In this interview, Cornacchia talks about the special features of this book, which highlights the journeys of some of the world’s most famous women, as well as Mastercard’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.
1- What motivated you to choose this subject for the Lasting Legacy Book?
At Mastercard, we firmly believe that empowering women is crucial for building a more inclusive and prosperous future. Through amplifying the success stories of female role models in the book, we seek to inspire other women to follow in their footsteps. We also aim to motivate readers – whether male or female – to take action to close the gender gap and shape a more inclusive world.
The book highlights the journeys of some of the world’s most renowned female trailblazers in arts, sports, politics, financial services and beyond.
Featured names include Nezha Alaoui, founder and CEO of Women Choice, Dr Maya Morsy, President of Egypt’s National Council for Women (NCW), and Ola Doudin, co-founder and CEO of BitOasis.
2- Can you tell us more about the actions that Mastercard has taken to create a more equitable world and celebrate the role of women in society?
In line with our broader commitment to empowering people, protecting the planet and driving prosperity, we are dedicated to promoting diversity, equity and inclusion, and unlocking the full potential of the female economy.
We understand that we have a responsibility to reflect the world in all its diversity and are uniquely placed to provide underrepresented groups with equal access to life-changing personal and professional opportunities.
On the home front, we have applied an inclusive approach to our recruitment process. In addition, we have unified parental leave policies and are implementing pay parity across the board.
Measuring progress is critical. Knowing where we are today helps us to get where we want to be. At the moment, 39% of our global workforce are women. Women also account for 24% of our management committee and 33% of senior management.
Through The 30% Club, Financial Alliance for Women and the Women’s Leadership Network, we are nurturing the leaders of today and tomorrow.
Through our business resource groups, we foster an inclusive environment where everyone is welcome, regardless of gender, culture or background. These employee-led groups are based on similar interests or experiences and a shared passion for inclusion, and they are open to everyone.
Our efforts to drive women’s empowerment among the communities we serve include championing diversity, supporting women entrepreneurs and giving girls access to STEM education at a young age. We also work to create more opportunities for women to enter and advance careers in tech so that our field can benefit from balanced leadership.
We are passionate about ‘empowering her business’. For many women, becoming an entrepreneur is a powerful choice that offers financial independence and more flexibility to manage different parts of their lives. This is why we have made a pledge to connect 25 million women entrepreneurs worldwide to the digital economy by 2025. The annual Mastercard Index of Women Entrepreneurs is a great piece of research that tracks the progress of women-led businesses in 65 countries, including Morocco.
We also recently introduced the Social Innovation Incubator for Women’s Employment that aims to create one million jobs for women across the Middle East and North Africa. This is a collaborative effort with Women Choice, an international organization dedicated to advancing women’s personal and professional development.
Making sure that girls are exposed to diverse knowledge before they choose a career is another way to empower the new generation of women. Our flagship educational program Girls4Tech seeks to equip girls with science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) skills that will help them become leaders of tomorrow. Leveraging our in-depth expertise in technology and innovation, we have developed a signature curriculum that examines topics such as algorithms, encryption, fraud detection, data analysis and digital convergence in a fun, interactive way.
To date, more than 3.5 million girls aged 8-16 in 60 countries have benefited from Girls4Tech, and we have set a target to reach 5 million girls around the world by 2025. Launched in Morocco in 2021, the award-winning program is available in 20 languages, including Arabic and French.
3-This book marks the 25th anniversary of Mastercard’s Priceless platform. Can you tell us more about your platform?
The Priceless platform is part of our continued efforts to align ourselves with local audiences and build meaningful connections with consumers.
We know experiences matter the most, as more than 60% of people value them over material things. That’s why Priceless seamlessly connects our cardholders to their passions by unlocking a whole new world of unforgettable experiences and exclusive benefits.
Priceless pioneered emotional and experiential marketing long before it was even a category to call, and it’s going from strength to strength. Over the years, the brand has reflected Mastercard’s multisensory evolution, which has seen us evolve our logo and introduce our sonic identity as sound, two bespoke macaron flavors as taste and two world-class perfumes as fragrance.
We have also launched the first-ever Touch Card with the aim of boosting financial inclusion of people with disabilities. This innovative payment solution uses a simple yet effective system of unique tactile notches to enable blind and partially sighted people to easily distinguish between their cards with just a touch. We have started in the UAE and are planning to roll out the Touch Card across the region.
During our Priceless journey, we have had many remarkable achievements across multiple initiatives around the world. This includes setting a GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS™ title for the ‘Highest-Altitude Game of Football on a Parabolic Flight’ alongside football legend and Mastercard ambassador Luis Figo and a diverse team of football heroes from across the Middle East, Europe and Latin America.
