SAN FRANCISCO -- Today, Visa Foundation released its inaugural Impact Report, capturing six years of grant making and impact investing since its founding. As Visa’s corporate foundation, Visa Foundation partners with local organizations to invest in primarily women-owned small- and micro-businesses (SMBs), creating ripple effects for the entrepreneurs and their employees, and the customers and communities they serve. The Impact Report shows the effect Visa Foundation has had in partnering with grantees and investees that support over four million SMBs in 60 countries, more than one million jobs and more than $2 billion of capital invested in local communities around the world, reinforcing its goal to uplift everyone, everywhere through the power of economic mobility.

SMBs are the backbone of local economies, promoting innovation, creating jobs, and fostering upward mobility- but as many as 67% of SMBs worldwide are fighting for survival and 70% of women-owned SMBs in emerging markets have unmet financing needs. Visa Foundation advances financial inclusion by providing SMB owners with digital and financial education and catalytic financing to women-owned SMBs, by investing in women-led funds.

“Over the past six years, Visa Foundation has become an enabler of economic mobility,” said Kelly Mahon Tullier, Visa Foundation Board Chair. “We are proud of the work we’ve accomplished in partnership with our dedicated grantees and investees in regions around the world as we work towards creating an inclusive and brighter future for all.”

Visa Foundation also advances economic mobility by working to create sustained impact in the communities where Visa employees live and work:

· Visa Foundation Gives has launched in eight cities, deploying more than $2 million in grants to address place-based challenges like food insecurity, sustainability, and the housing crisis and homelessness.
· Through Visa Foundation Matches, Visa employees have helped raise more than $16 million in total donations.
· Visa Foundation’s disaster relief efforts have committed over $22 million to assist those impacted by the global pandemic, floods, earthquakes, and wildfires.