Congratulations to the 2024 CEO Force for Good ‘best of the best' winners

Mastercard employees make a difference, from empowering children with special needs in India to helping homeless people reintegrate into society in Colombia to getting hurricane victims back on their feet in North Carolina. Each year, the company recognizes the most impactful of its 8,000 volunteers, who contributed 124,000 hours across 60 countries in 2024, along with those whose volunteer work in Environmental, Social and Governance stood out.

Amit Mali, Pune, India

As a parent, Mali is committed to providing the best education for his child with ADHD and mild autism. As a volunteer, he is doing the same for other children with conditions that create learning challenges as founder of the Aarambh Public School for students with special needs in Lohegaon, Pune, currently serving 21 children ages 4 to 16. Set up three years ago under a charitable trust with Chetana Foundation, an NGO, the school is funded and run by the trust, but Mali provides the spirit and vision. “My goal is to inspire students with intellectual and developmental conditions,” he says, which include children with learning disabilities, developmental delays and Down syndrome. “We want to guide them in academics and in their passions, fostering their independence within the broader community and ultimately empowering them to integrate into the mainstream of society.”

Ann Chang, YiTing Chen, James Jan, Jenny Pan, Kelly Chao, Chava Chou, Alice Huang, Blake Smedley, Mary Hsiao, Abbie Lin, Casey Huang, Christine Wang, Ivan Liu, Renelle Hou, Sharon Chang, Sherry Liu, Ting-Feng Chang, Wendy Huang, Alan Hwang and Jenny Hsu, Taipei, Taiwan 

The Kaohsiung Animal Protection Association, one of Taiwan's largest but most resource-deprived legal animal shelters, finds new homes for stray cats and dogs. With more than 2,000 animals typically sheltered, donations cover only 20% of monthly expenses. Those financials were putting the KSAPA goal of constructing a new shelter building out of reach. Other challenges including finding an effective way to train volunteers given limited staff time and the perpetual need for hands to help out. Over the course of two years, these 24 Taipei colleagues volunteered their time and expertise to benefit KSAPA in all areas. To get the new building in progress, team members crafted an approach to fundraising that included content creation, social media marketing and improving the donation process, leading to a 96% year-over-year increase in donations. To address the training need, they created an interactive online course that prepares knowledgeable and motivated volunteers. While new volunteer recruits got ready to step in, 15 team members traveled nearly 250 miles to assist with on-the-ground dog walking and shelter cleaning. 

Hajar El Mouttaqui, Haneen Nasir, Eric Laqueche, Sowmya Srinivasan, Gheeda Alnoubani, Fatema Buhusayen, Ishita Sabarwal, Deema Ahmed, Jack Tomkinson, Amir Al Lawati, Mariam Elmaghraby, Mona Magdy, Rada Ali, Sarah Sherif, Reham Mohy, Raoul Fernandes and Mithun Mithran, Dubai, UAE, Cairo, and other offices worldwide 

Tarahum means “compassion.” This multi-office team has been supporting Tarahum for Gaza charity campaigns, donating to help Gazans through a range of employee-led volunteering initiatives. Team members came together to pitch in on food, medical supplies and clothing drives and to inspire colleagues worldwide to give. Food donations, led by the Dubai YoPros, in coordination with the UAE Food Bank and Emirates Red Crescent —and with the entire Dubai office contributing — collected almost three tons through March. Team Cairo held a winter campaign in partnership with the Egyptian Clothing Bank, donating a truckload of garments and blankets, including for critically ill patients in El Maydani Hospital Rafah. The Cairo office also collected food and medical aid in collaboration with the Egyptian Red Crescent. As word of this initiative spread, donations from our other offices in Morocco, Ireland, the U.K., U.S. and others flowed in, filling another truckload of essential supplies dispatched to Gaza. 

