Mastercard Strive | USA

Connecting small businesses to the support they need to thrive

USA

Our Focus

The Mastercard Strive USA program, funded by the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth and implemented by DAI, is designed to provide small businesses with the support they need to achieve sustainable growth and financial resilience.

The Mastercard Strive USA program, funded by the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth and implemented by DAI, is designed to provide small businesses with the support they need to achieve sustainable growth and financial resilience.

Our Approach

We help small businesses to overcome three common roadblocks:

Get capital

Get capital

By funding community financial institutions including local banks, minority depository institutions, and credit unions, we make it easier for businesses to get the funding they need, when and where they need it. 

Go digital

Go digital

We connect small businesses with mission-driven technology partners and essential digital tools that eliminate bottlenecks and enable access to lending and investment.

Grow networks and know-how

Grow networks and know-how

Through local and national partnerships, we connect small businesses with expert organizations to develop new skills and grow their capabilities.

Our Goal


Supporting over 5 million small businesses in the U.S. over five years

By the Numbers


1.8M

small businesses reached

33

Partners

50

U.S. states

46B

CAPITAL DEPLOYED BY NGO PARTNERS

Our Programs

Momentus Capital: Using data, design, and capital to close the gap for small businesses

Momentus Capital: Using data, design, and capital to close the gap for small businesses

Momentus Capital is a family of organizations focused on transforming how capital and investments flow into communities, with a goal of providing access to opportunities for local leaders and entrepreneurs.

United States

Rural LISC: Strengthening rural business ecosystems through trusted local partners

Rural LISC: Strengthening rural business ecosystems through trusted local partners

Rural LISC provides a wide range of services, including training, technical assistance, information, and financial support, to help rural community developers address the problems rural communities face.

United States

Low Income Investment Fund: Strengthening childcare businesses, strengthening communities

Low Income Investment Fund: Strengthening childcare businesses, strengthening communities

The Low Income Investment Fund (LIIF) is a nonprofit community development financial institution that mobilizes capital and partnerships to expand access to funding for more Americans.

United States

Right to Start: Advancing entrepreneurship as a civic priority across the United States

Right to Start: Advancing entrepreneurship as a civic priority across the United States

Right to Start is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that seeks to expand entrepreneurial opportunity for all, driving civic change through grassroots organizing, policy engagement, and lifting the voices of entrepreneurs through storytelling.

United States

AMH Catalyst Center: A new model for fueling women-led startups at scale

AMH Catalyst Center: A new model for fueling women-led startups at scale

AMH Catalyst Center is a nonprofit organization dedicated to increasing the number of high growth firms led by women founders by leveraging venture capital and new technology tools such as AI and blockchain.

United States

Milken Institute: A new strategic future for the Initiative for Inclusive Entrepreneurship

Milken Institute: A new strategic future for the Initiative for Inclusive Entrepreneurship

The Milken Institute is a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank that focuses on advancing innovative economic and policy solutions to improve lives globally.

United States

Ascend: Supporting growing medium-sized businesses in Atlanta — and beyond

Ascend: Supporting growing medium-sized businesses in Atlanta — and beyond

Ascend is a national network of local ecosystems that provides resources and market access to growing businesses.

United States

Community Reinvestment Fund, USA: Powering small business growth by modernizing community lending

Community Reinvestment Fund, USA: Powering small business growth by modernizing community lending

Community Reinvestment Fund, USA (CRF) is a national nonprofit organization with a mission to improve lives and strengthen communities through innovative financial solutions.

United States

Dream Incubator: Expanding opportunity for entrepreneurs in Washington, DC

Dream Incubator: Expanding opportunity for entrepreneurs in Washington, DC

The Dream Incubator is a nonprofit that offers affordable commercial space and vital resources to small business owners in the Washington, DC area. The organization also provides innovative capacity building to the businesses it supports free of charge.

United States

SaverLife: Helping microentrepreneurs build financial security through personalized resources and savings tools

SaverLife: Helping microentrepreneurs build financial security through personalized resources and savings tools

SaverLife is a nonprofit with 650,000+ members that uses technology to improve the financial health of microentrepreneurs and people living on low to moderate incomes.

United States

Appalachian Community Capital: Building financial resilience where it’s needed most

Appalachian Community Capital: Building financial resilience where it’s needed most

Appalachian Community Capital is a non-profit Community Development Financial Institution that is focused on attracting new sources of capital for small businesses in underserved places in Appalachia and similar energy communities nationally.

United States

Accessity: Expanding access to credit for low- and moderate-income entrepreneurs

Accessity: Expanding access to credit for low- and moderate-income entrepreneurs

Accessity is a Community Development Financial Institution focused on providing economic opportunity to entrepreneurs in Southern California, particularly those who have limited access to traditional financial services.

United States

California FarmLink: Powering conservation through digital solutions for small farmers

California FarmLink: Powering conservation through digital solutions for small farmers

California FarmLink is an agricultural Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) that invests in the prosperity and well-being of farmers, ranchers, and fishers who have limited access to financial resources. 

