Vanashree Moodley: Public Affairs Officer +27 11 944 0257
Munira Cassimjee: Public Affairs Analyst +27 11 944 0767
The Citi Foundation is raising the quality of life in communities around the world. The Foundation is committed to enhancing economic opportunities for underserved individuals and families in the communities where we work throughout the world.
The Citi Foundation has made it a priority to ensure that youth, adults and entrepreneurs understand how to use financial resources to help them achieve both personal and business goals. We believe that financial education is important at all ages. For this reason, the Foundation supports programs that reach out to these audiences in a variety of ways to accommodate different needs, levels of understanding and learning styles.
Investing in basic education is one of the most important contributions to helping young people develop and be successful in the workplace, contribute to the economy, and lead productive lives.
The Foundation and the programs it supports seek to address critical barriers and provide individuals with enhanced educational opportunities that will better prepare the next generation for personal and professional success.
The Citi Foundation maintains that sustainable enterprises can act as catalysts for economic and environmental change, ultimately improving our communities for future generations. In addition to having positive environmental effects, sustainable enterprises also increase employment opportunities and often include monetary benefits for low- to moderate-income entrepreneurs.
Our commitment to sustainable enterprise is reflected in our support of programs that build institutions through capacity building and management training activities for staff of local/small business intermediaries. Many of our programs include the support of organizations that provide entrepreneur training including business plan development, business development skills, management skills, accessing capital, mentoring, value chains, and networking in such areas as forestry, sustainable agriculture, or ecotourism.
The Citi Foundation is committed to supporting small and growing businesses, which provide economic opportunities and job creation for individuals throughout the world. The Citi Foundation’s support of this focus area includes programs that:
- Build institutions through capacity building and management training activities for staff of small business intermediaries
- Provide training for small business owners including business plan development, business development skills, management skills, accessing capital, mentoring, and networking
- Engage in research or data collection to initiate local needs assessments or market assessments in support of small and growing business development
- Build awareness of the importance of small business owners through awards or other forms of recognition
The Citi Foundation is committed to supporting microfinance and microenterprise around the world, helping individuals become economically self sufficient. Typically, microenterprises have no access to the commercial banking sector due to a lack of collateral or credit history. Microfinance institutions provide micro entrepreneurs with access to credit and other financial services that they could not otherwise obtain, raising the quality of life for families and communities around the world. The Citi Foundation’s support of this focus area includes programs that:
- Build institutions through capacity building and management training of microfinance networks and microfinance institutions (MFIs)
- Develop microfinance products and services for clients through market research, testing and financial education
- Provide micro entrepreneurship training including business plan development, business development skills, management skills, accessing capital, mentoring, and networking
- Support the development of microfinance standards and practices including MFI rating programs, best practices in MFI governance and transparency, and advocacy for local policies that facilitate microfinance and build awareness of micro entrepreneurs, MFIs or networks through awards or other forms of recognition