The Mastercard Foundation works with visionary organizations to empower young people in Africa and Indigenous youth in Canada to access quality education and meaningful, dignified, and fulfilling work.
A defining feature of Mastercard Foundation’s recent grantmaking is its scale in youth learning and financial inclusion, with one of the largest awards going to UNICEF for Youth Learning at $98,413,360 in 2023. The foundation pairs that large-scale education work with major investments in access to financial services and economic opportunity, including $28,289,078 to Inkomoko for Financial Inclusion in 2024 and $22,673,980 to One Acre Fund for Financial Inclusion in 2025. Its recent portfolio also includes university partnerships, multilateral agencies, and nonprofit intermediaries, suggesting a strong preference for partnering with organizations that can operate at significant scale. Across the grants list, Youth Learning and Financial Inclusion appear repeatedly, while other listed focus areas such as Agriculture, Health, Refugees and Displaced Persons, and Disability Inclusion sit within a broader youth-centered strategy. The recipient set includes organizations such as Carnegie Mellon University, Grassroots Business Partners Inc, Shining Hope for Communities Inc, and United Nations Development Programme, showing a mix of education, livelihoods, and systems-oriented funding. The foundation’s work is consistently tied to young people, especially in Africa and Indigenous youth in Canada, through support for education and transitions into dignified work.
In youth learning, Mastercard Foundation backs large institutional partners. It gave $40,434,702 to Arizona State University in 2025 for Youth Learning and $22,692,711 to Carnegie Mellon University in 2024 for Youth Learning, alongside $14,999,999 to University of California Berkeley in 2025 for Youth Learning. That pattern points to higher-education and training-linked grantmaking rather than small project grants. Financial inclusion is another major lane. The foundation awarded $20,000,000 to Consultative Group to Assist the Poor in 2024 for Financial Inclusion and $12,781,452 to United Nations Development Programme in 2024 for Financial Inclusion. It also funded Grassroots Business Partners Inc at $17,497,123 in 2024 for Financial Inclusion. The portfolio includes agriculture-linked work as well, with $22,673,980 to One Acre Fund in 2025 for Financial Inclusion and $9,804,050 to Heifer Project International in 2025 for Youth Learning. These grants show an interest in youth livelihoods and the systems around them.
$270.4M
$50.3B
$6.5B
$1.6B
Most grants fall between $250K and $3.6M, with a median of $1.3M.
25th Percentile
$250K
Median
$1.3M
75th Percentile
$3.6M
DOUGLAS KASAMBALA
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Typical grant size is substantial: the 25th percentile is $250,000, the median is $1,316,811, and the 75th percentile is $3,605,359. The recent list also shows a long tail of very large awards, including multiple eight-figure grants. Recipients do reappear across years, which suggests ongoing partnerships rather than one-off support; for example, several organizations show back-to-back awards in 2023, 2024, and 2025. Mastercard Foundation is a regular funder and does not fund individuals. The grant pattern is programmatic and partnership-driven, with direct support to institutions, nonprofits, and multilateral bodies rather than PRIs or DAF-style giving.
All listed grants in the recent sample go to recipients in the United States, accounting for 123 grants and 100.0% of the geographic distribution shown. Within that set, New York, NY appears repeatedly as a recipient location, alongside Washington, DC, Berkeley, CA, Pittsburgh, PA, and Tempe, AZ. The recipient map in the grant list is institution-heavy, with universities, UN agencies, and nonprofit organizations concentrated in major U.S. cities. That pattern reflects where the foundation’s grantees are located, not its headquarters.
The typical award is in the seven-figure range: the 25th percentile is $250,000, the median is $1,316,811, and the 75th percentile is $3,605,359. Recent grants also include much larger commitments, including several above $10 million.
The recent grants show repeat relationships across years. Organizations such as UNICEF, American University of Beirut, Inkomoko, Grassroots Business Partners Inc, Shining Hope for Communities Inc, and Arizona State University appear more than once in 2023–2025.
The foundation funds universities, UN agencies, nonprofits, and development intermediaries. Recent grantees include Arizona State University, Carnegie Mellon University, University of California Berkeley, UNICEF, United Nations Development Programme, and Grassroots Business Partners Inc.
The listed focus areas are Education and Transitions, Digital, Agriculture, Health, Refugees and Displaced Persons, and Disability Inclusion. In the grants list, Youth Learning and Financial Inclusion are the most visible funding themes.
In the sample provided, all 123 grants go to recipients in the United States. Recipient cities include New York, Washington, Berkeley, Pittsburgh, and Tempe.