United States

Aeris: Unlocking the power of CDFI data to strengthen small business financing

Aeris: Unlocking the power of CDFI data to strengthen small business financing

Aeris is the leading expert in the financial and impact performance of Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) and other private impact loan funds.

United States

Grameen America: Digital tools to expand small business access to capital

Grameen America: Digital tools to expand small business access to capital

Grameen America is dedicated to helping low-income entrepreneurial women build businesses to enable financial mobility.

United States

Hyphen: Advancing access to capital access through a national public-private partnership

Hyphen: Advancing access to capital access through a national public-private partnership

Hyphen catalyzes multi-sector partnerships, leverages philanthropic leadership and resources, and deploys strategic communications to address urgent needs facing entrepreneurs across the United States.

United States

Accion Opportunity Fund: Building financial capability among underserved small business owners

Accion Opportunity Fund: Building financial capability among underserved small business owners

Accion Opportunity Fund is a nonprofit small business lender focused on supporting entrepreneurs who have historically lacked access to affordable and responsible financing.

United States

Inclusiv: Unlocking credit union small business lending

Inclusiv: Unlocking credit union small business lending

Inclusiv's mission is to help low- and moderate-income people and communities achieve financial independence through credit unions.

United States

Our Partners

Shamina Singh

Founder & President, Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth

“Small businesses need opportunities and resources to grow their business. That’s why we’re connecting business owners to capital, technology and information to help small businesses and their communities thrive.”
Shamina Singh

News & Updates

Built for all, built to last: Six shifts that could change the U.S. small business landscape for generations of entrepreneurs

Featured Article

Built for all, built to last: Six shifts that could change the U.S. small business landscape for generations of entrepreneurs

Major gaps exist in the ecosystem that supports entrepreneurs in the U.S. on their journey from business inception to growth. We surveyed more than 30 small business leaders to uncover the most critical gaps holding entrepreneurs back and identified six key shifts needed to realize a vision where more entrepreneurs succeed over the long term — informing a strategy to create a stronger, more connected small business sector that expands access to capital, tools, and know-how, and leads to ongoing success for small businesses across the United States.

High tech, high touch: How community lenders use digital tools to stay personal with small…

High tech, high touch: How community lenders use digital tools to stay personal with small…

When investing in digital solutions, how do community lenders whose business models center on trusted, direct connections with small businesses preserve their human touch points?

Funding creativity, fueling small business growth: Bridging the capital gap in the creative economy

Funding creativity, fueling small business growth: Bridging the capital gap in the creative economy

Mastercard Strive USA recently convened a roundtable discussion on how to better support creative entrepreneurs, a small business segment that provides enormous value to local communities but faces unique and often steeper challenges compared to other types of small businesses.

Improving small business outcomes through mental health: A profile on Our Village United’s holistic…

Improving small business outcomes through mental health: A profile on Our Village United’s holistic…

Our Village United's ELEVATE program was one of the first incubators in the United States to focus on wellness support for entrepreneurs. It quickly became a model by developing classes led by experts on how entrepreneurs could face emotional challenges, like burnout and imposter syndrome. 

From theory to practice to scale: Mastercard Strive USA’s impact on small businesses in year 2

From theory to practice to scale: Mastercard Strive USA’s impact on small businesses in year 2

Two years after launch, Mastercard Strive USA is working with 34 small business-focused organizations and building a program that is already more than a sum of parts. As of September 2024, the program had unlocked over $44 billion in capital, reached nearly one million small businesses, and engaged more than 682 small business intermediaries.

Embracing an abundance mindset in Kansas: How new collaborations are creating a stronger small…

Embracing an abundance mindset in Kansas: How new collaborations are creating a stronger small…

The fifth Mastercard Strive USA Summit recently took place in Lawrence, Kansas in partnership with the Kansas Department of Commerce. The focus was on driving new small business-focused partnerships within Kansas as well as applying lessons learned from other regions to those collaborations.

Challenging assumptions: How a distinct operations model sets CDFIs apart in a vast financial…

Challenging assumptions: How a distinct operations model sets CDFIs apart in a vast financial…

Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) are mission-first financial institutions that have seen rapid growth in assets in the past five years, partly because CDFI investors are challenging a set of assumptions about how CDFIs operate that could have otherwise held back their success.

Getting impact capital off the sidelines: how CNote aligns investor interests with community…

Getting impact capital off the sidelines: how CNote aligns investor interests with community…

A two-year Mastercard Strive USA grant has paved the way for investment platform CNote to strengthen their organizational capacity, enabling them to scale operations, enhance their technology, and better serve the communities and institutions at the heart of their mission.

Why helping small businesses succeed should be a philanthropic priority

Why helping small businesses succeed should be a philanthropic priority

To create an equitable economy, grant makers should address the financial and training hurdles that cause so many entrepreneurs to fail. This article from the Chronicle of Philanthropy by Sandy Fernandez explains how.

