black communities.

Learn more

Fearless Fund

Women of color are an entrepreneurial force, statistics show, but they receive less than 1% of venture  capital. Arian Simone, a former PR powerhouse, closed her company in 2018 to bring more opportunities to fellow women of color by co-founding Fearless Fund, which invests in businesses seeking pre-seed, seed level or series A financing across industries. To help further access to funding for Black women, Mastercard made a capital investment in Fearless Fund. The investment will allow Fearless Fund to further expand their portfolio of women of color-founded and co-founded companies in the consumer packaged goods, food & beverage, beauty, fashion, and technology sectors. The social impact of the investment will also have a significant role in job creation and wealth distribution in underserved communities.

Learn more

Our partners

We are partnering with dedicated community leaders and institutions to help close the racial wealth and opportunity gap