2025
Source: IRS Form 990-PF, fiscal year 2025.
Most recent grants reported to the IRS.
| Recipient | Location | Amount | Year | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arizona State University | Arizona, AZ | $40,434,702 | 2025 | YOUTH LEARNING |
| UNICEF The United Nations Children's Fund | New York, NY | $35,000,000 | 2025 | YOUTH LEARNING |
| One Acre Fund | Highland Park, IL | $22,673,980 | 2025 | FINANCIAL INCLUSION |
| Inkomoko (formerly African Entrepreneurship Collec | Washington, WA | $18,133,840 | 2025 | FINANCIAL INCLUSION |
| University of California Berkeley | Berkeley, CA | $14,999,999 | 2025 | YOUTH LEARNING |
| Global Energy Alliance for People & Planet (GEAPP) | — | $12,199,289 | 2025 | YOUTH LEARNING |
| American University of Beirut | New York, NY | $12,000,000 | 2025 | YOUTH LEARNING |
| CorpsAfrica | New York, NY | $10,338,483 | 2025 | YOUTH LEARNING |
| American University of Beirut | New York, NY | $10,319,223 | 2025 | YOUTH LEARNING |
| Heifer Project International | Arkansas, AR | $9,804,050 | 2025 | YOUTH LEARNING |
| Tufts University | Medford, MA | $9,434,798 | 2025 | YOUTH LEARNING |
| Global Give Back Circle | New York, NY | $8,713,490 | 2025 | YOUTH LEARNING |
| United Nations Capital Development Fund | New York, NY | $7,211,644 | 2025 | YOUTH LEARNING |
| CapitalPlus Exchange Corporation | Illinois, IL | $7,000,000 | 2025 | FINANCIAL INCLUSION |
| United Nations Development Programme | New York, NY | $6,434,649 | 2025 | FINANCIAL INCLUSION |
| Educate | Denver, CO | $5,752,101 | 2025 | YOUTH LEARNING |
| CrossBoundary | Washington DC, DC | $4,000,000 | 2025 | FINANCIAL INCLUSION |
| Heifer Project International | Arkansas, AR | $3,998,234 | 2025 | FINANCIAL INCLUSION |
| Refugee Economic Inclusion Coalition | MIDDLETOWN, DE | $3,898,189 | 2025 | FINANCIAL INCLUSION |
| Generation | Washington DC, WA | $3,631,037 | 2025 | YOUTH LEARNING |
| Emerging Public Leaders | Washington, DC | $3,424,526 | 2025 | YOUTH LEARNING |
| Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs (C | — | $2,647,811 | 2025 | YOUTH LEARNING |
| Youth Development Labs Inc | Berkeley, CA | $2,514,562 | 2025 | YOUTH LEARNING |
| The Batonga Foundation | Washington, DC | $2,276,918 | 2025 | FINANCIAL INCLUSION |
| Kepler Inc | New York, NY | $2,150,824 | 2025 | YOUTH LEARNING |
| African Center for Economic Transformation | Washington, DC | $1,582,941 | 2025 | YOUTH LEARNING |
| Inkomoko (formerly African Entrepreneurship Collec | Washington, WA | $1,147,363 | 2025 | YOUTH LEARNING |
| The Resolution Project | New York, NY | $1,012,079 | 2025 | YOUTH LEARNING |
| International Center for Research on Women | Washington, DC | $961,604 | 2025 | YOUTH LEARNING |
| Carnegie Mellon University | Pittsburgh, PA | $898,631 | 2025 | YOUTH LEARNING |
| The Mawazo Institute | La Grange, IL | $767,781 | 2025 | YOUTH LEARNING |
| Village Health Works | New York, NY | $703,881 | 2025 | YOUTH LEARNING |
| Mathematica Inc | Washington, DC | $699,758 | 2025 | YOUTH LEARNING |
| University of Colorado | Boulder, CO | $621,775 | 2025 | YOUTH LEARNING |
| Kellermann Foundation | — | $546,462 | 2025 | YOUTH LEARNING |
| Johns Hopkins University | Baltimore, MD | $499,461 | 2025 | FINANCIAL INCLUSION |
| The World Bank | Washington, DC | $311,640 | 2025 | FINANCIAL INCLUSION |
| Hodi | North Carolina United, NC | $248,000 | 2025 | YOUTH LEARNING |
| The Clayton Christensen Institute for Disruptive I | — | $174,759 | 2025 | FINANCIAL INCLUSION |
| IREX | — | $158,091 | 2025 | YOUTH LEARNING |
| Localized Inc | Chevy Chase, MD | $150,000 | 2025 | YOUTH LEARNING |
