Citi Foundation

Working in new ways to help build equitable and resilient communities

The Citi Foundation, a private foundation funded by Citi, works to promote economic progress and improve the lives of people in low-income communities around the world. We invest in efforts that increase financial inclusion, catalyze job opportunities for youth, and reimagine approaches to building economically vibrant communities. The Citi Foundation's “More than Philanthropy” approach leverages the enormous expertise of Citi and its people to fulfill our mission and drive thought leadership and innovation.

For more information, please visit our global website.

Pathways to Progress

Pathways to Progress is a job skills-building initiative that addresses the persistent global issue of youth unemployment and is one of the flagship programs among Citi Foundation's three areas of focus. Through a combination of Citi Foundation philanthropic investments, Citi employee volunteers, career development opportunities at Citi, and research, Pathways to Progress aims to correct skills mismatches and equip young people, particularly those from underserved communities, with the skills and networks needed to succeed in today's rapidly changing economy.

For more information, please visit our global website.

Youth Co:Lab

Youth Co:Lab is the largest movement in the Asia-Pacific region to support young social entrepreneurs in starting and growing businesses that accelerate achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Since its inception in 2017, Youth Co:Lab has supported more than 11,000 young entrepreneurs and helped catalyze the establishment and expansion of close to 1,240 social enterprises. The number of people participating in the events has reached around 200,000. Youth Co:Lab has presence in 28 countries/territories in the Asia-Pacific region.

The program was launched in Japan in 2019. Every year Youth Co:Lab hosts “Japan Dialogues”, a symposium in which experts and young entrepreneurs participate in discussions, and “Social Innovation Challenge Japan”, a SDG entrepreneur contest.

Winners of the Social Innovation Challenge Japan are invited to the “Springboard Program”, an accelerator program with its own network, and the Asia Summit, which brings together young entrepreneurs and supporters from government and corporate sectors. In addition, winners are mentored by volunteers from Citi Japan, who use their expertise and experience to help these young entrepreneurs commercialize their business models.

Past events and winners in Japan are as follows.

Ato-oshi Online

In 2020, Citi Foundation and Sodateage Net, a Certified Specified Nonprofit Organization (NPO) that supports youth employment, launched a fully online employability support program called Ato-oshi Online. The program targets people aged 15 to 29 (students, unemployed, and people in unstable employment), providing free support services with the aim of helping them to secure employment or change jobs so that they can find work “pathways” and take a step forward in their lives. In 2021, the program was expanded to include an information service and employability support service using Easy Japanese for people who do not speak Japanese as their first language as well as those who have some difficulty understanding and communicating in Japanese.

Ato-oshi Online has set up an online community to prevent youth from becoming isolated and provides individual career counseling, recruitment training (mock interviews, etc.), and training and courses to improve skills. In addition, the program offers small business know-how and work experience opportunities to help youth generate income independently.

Citi's employees encourage program participants by sharing their work and recruitment experience in online networking sessions.

For more information, please visit Ato-oshi Online.

Financial Inclusion

Citi Foundation supports efforts to develop a more inclusive financial system that provides greater access to financial products, services and capital to low-income communities and individuals.

Financial Literacy Program for Young Parents

Citi has provided Financial Literacy Program for Young Parents in Okinawa Prefecture since 2016 with the aim of breaking the chain of poverty across generations. The program provides seminars that enable single parents and young parents in difficult financial circumstances to acquire the information, knowledge, and skills necessary to improve household budgets and solve other financial problems. The program is co-hosted by Citi Foundation and the Okinawa Single Parents and Children's Welfare Association (Okiboren).

The seminar content is structured to help participants improve their overall quality of life and covers household budget management know-how, including effective methods for reviewing finances and budgets and fun ways to control expenses, as well as basic information about social insurance and how to use government support. Parent and child sessions are held to raise awareness of budget management in the home and provide children with a broader and more objective perspective of money and work.

(*) In 2020 we replaced “Life Skills and Money Management for Young Parents” with ”Food Packages and Learning Aid”, an emergency relief program that provided food delivery and digital learning support for child-rearing families in Okinawa Prefecture who have been financially affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.