Global Action Platform and KPMG International Advance Initiative for Shared Prosperity with Global Shared Value Award™

The Global Shared Value Award recognizes and encourages corporations to address major societal challenges through innovative business strategy, that is, to create “shared value.”  The award recognizes private sector engagement and innovation that improve the quality of life and build prosperity for companies, individuals, communities, regions, and the world.

MaterCard’s stated mission is to deploy its “technology and expertise to make payments safe, simple and smart” in pursuit of its vision of a “world beyond cash.”  With revenues of $10.8B, MasterCard operates in 62 countries and employs over 10,000 people.  

In selecting MasterCard for the Global Shared Value Award, the independent award panel drawn from business, academic, and nonprofit leadership noted that the company is “doing something highly innovative and distinctly different from others in its industry that creates substantial shared value and is deeply integrated with its core competitive strategy.”  The committee also noted MasterCard’s work on inclusive economic growth through the MasterCard Center for Inclusive Growth and Financial Inclusion, which conducts and supports various academic research and strategic philanthropic initiatives to empower people through inclusive economies; partnerships for micro finance in developing regions; its 2KUZE initiative to provide a mobile marketplace to connect smallholder farmers with real-time updates to negotiate quantities, pricing, payment, and distribution; and financial data analytics, including research with PolicyLink on 100 million people living at or below 200% of poverty line in US, among other strategic shared value corporate strategies.

“At this critical strategic juncture in the global economy as the private sector is moving toward integrating positive social, environmental, and governance impacts into core business operations, Global Action Platform is honored to work with KPMG International in the presentation of this Award,” states Dr. Scott T. Massey, Founding Chairman and CEO.  

“Our international alliance of universities and businesses are working to create scalable, sustainable solutions for abundant food, health, and prosperity for every person.  We see the Global Shared Value Award as an important way to advance these goals.  KPMG brings tremendous thought leadership and analytics that can deepen our understanding of shared value and help us expand its impact.”

“KPMG International is excited to continue to work with the Global Action Platform to recognize excellence in creating shared value. Business has a critical role to play, in partnership with  governments, civil society and the development community in working towards the global achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Creating long term shared value, which is good news for business and the community, is an essential element in mobilizing the private sector engagement necessary to achieve the SDGs” said Timothy A.A. Stiles, Global Chair of International Development Assistance Services with KPMG.

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2020 Update and Events                        

As lockdowns brought much of the world to a standstill earlier this year, governments and the private sector alike turned to digital financial services to make rapid payments at scale.  Mastercard has worked to accelerate the transition to digital based payments, as illustrated in the rollout of BSR’s HERfinance Digital Wages Toolkit, developed in partnership with the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth.
     
In September, the Global Inclusive Growth Partnership (GIGP), an Aspen Institute collaboration with the Center, announced Benefits21, a new initiative focused on creating a modernized benefits system to support American workers with what they need to be financially secure and upwardly mobile.

October Event

The economic fallout from COVID-19 is pushing America's    small businesses to their limits. More than 1 in 4 small businesses are    considering closing and over 40% of Black-owned businesses have permanently    closed. While these closures represent a severe blow to the American    economy, there is an opportunity here to rebuild these small businesses to    be more resilient than ever by doubling down on proven and innovative    solutions.
   
   Please join President Bill Clinton, Mastercard CEO Ajay Banga, and a    diverse range of problem-solvers who are at the forefront of developing    these solutions. By realizing the promise of digital technology, unlocking    access to capital, and better integrating small businesses into global    supply chains, we have the chance to not only rebuild the backbone of the    American economy, but to do so in a way that is more inclusive for all    Americans.

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FEATURED EVENT

October 20

1:00 - 2:00 PM ET

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Small Businesses, Big Opportunities

President Bill Clinton and Mastercard CEO Ajay Banga will sit down to discuss opportunities to help small businesses in the wake of COVID-19.  Following their conversation will be a panel on inclusive recovery for small businesses moderated by President Clinton, which will    include Andrea Jung, president and CEO of Grameen America, Wole Coaxum, founder & CEO of MoCaFi and Randall Woodfin, Mayor of    Birmingham, Alabama.  ​
   

2019 Update

By 2020, the digital universe will contain 44 zettabytes of data—that’s the equivalent of 44 trillion gigabytes. Ninety percent of the data has been created in the last two years—driven by the accelerating pace  of digitalization across economies.
   

