Mastercard: Doing Well by Doing Good: A Mission in Action in 2024
Mastercard highlighted three key social impact initiatives from 2024. In New York City, employees volunteered through the Unlocked platform to improve the user experience of Access HRA, the city's Human Resources Administration portal that serves two million people. In St. Louis, Mastercard data scientists worked pro bono to analyze and address bias in homeless service surveys, particularly focusing on improving fairness in vulnerability assessments for housing allocation.
In Warsaw, Poland, the company supported the (Re)building Ukrainian Business program through the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth, helping Ukrainian women refugees establish businesses. The program, which received 1,500 applications and accepted 80 participants, provided legal, business, and financial support, along with free childcare services to facilitate business development.
Mastercard ha messo in evidenza tre iniziative chiave di impatto sociale del 2024. A New York, i dipendenti hanno offerto il loro volontariato attraverso la piattaforma Unlocked per migliorare l'esperienza utente di Access HRA, il portale dell'Amministrazione per le Risorse Umane della città che serve due milioni di persone. A St. Louis, gli scienziati dei dati di Mastercard hanno lavorato pro bono per analizzare e affrontare i pregiudizi nei sondaggi sui servizi per senza fissa dimora, concentrandosi in particolare sul miglioramento dell'equità nelle valutazioni di vulnerabilità per l'assegnazione degli alloggi.
A Varsavia, Polonia, l'azienda ha sostenuto il programma (Re)building Ukrainian Business attraverso il Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth, aiutando le donne rifugiate ucraine a avviare imprese. Il programma, che ha ricevuto 1.500 domande e ha accettato 80 partecipanti, ha fornito supporto legale, commerciale e finanziario, insieme a servizi di assistenza all'infanzia gratuiti per facilitare lo sviluppo imprenditoriale.
Mastercard destacó tres iniciativas clave de impacto social de 2024. En la ciudad de Nueva York, los empleados se ofrecieron como voluntarios a través de la plataforma Unlocked para mejorar la experiencia del usuario del Access HRA, el portal de la Administración de Recursos Humanos de la ciudad que atiende a dos millones de personas. En St. Louis, los científicos de datos de Mastercard trabajaron pro bono para analizar y abordar los sesgos en las encuestas de servicios para personas sin hogar, centrándose especialmente en mejorar la equidad en las evaluaciones de vulnerabilidad para la asignación de vivienda.
En Varsovia, Polonia, la empresa apoyó el programa (Re)building Ukrainian Business a través del Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth, ayudando a mujeres refugiadas ucranianas a establecer negocios. El programa, que recibió 1,500 solicitudes y aceptó a 80 participantes, proporcionó apoyo legal, comercial y financiero, junto con servicios de cuidado infantil gratuitos para facilitar el desarrollo empresarial.
마스터카드는 2024년의 세 가지 주요 사회적 영향 이니셔티브를 강조했습니다. 뉴욕시에서 직원들은 언락(Unlocked) 플랫폼을 통해 인력 자원 관리 포털인 Access HRA의 사용자 경험을 개선하기 위해 자원 봉사를 했습니다. 이 포털은 두 백만 명의 사람들에게 서비스를 제공합니다. 세인트루이스에서는 마스터카드 데이터 과학자들이 무료로 작업하여 노숙자 서비스 설문조사의 편견을 분석하고 해결하기 위해 노력하며, 주택 할당의 취약성 평가에서 공정성을 개선하는 데 특히 집중했습니다.
폴란드 바르샤바에서는 회사가 (Re)building Ukrainian Business 프로그램을 지원했으며, 이는 마스터카드 포용적 성장 센터를 통해 이루어졌습니다. 이 프로그램은 우크라이나 여성 난민들에게 비즈니스를 시작하는 데 도움을 주었습니다. 1,500개의 신청을 받은 이 프로그램은 80명의 참여자를 수용했으며, 비즈니스 개발을 지원하기 위해 법률, 비즈니스 및 재정적 지원, 무료 어린이 돌봄 서비스를 제공했습니다.
Mastercard a mis en avant trois initiatives clés d'impact social pour 2024. À New York, les employés se sont portés volontaires via la plateforme Unlocked pour améliorer l'expérience utilisateur de l'Access HRA, le portail de l'administration des ressources humaines de la ville qui sert deux millions de personnes. À St. Louis, les scientifiques des données de Mastercard ont travaillé pro bono pour analyser et traiter les préjugés dans les enquêtes sur les services aux sans-abri, se concentrant particulièrement sur l'amélioration de l'équité dans les évaluations de vulnérabilité pour l'attribution de logements.
À Varsovie, en Pologne, l'entreprise a soutenu le programme (Re)building Ukrainian Business par l'intermédiaire du Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth, aidant les femmes réfugiées ukrainiennes à créer des entreprises. Le programme, qui a reçu 1 500 candidatures et a accepté 80 participants, a fourni un soutien juridique, commercial et financier, ainsi que des services de garde d'enfants gratuits pour faciliter le développement des entreprises.
Mastercard hob drei wichtige soziale Impact-Initiativen für 2024 hervor. In New York City haben Mitarbeiter über die Unlocked-Plattform freiwillig gearbeitet, um die Nutzererfahrung des Access HRA zu verbessern, des Portals der Stadtverwaltung für Humanressourcen, das zwei Millionen Menschen dient. In St. Louis haben Mastercard-Datenwissenschaftler pro bono gearbeitet, um Vorurteile in Umfragen zu Obdachlosenservices zu analysieren und anzugehen, wobei der Schwerpunkt auf der Verbesserung der Fairness bei der Bewertung von Verwundbarkeit für die Wohnungsvergabe lag.
