4.01.2008 - 11:59pm ET

(CSRwire) Toronto, ON - April 2, 2008 - The MasterCard Foundation announced today the appointment of Reeta Roy as president and chief executive officer. She joins the Foundation with experience in global philanthropy, health policy and corporate social responsibility. The mission of the MasterCard Foundation, which has an endowment of more than $2 billion, is to broaden access to the global economy through innovative microfinance programs and to increase access to quality educational opportunities for youth worldwide. Microfinance seeks to enable and expand access to savings, credit and other financial services to the world’s poor.

"The Foundation's Board of Directors is delighted that Reeta Roy will be leading the Foundation. Reeta possesses a unique combination of vision, experience in global philanthropy, and an impressive record of accomplishments. We are particularly excited about her energy, commitment to our mission, and history of creating programs in the developing world that have improved people's lives," said Lois Juliber, chairman of the Board and retired vice chairman and chief operating officer of Colgate-Palmolive Company.

Roy brings a proven leadership style to the MasterCard Foundation, drawing on her corporate experiences where she built public-private partnerships and introduced new programs in Africa, Asia and Latin America to help hundreds of thousands of people access health care services. She served most recently with Abbott - a global health care company - as divisional vice president for global citizenship and policy, a function she helped create at the company, and served as vice president of its foundation. During her tenure, Abbott tripled its investment in global humanitarian programs.

"It is a privilege to work with the Board and lead this Foundation" said Roy. "This is an exciting opportunity to enable those in need to access financial services and educational opportunities to create a better future for themselves."

Roy, who grew up in Malaysia, has lived in China and worked in Africa, Asia and other developing countries to create programs related to global health, education, women’s rights, and other issues. Her experiences working with international and national non-profit organizations, the United Nations, bilateral development agencies, and business organizations have informed her broad perspective on international and economic development issues.


About the MasterCard Foundation

The MasterCard Foundation is an independent, private charitable foundation headquartered in Toronto, Canada. It was established through the generosity of MasterCard’s customer financial institutions at the time of the company’s initial public offering, to fuel economic growth and opportunity for underserved people around the world. Its mission is to broaden access to the global economy through innovative microfinance programs and to increase access to quality educational opportunities for underserved people. For more information, go to www.mastercardfoundation.org.

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