Meet the Mastercard CEO Force for Good winners, volunteers turning compassion into action

When devastating wildfires tore through Los Angeles last winter, more than three dozen Mastercard volunteers worked with the American Red Cross to ensure thousands of affected families got assistance. These people used their disaster response training to staff shelters and connect victims to the resources they urgently needed.

“The effectiveness of our volunteers can surprise even Red Cross officials,” says Kendra Brown, who flew out west from Washington, D.C. to pitch in.

Brown and her fellow Los Angeles volunteers are just a handful of the Mastercard workforce who take time away from their jobs and family to improve the day-to-day lives of others throughout the world.

Whether in China, Brazil, Tanzania or Kazakhstan, Mastercard employees are always unearthing ways to support and create opportunities, often in regions lacking the visibility generated by Hollywood’s bright lights.

In Lisbon, Mafalda Cosmelli and Ana Margarida Marques Rodrigues set up non-profit Sa Mwala to distribute reusable hygiene products to women and girls in the tiny African island nation of São Tomé and Príncipe. While in city centre Istanbul, Yunus Efe Yuksel and six fellow volunteers helped older adults learn how to stay safe online and get a handle on digital banking and by running in-person training sessions.

Now, alongside more than 40 teams and individuals, Mastercard is recognising their dedication and commitment with its annual CEO Force for Good Awards, the company’s highest volunteer honours.

Here are some of their stories. 

As fraud skyrockets in India, women who struggle with financial literacy are among the most likely targets. To fortify their defences, Meghna Handa and Ravi Sapariya are teaching them about banking and finance so that they can better spot scams.

“The objective was simple — make financial learning engaging, relatable and accessible, even for those with limited formal education,” Handa says.

The two volunteers teamed up with local non-profit Ashadeep in the city of Vadodara, home to one of Mastercard’s offices, to weave games and storytelling into classes designed to teach women aged from 16 to 67 the basics of savings, deposits and government programmes.

Students are encouraged to bring their children to class so all generations can learn key skills, such as how to open a bank account. Eventually, Handa and Sapariya plan to expand their training programmes throughout Gujarat state. 

When New York programme manager Chantal Beale signed up to volunteer at a non-profit in Tanzania, she thought she would giving back by helping people in need of support.

Determined to make use of the five volunteering days Mastercard offers, she flew to the city of Arusha to teach business planning and management skills to teenage girls through the non-profit Perfect Vision Women Tanzania.

Putting her business expertise to use, she helped the budding entrepreneurs showcase and sell their handmade clothes and accessories. She also set up a GoFundMe site to raise money to support the community programme.

Before long, Beale came to realise that the women and girls she set out to support were not the only ones reaping benefits from this endeavour.

“Their resilience and determination to create a better future deeply inspired me,” she says.

Back in 2020, Giselle Miyagi began buying food and household essentials to help families in some of São Paulo’s poorest neighbourhoods get through the worldwide pandemic. But as the crisis faded, she realised many were still in need of food and began exploring how to keep the vital lifeline open.

Five years down the road, she now works with two volunteer groups who help identify families in need and delivers them food baskets in neighbourhoods often plagued by violence. Over the last year alone, Miyagi raised nearly $4,000 and distributed some 2.5 tons of food and essentials.

“Every basket is a meaningful step toward restoring dignity, renewing hope and breaking the cycle of violence,” she says. “Like Mastercard, I believe in the power of doing good.”