Imelda Ngunzu, Lucy Juma, Christine Anari, Anne Ndiiri and Mithun Mithran, Nairobi, Kenya

Bridging the digital divide is an urgent need that only gets more crucial as so much of learning, employment and everyday life becomes centered online. For underserved schools in rural Makueni County, Kenya, Mastercard’s Alice Ngunzu Digital Labs for Schools Project is that bridge. After establishing the Alice Ngunzu Digital Lab and library in 2022, this team – led by Imelda Ngunzu, in banner photo, in memory of her mother – expanded to four more digital labs with over 200 new computers for some 1,000 students, a 1:5 ratio that offers genuine opportunity for hands-on learning. In addition, the project will be adding two more labs this year and is working to expand students’ educational and career prospects through access to our employee mentors and digital literacy training. 

Ella Vishnevsky, Israel

There are as many as 130,000 Holocaust survivors in Israel today. Vishnevsky is an inspiring example of the volunteers who dedicate time and energy to helping them live with greater comfort and community. She has volunteered for 15 years with an organization, Immediate Help for Holocaust Survivors, in a key role of leading a team of Russian-speaking volunteers who focus on needs of survivors whose language is Russian. Team activities include organizing events during the Jewish holidays for survivors without family. Ella also connects with individual Holocaust survivors to provide physical and emotional aid — delivering food, furnishing rides to medical appointments, helping to navigate bureaucratic processes, offering trust and friendship, and to their families as well. She says she’s motivated by “a deep respect for Holocaust survivors, who have endured unimaginable hardships,” and “to honor their resilience and ensure they live their remaining years with dignity.”

Danika Doonan, Louisa Ryan, Zoe Baggot, Roger Butler, Tara Pollard, James O'Connell, Vanessa Hill, Laura Daniel and Gareth Grehan, Dublin

Before she retired, Claire Byrne created a centralized employee volunteer group in the Dublin Tech Hub, and recognizing the Dublin MC Cares Committee with this Force for Good Award demonstrates how a successful volunteer effort keeps going and continues growing through “the shared ambition of some of the most inspirational people I know,” says team co-lead Grehan: “They’re making a positive difference, committing personal time day after day, week after week, to the group’s responsibilities.” The service model is pairing Dublin employees with volunteer opportunities benefiting local and national charities, planning at least one volunteer event each week. The committee maintains strong relationships with partner nonprofits and reaches out to new organizations, with the goal of offering meaningful service to everyone. Participating charities include My Lovely Horse Rescue, Irish Cancer Society, LauraLynn Children’s Hospice, Feed Our Homeless, Alzheimer Society of Ireland and Team Hope. 

Manuela Salazar, Bogotá, Columbia 

Homelessness is not only a condition of lacking permanent housing. It creates social isolation as those without homes are “the most marginalized and feel neglected by society,” Salazar says. She knows a good deal about homelessness as a member of the founding team behind Sueños de la Calle, a foundation that supports homeless people as they reintegrate into the community. She creates content for the foundation and helps individuals through the rehabilitation process, which begins with addressing basic needs. “Every 15 days, we distribute food, drinks and clothing to the homeless, engaging with them and using these donations as tools to start a conversation,” she explains. “We act as a bridge and intermediary for those who wish to change their lives.” To start that transition, the foundation connects homeless individuals with other organizations and services. It also helps individuals discover and develop talents that can create stable lives and futures. 

Tomás Ceballos, Camilo Zarate, Orlando Montalvo, Valentina Angulo, Estefanía Martínez, Mariana Linares, Laura Soto Cristiano, Marina Acosta, Maria Paula Lozano and Laura Dominguez, Bogotá, Colombia; Maria Vejarano, Alicia Davalos, Gabriella Befeler and Sandra Gonzalez, Miami; Emily Ao Leong, Helen Zhang and Olivia Pugh, New York.

This multi-office team is part of an ongoing volunteer commitment to support the Indigenous Wayuu community, a highly vulnerable population in La Guajira, Colombia. A previous effort, the Water for Life project, an initiative that granted access to drinkable water at Muurai School, was previously recognized with an award. This year’s award is for successful collaboration to raise $41,000 to build a module of classrooms on that same school campus, unlocking further access to education for more children and enhancing the experience of current students and teachers. To collect the resources, the coordinating team engaged colleagues to obtain both corporate and employee donations, the last through in-office trivia contests, a Run4Good event, bazaars and a virtual bingo tournament, with more than 150 employees participating across the Americas. The team is working alongside NuevaLife, a foundation serving the Wayuu community that has been a strategic partner for many years and will manage the classroom construction. This team was also recognized as an ESG in Action award winner.

