Mastercard Champions Women Business Owners Throughout National Small Business Week and Beyond

Mastercard is helping share the stories of the women across the U.S. who
are contributing over $3 trillion to today’s economy and opening over
eighteen hundred businesses every single day. Today the company
announced the launch of a national advertising campaign that puts the
spotlight on women business owners who are driving impact. Mastercard is
also furthering its commitment to enabling equal funding opportunities
for underserved communities including women small business owners and
would-be entrepreneurs.

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Mastercard announces launch of a national advertising campaign that puts the spotlight on women business owners who are driving impact every day. (Photo: Business Wire)

Her Ideas Start Something Priceless

As National Small Business Week approaches and our attention focuses on
a segment that is a key driver of the economy, Mastercard is working to
ensure that we keep these owners in the spotlight every day - not for
just a week. The second phase of the company’s integrated marketing and
communications program which kicked off earlier this year features the
portraits and stories of women business owners shared in highly visible
print, out of home and digital venues. Portraits have long been
leveraged to tell the stories of those who help shape our country's
culture through remarkable achievements and these women are the epitome
of this sentiment.

From a feature in the New York Times to billboards in Times Square and
beyond, the company wants to ensure that they’re giving visibility to
the women who took an idea and turned it in to impact. The first output
of this effort features Deepica Mutyala founder and CEO of Live Tinted,
Catherine Berman co-founder and CEO of CNote, Sonja Rasula founder and
CEO of Unique Markets and Morgan Debaun CEO and Founder of Blavity among
others.

“When you support women entrepreneurs, you’re not only supporting the
economy, you are supporting their desire to solve real needs and make a
difference in people’s lives. Women are starting businesses with the
intention of driving change within their communities, society and the
world. By putting a spotlight on them we hope that other women are
inspired to pursue their passion,” said Cheryl Guerin, EVP of North
America Marketing & Communications at Mastercard.

Women Supporting Women

Forty eight percent of women believe mentorship programs for women is
most helpful for the advancement of women entrepreneurs. Mastercard will
first introduce this effort through its ongoing partnership with Create
& Cultivate by bringing together women business owners and aspiring
entrepreneurs for a one-day
conference in New York City to inspire, enlighten and inform
women around the critical topics for starting and running a business.

"Create & Cultivate New York is one of the biggest events of the year
for us and we’re incredibly excited to continue our partnership with
Mastercard and highlight female-led businesses. " said Jaclyn Johnson,
CEO and Founder of Create & Cultivate.

The on-site Mastercard small business marketplace will feature the
portraits of local New York founders including East Olivia founder &
creative director Kelsea Gaynor, Bliss Lau owner of Bliss Lau, Yes I am
Clothing founder Michelle Cadore, Coco and Breezy twin sisters, founders
and designers Corianna and Brianna Dotson and Teressa Foglia founder of
Teressa Foglia Hats. The event will also feature a content studio where
attendees can have their portrait done and share their idea that sparked
their career inspiration.

Equal Opportunity for Underserved Communities

Nearly 27 percent of U.S. households are unbanked or underbanked meaning
they can’t access mainstream financial services. For women struggling to
support their families, with no credit history or collateral, pursuing a
small business idea is a distant dream. Women receive only 4 percent of
all small business loans from financial institutions, which is why the
Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth is invested in supporting the
development and growth of Community Development Financial Institutions
(CDFIs).

CDFIs provide microloans to women who would otherwise be left behind.
Mastercard is funding the digitization of three organizations – Grameen
America, Opportunity
Fund and IRC’s Center for Economic Opportunity, to help them move
away from a paper and cash business and create digital systems for loan
disbursements. This enables an organization to safely scale in the
number of women they can support and new places they can reach across
the country. In fact, Grameen America was able to reach 52,900
additional women entrepreneurs in 2018 as a result of the program.

Fueling Female Founded Startups

Mastercard Start Path in partnership with Astia, a trusted global
ecosystem of investors and advisors, is working to identify female
founded start-ups who are shaping the future of commerce. The
award-winning startup engagement program identifies early stage
companies that offer promising technologies and show a readiness for
scale. Mastercard Start Path and Astia have already supported and
invested in three female founded start-ups together including:

• CNote is an award-winning investment platform empowering
  individuals and institutions to earn a competitive return while
  investing in women, minorities and small businesses.
• Ellevest is a digital investment platform built by women
  for women.
• Goodworld a fintech that gives charities access to an
  untapped, rapidly expanding fundraising channel, converting new and
  existing donors right in their social media feeds.

This news comes on the heels of the company’s announcement around
bringing seamless digital resources to the on-the-go, always connected
small business owner through an enriched card program and partnership
with Intuit.

About Mastercard

Mastercard (NYSE:
MA), www.mastercard.com,
is a technology company in the global payments industry. Our global
payments processing network connects consumers, financial institutions,
merchants, governments and businesses in more than 210 countries and
territories. Mastercard products and solutions make everyday commerce
activities – such as shopping, traveling, running a business and
managing finances – easier, more secure and more efficient for
everyone. Follow us on Twitter @MastercardNews,
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View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190502005512/en/