Helping communities thrive
We work with local partners and employee volunteers to deliver Futuremakers projects focused on education, employability and entrepreneurship across our markets.
Empowering the next generation
We believe everyone deserves the opportunity to realise their potential. Yet globally, more than 282 million young people are not in education, training or employment. The economic impact of the global COVID-19 pandemic has made this worse.
Futuremakers by Standard Chartered is our global initiative to tackle inequality by promoting greater economic inclusion in our markets. Futuremakers supports disadvantaged young people aged 35 or below, especially girls and people with visual impairments, to learn new skills and improve their chances of getting a job or starting their own business.
Over USD78 million raised for young people
We set out to fundraise and donate USD50 million for Futuremakers between 2019 and 2023 to empower the next generation to learn, earn and grow. In response to COVID-19, we committed a further USD25 million to Futuremakers to support economic recovery for young people impacted by the pandemic.
We’ve achieved the USD75 million target set for 2023 one year early, with additional donations made during the pandemic. In 2022, we fundraised USD14.7 million for Futuremakers including Group donations, bringing the total fundraised from 2019 to 2022 to USD78.7 million.
Funds raised go to the Standard Chartered Foundation, NGO and charity partners to deliver Futuremakers projects.
About Futuremakers programmes
In 2022, Futuremakers reached more than 335,000 young people, and more than one million young people (74 per cent young women) between 2019 and 2022 across 43 markets. Read more about our education, employability and entrepreneurship support through Futuremakers.
Unleashing the economic potential of girls
We know that investing in girls can result in increased prosperity and diversity. Giving girls the tools to shape their own future has an incredible multiplier effect on communities and societies.
Goal is our programme to equip adolescent girls with the confidence, knowledge and skills they need to be economic leaders in their families and communities. As part of Futuremakers, we are expanding Goal as our global education programme.
Since its launch in 2006, Goal has grown to become an internationally-recognised global movement operating in more than 20 markets. Through sport and activity-based learning, Goal delivers modules on financial education; communication skills; health and hygiene; and self-confidence.
We reached more than 821,000 girls and young women between 2006 and mid-2022. Our target is to reach one million girls between 2006 and 2023.
What's next?
Following programme disruptions due to COVID-19 restrictions, we continue to deliver the curriculum using a diverse range of modalities (online, hybrid, face-to-face) in 2022.
Preparing young people to be job-ready
Many disadvantaged young people lack the skills they need to get a job or to improve their circumstances, including knowing how to manage their financial future. At the same time, employers can find it difficult to hire someone with the right balance of technical and soft skills.
We provide vocational training, mentoring, career planning, upskilling and reskilling opportunities that support young people to become job ready. Between 2019 and 2022, we reached more than 218,000 young people (51 per cent young women) through employability activities, exceeding our target 100,000 set for 2023.
What's next?
In 2023, we continue to support employability across our markets and promote economic inclusion for young people with disabilities.
Nurturing small business owners to succeed
More individuals and businesses have greater access to financial services than ever before. However, many micro and small business owners lack the business management skills they need to grow their business.
We offer support to develop broader business skills, build financial knowledge, and provide access to finance and networks to young people. Our projects include Women in Tech, which provides technical business training, mentoring and seed funding to female entrepreneurs. Between 2019 and 2022, we reached more than 105,000 young people (64 per cent young women), micro and small businesses through entrepreneurship activities, exceeding our target 50,000 set for 2023.
What's next?
In 2023, we continue to support entrepreneurship across our markets, and to pilot access to finance facilities.
Futuremakers forum
Lifting participation through financial inclusion
About the Forum
Agenda
Insights
The Futuremakers Forum brings stakeholders together to build partnerships and create opportunities focused on young people. Hosted in partnership with Business Fights Poverty, this virtual event forms part of Futuremakers by Standard Chartered, a global initiative to tackle inequality by championing greater economic inclusion for young people.
