Across the United States, more than 33 million small businesses fuel the economy by creating jobs, generating wealth, and sustaining communities. Yet too many entrepreneurs face persistent barriers to success, including limited access to affordable capital, insufficient digital tools, and fragmented support systems.
Mastercard Strive USA is addressing these challenges head-on. Launched by the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth and implemented by DAI, Mastercard Strive USA is designed to help small businesses, particularly those led by low- and moderate-income entrepreneurs, survive and thrive. As the implementing partner, DAI's Sustainable Business Group manages the day-to-day execution of the program, working closely with grantees, overseeing program implementation, and driving learning and collaboration across the ecosystem.
By strengthening the ecosystem of community lenders, nonprofit business support organizations, and digital service providers, Mastercard Strive USA is working to ensure every small business has the resources, networks, and support it needs to grow. “Our focus is not only on supporting our partners so they can have more impact,” says Victoria Brown, Senior Director for Programs and Implementation at DAI, “but on driving systemic change in the ecosystem. By working together as a collective, we can really move the needle in support of small businesses, which strengthens the resilience of the entire system.”
Now in its third year, Mastercard Strive USA is building on two years of strong results and charting an ambitious course toward a more inclusive, connected, and digitally enabled small business landscape.
Reaching Scale: From Year 1 to Year 2
By the end of Year 2, the program had:
- Unlocked more than $45 billion in capital
- Reached nearly 1.7 million small businesses
- Engaged over 750 small business intermediaries
This dramatic growth reflects the program’s evolving focus: from testing solutions in Year 1 to scaling those efforts and deepening collaborations in Year 2. With a portfolio of more than 30 grantees, ranging from national nonprofits to local technical assistance providers, Mastercard Strive USA is making measurable progress toward building a more equitable and accessible small business ecosystem.
Digital Innovation in Action
Central to Mastercard Strive USA’s approach is enabling digital transformation among small business intermediaries. Year 2 saw several key advances:
- Grameen America, which provides microloans to women entrepreneurs, launched a mobile app for its 86,000 members. Available in English and Spanish, the app makes it easier for borrowers to use their smartphones to manage payments, access information, and receive educational content.
- Community Reinvestment Fund, USA (CRF) expanded its CRF Connect platform, which links small businesses with lenders and technical assistance providers. The platform is a unique online network of support organizations that is now trusted by more than 100 mission-driven partners.
- Next Street built and deployed NYC Funds Finder, an online portal helping small businesses in New York City navigate city permits, access advisers, and connect to community development finance institutions (CDFIs). The platform is New York City’s first free funding marketplace for small business owners.
These tools are reducing friction, expanding reach, and giving entrepreneurs more control over their business journeys.
Raising Awareness and Sharing Knowledge
In 2024, Mastercard Strive USA launched a series of in-person events across the country to foster collaboration and raise the collective voice of the small business support ecosystem.
Summits held in New York, Washington D.C., Missouri, North Carolina, and Kansas brought together stakeholders from federal and local governments, philanthropy, community-based organizations, and the private sector. These events created space for knowledge-sharing and critical dialogue on how to deploy federal resources fairly and effectively.
Beyond the summits, Mastercard Strive USA expanded knowledge-sharing to a broader audience through media coverage and thought leadership. Small businesses and intermediaries contributed to blogs that highlight both the systemic barriers small businesses face and the solutions that are emerging. For instance, a blog focusing on investment platform CNote explored how the evolution of community finance infrastructure has strengthened connections between impact investors and entrepreneurs. These efforts were further amplified in numerous media outlets, such as a Barn Raiser article that highlights Mastercard Strive USA’s role in helping creative entrepreneurs in rural communities.
Leaders of the Mastercard Strive USA program added their voices to these efforts. In his article for The Chronicle of Philanthropy, Sandy Fernandez, vice president of social impact for North America at the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth, related his own family’s experience with starting a business and outlined best practices for small business support that Mastercard Strive USA is championing. Meanwhile, Victoria Brown wrote about the unique role CDFIs play in the financial ecosystem and the positive impact this has had on small businesses.
Innovation Through Collaboration: What’s Next in Year 3
In its first year, Mastercard Strive USA focused on building a diverse, national network of small business intermediaries. In Year 2, it brought those partners together, both in person and through sharing ideas and best practices. Year 3 will mark a new chapter: driving innovation through deeper collaboration.
One early example is the California Loan Match Program, a joint initiative between grantees Next Street and CRF. Supported by Mastercard Strive USA, the program helps small businesses in California access capital from the state’s $1.2 billion State Small Business Credit Initiative. Next Street led the go-to-market strategy and outreach, while CRF provided the matching technology via CRF Connect.
Small business owners such as Donna Lee, Intuitive Spiritual Mindset Coach, are already benefiting from the program. Dr. Lee needed capital to scale her online mindfulness services, but she explains that lenders “made me feel judged, like I wasn’t running my business ‘the right way’.” The California Loan Match Program connected Dr. Lee to a CDFI that “took the time to understand my financial situation and worked with me,” ultimately allowing her to launch a series of online courses and take on new staff.
Fostering this kind of cross-grantee collaboration will be a major focus for Mastercard Strive in Year 3. By strengthening connections among partners, the initiative is working to transform a fragmented ecosystem into a coordinated support system for entrepreneurs.
Corporate Philanthropy as Systemic Investment
Mastercard Strive USA’s successes so far demonstrate that corporate investment in small businesses isn’t charity; it’s a strategy for driving inclusive, long-term economic prosperity. With a strong foundation, a thriving coalition, and a bold vision for the future, the program is proving that inclusive growth is not only possible—it’s scalable.