In Warschau, Polen, unterstützte das Unternehmen das Programm (Re)building Ukrainian Business durch das Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth und half ukrainischen geflüchteten Frauen, Unternehmen zu gründen. Das Programm erhielt 1.500 Bewerbungen und nahm 80 Teilnehmer auf und bot rechtliche, geschäftliche und finanzielle Unterstützung sowie kostenlose Kinderbetreuungsdienste zur Förderung der Unternehmensentwicklung.
- Partnership with NYC government to improve public benefits access system
- Pro bono data analysis services helping improve homeless services in St. Louis
- Support for Ukrainian refugee entrepreneurs through business development program
- None.
NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / January 2, 2025 / Mastercard:
Doing well by doing good is a powerful principle that helps us build an inclusive future together - and this past year provided plenty of evidence.
Employees in New York City are approaching corporate volunteerism as professional development by improving their neighbors' access to crucial social services. In St. Louis, data scientists are on a mission to remove unintended bias from the surveys that assess the level of need for the homeless. And 5,000 miles away, in Warsaw, Poland, women entrepreneurs who fled war-torn Ukraine started rebuilding their lives and livelihoods with the support of a small business development program that included free childcare.
At Mastercard, we're proud of the small role we play, alongside a laudable cast of public and private partners, in building a society where everyone has the tools and support needed to thrive. Here are some of the ways we've made a difference together this year.
Personal mission meets professional perk for New York City volunteers
Alice Halter wants to live in a city where everyone does well. That's what drove the senior product design specialist at Mastercard's Tech Hub in Manhattan to volunteer her time and expertise improving user experience on Access HRA, New York City's Human Resources Administration portal, through which residents in need can access a host of public benefits and assistance, including food benefits, Medicaid and home energy relief.
Halter connected to the project through Unlocked, Mastercard's AI-driven career development platform, launched in 2021, which matches employees with short-term projects, volunteer opportunities, mentoring and customized educational offerings. When Unlocked announced an innovative public-private partnership with the New York City Mayor's Office and NYC Service in March, Halter, who spends her work hours designing seamless user experiences for Mastercard's cybersecurity business, knew right away that she wanted to pitch in.
Her focus for the city's Department of Social Services is accessibility - and for the two million people NYC DSS serves, there's a great deal at stake. "Everyone has to be able to use this platform, whether they have just learned how to use a computer, don't speak English or have an auditory processing or visual impairment," Halter says. "Ease of use can determine whether or not someone gets benefits that they not only need but have a right to."
St. Louis leverages data for good to deliver fairer homeless services
Mastercard data scientists were already helping St. Louis police and social services assess their Crisis Response Unit when the city sought solutions for another critical problem: improving services for unhoused people to identify disparities and accelerate inclusion. Since unintended biases came to light in the widely used Vulnerability Index, a questionnaire used across the country to help measure need and allocate housing, the city of St. Louis developed its own survey in hopes of avoiding similar problems and administering a fairer process.
Mastercard experts worked pro bono in partnership with the Institute for Community Alliances, the nonprofit that maintains St. Louis's homeless management information system, to analyze the anonymized responses of nearly 5,000 clients - and uncovered some unexpected issues the city is now working to address. For example, the findings showed that Black respondents were underrepresented among the survey's high scorers, who are considered most critically in need.
The volunteers went further to understand how these disparities arose. For instance, lower scores on a section that asks about medical diagnoses and prescriptions may be linked to Black Americans' greater distrust of the health care system, so the survey creators are revising these questions to account for their experiences. Ensuring that people can access housing services through a system they trust "all starts with this assessment," says Kathy Connors, executive director of St. Louis emergency shelter Gateway180. "This work is critical for giving fair entry to the people who need it most."
Ukraine's unstoppable women entrepreneurs get a new start in Poland
Polina Khlibanovska and her young son were among more than a million Ukrainian women and children who fled to neighboring Poland since Russia began its assault in 2022. With extensive experience in childcare but less knowledge in starting a business - let alone navigating permits and financing in a new country - Khlibanovska could only depend on one thing: She would stop at nothing to provide a better life for herself and her child.
After seeing it advertised, Khlibanovska was one of 1,500 women to apply for (Re)building Ukrainian Business, a small business program run by Poland's Impact Foundation and supported by the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth. She was one of 80 to be accepted into the yearlong program. Now, thanks to the legal, business and financial support she received through the program, Khlibanovska's venture, Smart Kindergarten Warsaw, is thriving in her new home, employing other women, and she's looking to expand.
The women in the program were "full of energy and motivated to start a new life," said Emilia Borkowska, project manager for the Impact Foundation. To ensure they felt comfortable and safe in their new environment, and to better equip them to succeed in business and beyond, (Re)building Ukrainian Business provided free childcare for families in the program.
Entrepreneurship - like motherhood - can be a tumultuous journey, but it's one that the women in the program now feel ready to tackle. "Even when you have a bad day," Khlibanovska says, "the next day, the wings open up again, and you fly."
Originally published by Mastercard
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