Allison Donnelly, Purchase, N.Y.

Grief and grieving are facts of life. It’s hard to imagine anyone who escapes them. But Donnelly supports those in grief at a particularly poignant age: children between the ages of three and six years old. She volunteers with the Den for Grieving Children in Fairfield County, Conn., where she’s a co-facilitator for the “Littles.” Significantly, she maintains her twice-monthly commitment year-round. That consistency is critical, she explains, for providing children with a trained volunteer who is a familiar face. “We offer a safe space, with other kids working through the same emotions, but also a place to be silly, to talk through feelings in a playful and nurturing setting,” she says. As well, the help for young children frees teen and adult family members to seek their own Den counseling programs, supporting families to begin the journey toward healing. 

Marc Mitchell, O’Fallon, Mo.

Mitchell’s passion as a volunteer is serving the special needs community in southern Illinois. From the last quarter of 2023 through the first half of 2024, he tallied over 100 volunteer hours. That total continues to grow with the ongoing nature of his commitments. He volunteers as president of the Riverbend Down Syndrome Association, which provides some 200 families with a range of resources for members from birth through old age. Along with advice and support for challenges such as navigating school programs, health care needs, guardianships and wills, RDSA sponsors holiday parties, outings to baseball games, swimming and bike-riding lessons and camps. As a Special Olympics team coach, he leads 30 young adults in sports activities and mentors them in life skills. Taken together, it’s understandable that he describes his volunteering as “a lot of hard work.” But, as those who volunteer also know, “the smiles and laughter make it worthwhile and keep me going,” he adds. “It’s rewarding for me and for the individuals I serve, who feel accepted and a sense of belonging.”

ESG in Action Awards

Bruce Clarke, Liz Liang, Talia Marcus, Julia Faherty and Elise Tatum, Arlington, Va.

Affordable Homes & Communities is a nonprofit organization serving low-income families in the Arlington community. Arlington team members have made the AHC after-school tutoring and homework help program for students a staple of their personal volunteering for years. Collectively, they’ve worked weekly with about a dozen students in the last decade. AHC pairs volunteers with students — whenever possible, the same student each year until graduation — to build consistent support, strong connections and time for tutors to become role models and inspirations. To further that goal, the Mastercard team hosts field trips for juniors and seniors to the Arlington Tech Hub for lessons on STEM careers. “By partnering with AHC, we're uplifting families that often don’t have deep support networks or opportunities for their children to learn about the breadth of career options available,” Liang says. Many of the students are the first in their family to attend college, and the team proudly notes that many of those students also choose to pursue STEM fields.

Imelda Alituwa, Janet Kelleher, Erika Cruz, Charmaine Warren, Kimberly Wilson, Ingrid Heinz-Adams, Edward Nahlik, Elisheba Williams, Denise Parmenter, Spencer Calsbeck, Kara McCombs, Terry Winfree, Daniel Rich, Lisa Thompson, Joe Kaczorowski, Christy Corrington, Rachael Conover, Nicholas Harris, Antonio Marra, Kenan Karalic, Amanda McMahon, David Mitrano, George Romero, Troci Tomson, Jeffrey Wildberger, Kate Williamson and Raina Kadavil, U.S. offices

In times of need, our company responds by helping aid short-term and long-term relief and recovery. As part of our partnership with the Red Cross, nearly 700 employees have been trained as certified disaster response volunteers to support their local communities and support disaster deployments when called upon. Since 2017, employees have engaged in six national deployments with the American Red Cross including Hurricane Michael, Hurricane Florence, the Kentucky tornadoes, Afghan refugee resettlement and Hurricane Ian, and most recently we sent two teams of employees to Asheville, N.C., in response to Hurricane Helene’s devastation. While on deployment, these trained employees served as official Red Cross disaster responders,  conducted disaster assessment on hundreds of damaged homes, managed Community Care Centers serving thousands of people in need, oversaw essential inventory management, and more. This deployment took place in the harshest of conditions and yet these two teams responded with tremendous heart, dedication and care.