On February 13, 2025, Reeta Roy, President and CEO of the Mastercard Foundation, announced her decision to leave the organisation. During her nearly 18 years of transformative leadership, the Foundation has grown into one of the largest and most impactful philanthropic organisations in the world, with a focus on empowering youths in Africa and Indigenous communities in Canada, while prioritising local solutions and partners.
Reeta Roy, President and CEO of the Mastercard Foundation, announced on February 13 her decision to step down after nearly 18 years of transformative leadership. Under her stewardship, the Mastercard Foundation has become one of the world’s largest and most influential philanthropic organisations, with a focus on empowering young people in Africa and indigenous communities in Canada. Early in her tenure, she made the unconventional decision to focus the Foundation’s efforts on Africa, inspired by the potential of the continent’s youth. This decision led to the creation of initiatives such as the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program, which has enabled more than 40,000 young people, mainly from Africa, to pursue higher education and launch careers or entrepreneurship.
“Serving the mission of the Mastercard Foundation has been life-changing. It has been an honor to build the Foundation and put it on a trajectory to be a force for good in the world. I am immensely grateful to my colleagues and our partners for the impact we have achieved together. Most of all, I am proud of our values and for walking this journey with young people, our African partners, and Indigenous communities in Canada.”
Reeta Roy, President and CEO of the Mastercard Foundation – Malaysia
The launch of the Young Africa Works strategy in 2018 has been one of Roy’s most significant achievements. This ambitious initiative aims to provide 30 million young people, especially young women, with access to dignified and fulfilling work by 2030. To date, 13 million young people have secured employment through the programme. Similarly, during the COVID-19 outbreak, Roy and her team led an unprecedented $1.5 billion partnership between the Mastercard Foundation and Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention to ensure that Africa got its share of the world’s vaccines. The initiative trained, equipped and deployed 40,000 health workers and helped increase adult immunisation coverage from 3 percent to 53 percent.
“we made the decision in 2009 to focus on sub-saharan Africa and specifically on young people now mandate is to do two things to advance education in advance financial inclusion”
Reeta Roy, President and CEO of the Mastercard Foundation – Malaysia
With over $50 billion in assets, the Mastercard Foundation has committed more than $10 billion to its programmes in Africa and Indigenous communities in Canada. Reeta Roy, who joined the Foundation in 2008, will lead the organisation until 2025 until a successor is appointed.