The unique partnership at the center of California’s new loan match program

The unique partnership at the center of California’s new loan match program

A unique and first-time partnership between two mission-driven organizations, Next Street and Community Reinvestment Fund USA, is behind a new small business lending program in California that aims to connect small businesses with historic federal funding designed to help them grow and strengthen their financial resilience.

How local government can help more small businesses succeed: A fireside chat between St.

How local government can help more small businesses succeed: A fireside chat between St.

This conversation on the role of local government in helping small businesses succeed took place at the Mastercard Strive USA Summit in St. Louis, Missouri, between Tishaura O. Jones, mayor of St. Louis, and Salah Goss, senior vice president for social impact at the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth. 

Inclusive growth for entrepreneurs in North Carolina — and beyond

Inclusive growth for entrepreneurs in North Carolina — and beyond

Entrepreneurship is booming in North Carolina by many measures, but not all small businesses have equal access to opportunity. This article highlights key themes and moments from the fourth Mastercard Strive USA Summit held in Raleigh, North Carolina, where conversations centered on how to ensure that all entrepreneurs — in North Carolina and nationally — have access to the resources they need to succeed.

Behind the headlines: The critical role of credit unions in deploying $27 billion in federal…

Behind the headlines: The critical role of credit unions in deploying $27 billion in federal…

Inclusiv’s experience building trust in Puerto Rico, as well as its 50-year history working with Community Development Credit Unions (CDCUs) throughout the continental U.S., will likely serve as a critical backdrop as it moves forward with its recent $1.87 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund Clean Communities Investment Accelerator grant.

Opening doors and connecting dots: How the small business ecosystem in Missouri is meeting…

Opening doors and connecting dots: How the small business ecosystem in Missouri is meeting…

How can organizations that support small businesses take advantage of historic federal investments and new technologies in an increasingly diverse landscape? This was the major theme of the third Mastercard Strive USA Summit, which brought together national and local leaders from government, philanthropy, the private sector, and others in St. Louis, Missouri.

Meeting small businesses where they are: Technical assistance models that work in an increasingly…

Meeting small businesses where they are: Technical assistance models that work in an increasingly…

There is an increasingly diverse range of technical assistance models, making it challenging to provide the right information to the right entrepreneur at the right time. This article highlights where leading technical assistance providers are focusing to help more entrepreneurs succeed.

How trust scales impact: The role of local partners in federal programs for small businesses

How trust scales impact: The role of local partners in federal programs for small businesses

Building trust with local communities is hard. The key to driving inclusive growth starts with recognizing and valuing the trust local organizations have established with communities, and then building on that foundation to help them succeed and grow. This was the cross-cutting theme of the second Strive USA Summit in Washington, DC.

Public-private partnerships and small businesses: A conversation on what is working in New York…

Public-private partnerships and small businesses: A conversation on what is working in New York…

This conversation between Kevin D. Kim, Commissioner of the NYC Department of Small Business Services, and Shamina Singh, Founder & President of the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth, took place at the Mastercard Strive USA Summit in New York.

How a wave of government programs are strengthening the U.S. entrepreneurial ecosystem

How a wave of government programs are strengthening the U.S. entrepreneurial ecosystem

Unprecedented federal funding is flowing into the small business sector. By complementing these investments with the right technology and infrastructure, there is a historic opportunity to greatly improve and secure the success of more small businesses, a key cornerstone of the U.S. economy.

Building bridges for small businesses: Highlights from the first Strive USA Summit

Building bridges for small businesses: Highlights from the first Strive USA Summit

Participants at the first Mastercard Strive USA Summit spoke about how to access and leverage the once-in-a-generation investments being made by the federal government — from building new infrastructure, to accelerating the clean energy transition, to investing directly in small businesses.

Strive USA launches event series focused on local small business ecosystems

Strive USA launches event series focused on local small business ecosystems

Strive USA has launched a new event series geared towards creating more profound local impact in states and cities across the country. These convenings will complement and strengthen our work nationally by cultivating collaboration among local and national providers of capital, know-how, and digital tools. 

How partnerships, policy, and platforms are driving the growth of the community finance sector

How partnerships, policy, and platforms are driving the growth of the community finance sector

New technologies, a surge in federal funding, and strategic partnerships are driving rapid growth of the community development finance sector and bolstering resilience at a time of record small business creation — but there’s still a pressing need for further action to fully realize this critical moment.

Fueling small business growth: Meet the Mastercard Strive USA innovation fund winners

Fueling small business growth: Meet the Mastercard Strive USA innovation fund winners

Meet the 2023 Mastercard Strive USA Innovation Fund Winners. These four organizations were selected because their impact-focused solutions were uniquely primed for long-term, sustainable impact in the U.S.

Strive USA’s inaugural year: Billions deployed, tens of thousands of small businesses supported…

Strive USA’s inaugural year: Billions deployed, tens of thousands of small businesses supported…

One year after the launch of Strive USA, Mastercard’s U.S. small business initiative is now supporting small businesses in 43 states and working closely with 16 prominent organizations. Here we provide an update on our work and progress — and where we go next.

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