Mastercard Foundation Scholars to complete The Duke of Edinburgh's International Gold Award as part of new partnership

The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award Foundation and the Mastercard Foundation are proud to work together as we seek to drive change, creating access to opportunities that improve young people’s life chances, and help set them up for future success.  

To support this shared ambition, up to 1,800 young people taking part in the Mastercard Foundation’s Scholars’ Program will be offered the chance to complete The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award at Gold level. 

By combining the Transformative Leadership element of the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program with the highest level of achievement of The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award, we can have an even greater impact on our transformative leaders of the future. 

“I want to see the limit to which I can push myself to achieve The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award. At the end of the day, we young students are all going to graduate with a degree, but things like the Award will set us apart from the wider population”
– Ngwa, Mastercard Foundation Scholar, Kenya

To date, students from USIU, Kenya and Université d’Abomey – Calavi, Benin are taking part in the programme with 149 participants taking up activities such as coding, learning languages and helping their communities, teaching new farming methods, and volunteering at education centres for young people.

“As a Foundation, we believe that young people are the key to driving inclusive and equitable socio-economic change in Africa. Our Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program is anchored in this vision, and we firmly believe that this partnership will have a formidable impact on Mastercard Foundation Scholars’ transformative leadership skills and mindsets.”  – Duaa Mohamed, Transformative Leadership Lead at Mastercard Foundation.

 “The Project provides a unique opportunity for the Mastercard Foundation Scholars to expand their horizons.  The Award provides not just the skills but a view of the world that awakens a need to take action.  While the Award is demanding, it’s refreshing to see young people commit to their self-development and their community causes so fearlessly and consistently.  Listening to the Mastercard Foundation Scholars provide feedback on their experiences in the Award and seeing them taking action reaffirms the value and purpose of this transformative leadership programme.”
– Wangari Kaburi, Award Programme Manager, Kenya.

The Award is comprised of three levels (Bronze, Silver and Gold) and four sections: Skill, Physical Recreation, Voluntary Service, Adventurous Journey and a Gold Residential Project. It is designed to provide a balanced programme of personal development and challenge. Participants complete all four sections to achieve their Award.

Watch the video above to meet just a few of our first cohort of Mastercard Foundation Scholars from USIU in Kenya, as they tell us why they chose to take on this prestigious challenge with the Award.

Together we are #WorldReady