The challenge
A global and collective effort is needed to accelerate progress toward Sustainable Development Goal 8 to promote decent work and economic growth. The COVID-19 pandemic; climate change; and conflict each exacerbate the problems of inequality and changes to the labour market have had a disproportionate impact on marginalised groups within our communities especially young people, women and people with disabilities.
It is now more imperative than ever for all sectors to come together, listen to young people and those most affected, and identify solutions to support the next generation to thrive.
Access to Finance
The 2022 Futuremakers Forum was held virtually between 6 – 7 July ahead of the United Nations' World Youth Skills Day on 15 July 2022. The focus for the forum was ‘Lifting participation through financial inclusion.’
This year, we put young people in the driving seat – together we will determine the financial products and services young people want and need in order to unleash their full potential.
Through thought leading research, we deepened our understanding of how to unleash the full potential of young people and micro businesses in our core markets to improve the lives of millions of people and their communities.
Find out more
Transforming lives with young people
Between 2019 and 2022, Futuremakers has reached more than one million young people (74 per cent young women) across 43 markets. We are committed to promoting economic inclusion and empowering the next generation to learn, earn and grow. Watch our film and hear from Aisha, Jinying and Mwita on how Futuremakers transformed their lives.
Access to finance
Understanding our theory of change
The Futuremakers’ theory of change explains three interlinked ‘pathways’ that offer young people opportunities to become more economically active. This provides a framework against which to measure the success of the programmes, and the wider initiative.
Employment opportunities for people with disabilities are limited by stigma and discrimination in the workplace. We partner with Sightsavers to support young people with disabilities to develop skills and secure decent employment through Futuremakers.
Read moreEmployment opportunities for people with disabilities are limited by stigma and discrimination in the workplace. We partner with Sightsavers to support young people with disabilities to develop skills and secure decent employment through Futuremakers.
Our entrepreneurship projects equip young business owners with the right skills, and enable greater access to finance and networks. We partner with Youth Business International to help young entrepreneurs to build resilient businesses in Indonesia and Turkey.
Read moreOur entrepreneurship projects equip young business owners with the right skills, and enable greater access to finance and networks. We partner with Youth Business International to help young entrepreneurs to build resilient businesses in Indonesia and Turkey.
Barriers to economic participation are rooted in childhood. Partnering with Women Win, we use sport, play and life skills to empower girls and young women through Futuremakers in Pakistan, Nigeria and Malaysia.
Read moreBarriers to economic participation are rooted in childhood. Partnering with Women Win, we use sport, play and life skills to empower girls and young women through Futuremakers in Pakistan, Nigeria and Malaysia.
We partner with the International Rescue Committee to uplift female market-stall owners in Sierra Leone and in Cameroon. Learn more about the multi-layered approach of these Futuremakers' entrepreneurship projects.
Read moreWe partner with the International Rescue Committee to uplift female market-stall owners in Sierra Leone and in Cameroon. Learn more about the multi-layered approach of these Futuremakers' entrepreneurship projects.
We help students prepare for the future of work, open up their career choices and improve their chances of getting a job. Learn more about Futuremakers' Work Experience Programme in China.
Watch the videoWe help students prepare for the future of work, open up their career choices and improve their chances of getting a job. Learn more about Futuremakers' Work Experience Programme in China.
Social and economic inequality, and the growing income gap within and between countries, is a shared challenge across our markets. Click here to learn more about our Futuremakers initiative across Europe and the Americas.
Watch the videoSocial and economic inequality, and the growing income gap within and between countries, is a shared challenge across our markets. Click here to learn more about our Futuremakers initiative across Europe and the Americas.
Exploring the education, employability and entrepreneurship paths under Futuremakers
Our partnerships
We partner with non-governmental organisations to implement Futuremakers programmes across 43 markets.
Established in 2019 by Standard Chartered Bank, the Standard Chartered Foundation (SCF) is a charitable foundation that tackles inequality by promoting greater economic inclusion for disadvantaged young people from low-income households, particularly girls and people with visual impairments.