| Future of Learning | Stony Creek, CT | $150,000 | 2025 | YOUTH LEARNING |
| Wellesley College | Wellesley, MA | $148,214 | 2025 | YOUTH LEARNING |
| International Funders for Indigenous Peoples | — | $106,889 | 2025 | YOUTH LEARNING |
| Center for Transcultural Studies | Evanston, IL | $100,000 | 2025 | YOUTH LEARNING |
| Spence-Chapin | New York, NY | $91,618 | 2025 | YOUTH LEARNING |
| Wellesley College | Wellesley, MA | $73,001 | 2025 | YOUTH LEARNING |
| Education Development Center Inc | Waltham, MA | $54,970 | 2025 | YOUTH LEARNING |
| St Lawrence University | Canton, NY | $50,000 | 2025 | YOUTH LEARNING |
| Brown University | Rhode Island, RI | $50,000 | 2025 | YOUTH LEARNING |
Arizona State University
$40,434,702YOUTH LEARNING
UNICEF The United Nations Children's Fund
$35,000,000YOUTH LEARNING
One Acre Fund
$22,673,980FINANCIAL INCLUSION
Inkomoko (formerly African Entrepreneurship Collec
$18,133,840FINANCIAL INCLUSION
University of California Berkeley
$14,999,999YOUTH LEARNING
Global Energy Alliance for People & Planet (GEAPP)
$12,199,289YOUTH LEARNING
American University of Beirut
$12,000,000YOUTH LEARNING
CorpsAfrica
$10,338,483YOUTH LEARNING
American University of Beirut
$10,319,223YOUTH LEARNING
Heifer Project International
$9,804,050YOUTH LEARNING
Tufts University
$9,434,798YOUTH LEARNING
Global Give Back Circle
$8,713,490YOUTH LEARNING
United Nations Capital Development Fund
$7,211,644YOUTH LEARNING
CapitalPlus Exchange Corporation
$7,000,000FINANCIAL INCLUSION
United Nations Development Programme
$6,434,649FINANCIAL INCLUSION
Educate
$5,752,101YOUTH LEARNING
CrossBoundary
$4,000,000FINANCIAL INCLUSION
Heifer Project International
$3,998,234FINANCIAL INCLUSION
Refugee Economic Inclusion Coalition
$3,898,189FINANCIAL INCLUSION
Generation
$3,631,037YOUTH LEARNING
Emerging Public Leaders
$3,424,526YOUTH LEARNING
Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs (C
$2,647,811YOUTH LEARNING
Youth Development Labs Inc
$2,514,562YOUTH LEARNING
The Batonga Foundation
$2,276,918FINANCIAL INCLUSION
Kepler Inc
$2,150,824YOUTH LEARNING
African Center for Economic Transformation
$1,582,941YOUTH LEARNING
Inkomoko (formerly African Entrepreneurship Collec
$1,147,363YOUTH LEARNING
The Resolution Project
$1,012,079YOUTH LEARNING
International Center for Research on Women
$961,604YOUTH LEARNING
Carnegie Mellon University
$898,631YOUTH LEARNING
The Mawazo Institute
$767,781YOUTH LEARNING
Village Health Works
$703,881YOUTH LEARNING
Mathematica Inc
$699,758YOUTH LEARNING
University of Colorado
$621,775YOUTH LEARNING
Kellermann Foundation
$546,462YOUTH LEARNING
Johns Hopkins University
$499,461FINANCIAL INCLUSION
The World Bank
$311,640FINANCIAL INCLUSION
Hodi
$248,000YOUTH LEARNING
The Clayton Christensen Institute for Disruptive I
$174,759FINANCIAL INCLUSION
IREX
$158,091YOUTH LEARNING
Localized Inc
$150,000YOUTH LEARNING
Future of Learning
$150,000YOUTH LEARNING
Wellesley College
$148,214YOUTH LEARNING
International Funders for Indigenous Peoples
$106,889YOUTH LEARNING
Center for Transcultural Studies
$100,000YOUTH LEARNING
Spence-Chapin
$91,618YOUTH LEARNING
Wellesley College
$73,001YOUTH LEARNING
Education Development Center Inc
$54,970YOUTH LEARNING
St Lawrence University
$50,000YOUTH LEARNING
Brown University
$50,000YOUTH LEARNING
Current and upcoming funding from Mastercard Foundation that your nonprofit may be able to apply for.
Who can apply: EdTech startups/entrepreneurs selected through partner-led fellowship application processes; country/cohort eligibility depends on each call.
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