Digital technologies offer great potential for transforming lives and livelihoods as they are increasingly woven into everyday life. Yet, the prosperity and opportunity driven by these advancements have yet to be broadly realized.
   
As UNDP recently pointed out, the digital age is ushering in a new set of inequities connected to information, technology and education. And, the    convergence of technological progress with changing demographics—aging populations, bulging youth workforces and the mass movement of people—will set the stage for economic disruption in the years to come.
   
Heading into 2020, the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth team and our partners are working to    ensure the digital economy happens for people, not to people, by asking some critical questions: How can digital transformation power the growth of micro and small businesses? How can data-driven tools better equip local leaders to spur inclusive economic development in underserved communities? What kinds of new partnerships can we build to scale solutions that help workers achieve greater financial security and navigate a changing economy? And how do we marshal the resources and ingenuity of the private sector to accelerate the use of data science for social impact?

2019 by the numbers

230 million unbanked adults receive private  sector wages in cash

More than 13 percent of unbanked adults  globally - 230 million - receive private-sector wage payments in cash,  according to the Global Findex. Almost 80 percent of them have a cell phone,  making mobile banking a possibility. One key opportunity to digitize the  wages of workers at scale lies in the garment industry. The Center partnered  with BSR to create the Digital Wage Toolkit, a tablet-based tutoring program  for factory owners and workers. Mastercard is partnering with global clothing  brands like Levi’s to help improve workers’ financial empowerment, which is  especially beneficial for women. And, a new partnership with the world’s largest coffee trader,  Neumann Kaffee Gruppe, is bringing digital payments to smallholder coffee  farmers.

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31.3 million people live in Opportunity Zones

About one-in-ten Americans live in Opportunity  Zones, economically distressed communities in the United States where new  investments, under certain conditions, may be eligible for preferential tax  treatment. To ensure the investments benefit underserved communities, local  leaders have called for better data and metrics to track progress and guide  investments in Opportunity Zones. In response, the Center launched a new digital tool designed to help  guide decision-making in the 8,766 Qualified Opportunity Zones across the  country. The Inclusive Growth Map™ uses data and metrics to help identify new  growth opportunities and measure investment outcomes with the goal of lifting  up communities.
 
 The Center is also partnering  with non-profits Accelerator for America, the Governance Project and the  Center on Rural Innovation to build the capacity of local leaders to make  strategic decisions that benefit underserved communities.

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200 million young Africans entering the  workforce by 2030

The digital economy has the potential to drive  high-quality jobs as young, mobile-savvy Africans enter the workforce. How  can economies take advantage of their digital momentum to advance inclusive  growth? The African Leapfrog Index, from Tufts University’s Fletcher School,  measured and benchmarked countries’ digital leapfrog potential—highlighting  strengths and opportunities to optimize the continent’s digital evolution.

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$189 billion in “smart” cities spending  globally by 2023

Cities around the world are investing billions in new technologies to improve  efficiencies and quality of life. This year, the Center expanded its partnership  with Urban Institute, a U.S.-based policy think tank, to develop new tools to  help local leaders ensure new systems are built around inclusion. A recent  paper explores how technological trends can help cities mitigate inequality  and proposes a path forward to create more equitable cities.

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$72 million in commitments to inclusive growth

The Center joined forces with the Aspen  Institute for the inaugural Global Inclusive Growth Summit, bringing together  500 purpose-driven leaders for a one-day convening focused on inspiring new  ideas and galvanizing real action to create a more inclusive economy. At the  event, four philanthropic funders, including Mastercard, committed more than  $72 million to advance equitable and sustainable economic growth. The Center  and the Aspen Institute announced the creation of the Aspen Partnership for  an Inclusive Economy, a multi-year partnership to address income and  information inequality through the lens of inclusive growth.
 

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