SCF is the lead delivery partner for Futuremakers by Standard Chartered.
Challenges Worldwide supports small and growing businesses and people to grow and develop through improved management practice and processes; using innovative, practical training to enhance and strengthen peoples’ skills, capability and confidence.
During the course of 2021, Challenges has reached over 2,075 growth businesses, provided over 25,000 onsite consultancy days, across 16 countries. They have directly supported over 15,000 young professionals, experienced managers and leaders to advance their professional skills.
Enactus is the largest experiential learning platform dedicated to creating a better world while developing the next generation of entrepreneurial leaders and social innovators. This global network of business, academic and student leaders is unified by the vision to create a better, more sustainable world.
Annually, 72,000 students participate in Enactus programs on 1,730 university campuses in 35 countries. They have impacted 1.3 million lives through more than 3,800 social enterprises.
The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises, helping to restore health, safety, education, economic wellbeing, and power to people devastated by conflict and disaster.
Founded in 1933 at the call of Albert Einstein, the IRC is at work in over 40 countries and over 20 U.S. cities helping people to survive, reclaim control of their future, and strengthen their communities.
Founded over 80 years ago, Plan International is a global development and humanitarian organisation, working in 77 countries to advance children’s rights and equality for girls.
Plan International works with girls and boys in some of the world’s poorest communities, making sure they have access to the education, health care, clean water and future opportunities they need to thrive.
Sightsavers works in more than 30 countries in Africa and Asia to address avoidable blindness and visual impairment, eliminate neglected diseases and promote disability rights.
As part of Inclusive Futures, an initiative run by a consortium of global partners that improves access to health, education and employment for people with disabilities, Sightsavers builds the skills of jobseekers with disabilities and equips employers to become disability inclusive.
For over 70 years SOS Children’s Villages has been supporting vulnerable children and is now active in 137 countries and territories worldwide. They empower young people to acquire the skills they need to transition to the workplace and an independent life.
Every year SOS Children’s Villages supports over 1 million people worldwide and over 200,000 young people are supported with education and employability programmes.
Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) is an international development agency that aims to create a fair world for everyone through the lasting power of volunteering.
In 2020/21, VSO worked with over 3,000 volunteers to reach 12.9 million people in 29 countries across their programmes in health, education and livelihoods.
Youth Business International (YBI) is the global network for organisations supporting youth entrepreneurship. YBI supports young people around the world to start, grow and sustain businesses, leveraging entrepreneurship to create decent work and drive inclusive economic growth, whilst transforming livelihoods and strengthening communities.
The global network supports young entrepreneurs around the world through its 52 members in 46 countries.
Women Win is a global multi-dimensional women’s fund guided by the vision of a future where every girl and woman exercises their rights. Women Win advances the playing field that empowers adolescent girls and young women through sport and play.
Together with their implementing partners, Women Win have impacted the lives of over 4 million adolescent girls and young women in over 100 countries.
Find out more
Supporting communities through volunteering
Volunteering has a positive impact on our communities, employees and our broader business. That’s why we offer every employee three days paid leave to volunteer.
Volunteering provides an opportunity for our staff to share their time, skills and expertise with local partners working on issues that matter in their communities. It is also a great way to promote the mental and physical health of our employees.
In 2022, 39 per cent of our employees contributed more than 49,000 days of volunteering; over 80 per cent of these days were dedicated to Futuremakers, environment and community outreach.
What’s next?
In 2023, we will run global employee volunteering campaigns to drive greater participation. Through collaboration with strategic partners of Futuremakers by Standard Chartered, our global initiative to tackle inequality and promote economic inclusion, we will enrich our skills-based activities to deepen our support to the community. We will also conduct an impact study to help shape the 2024 employee volunteering strategy.
Meet our employee volunteers
More on our approach to banking
We’re committed to promoting social and economic development in our markets through our core business of banking