Small businesses and AI: Accelerating innovation and inclusion

About the Center

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Highly confident, women entrepreneurs still face systemic barriers

Focus Areas

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How data and AI can drive change: 4 ways forward

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Unlocking the power of small businesses to drive climate-smart inclusive growth

Insights

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We are told that the fundamentals of the US economy are strong. So why are so many individuals and communities left behind? Hear from experts, including Mastercard's own Mike Froman, Former White House Economic Advisor Adrienne Harris, and Grameen America CEO Andrea Jung, who explore how the digitization of our financial systems might translate to an equitable economy.

As our lives become increasingly digital, the economic gap between those who can leverage technology to get by and get ahead, and the many who cannot, is only widening. There has never been a more important time to build a digital economy that works for everyone, everywhere. Along with founding partner, the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth, Aspen is bringing together thinkers and doers to tackle this urgent crisis.Launched in October 2019 with an&nbsp;<a href="http://www.globalinclusivegrowthsummit.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="font-size: 16px;">inaugural summit</a>, the Global Inclusive Growth Partnership (GIGP) combines the expertise and networks of both the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.aspeninstitute.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="font-size: 16px;">Aspen Institute</a>&nbsp;and the&nbsp;Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth&nbsp;to address systemic issues across a range of topics including financial security, the future of workers and portable benefits, growing micro and small businesses, and commercially-sustainable social impact. Through research, synthesis, and&nbsp;convenings, GIGP aims to catalyze new partnerships and shine a spotlight on innovative, data-driven, and scalable solutions to build a more inclusive and resilient economy for all.Our work is anchored by four pillars:Financial InclusionShaping the next- generation global financial inclusion agenda to move beyond access and count financial security outcomes as the measure of success.Benefits21Modernizing benefits design &amp; delivery to address the needs of today’s workforce with a new system of worker-centered, tech-enabled portable benefits.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.aspeninstitute.org/programs/benefits21/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="font-size: 16px;">Learn more.&nbsp;</a>Supporting StriversDriving innovation and scale in the systems that support micro and small businesses domestically and globally, and catalyzing deeper support for Striver success as a cornerstone of inclusive growth in a digital economy.Corporate LeadershipFostering and activating private-sector leadership in support of inclusive growth

Aspen Institute

Through research, synthesis, and convenings, GIGP aims to catalyze new partnerships and scalable solutions to build a more inclusive and resilient economy for all.

A National Agenda for Financial Inclusion