Inside the Circles – Details, episodes & analysis

 On the latest episode of "Inside the Circles," Mastercard’s podcast about the future of work and the topics of now, host Latoya Bennett-Johnson chats with Thompson, a two-time intern at Mastercard who is now an account management director for North America, about her career journey and her passion for uplifting her community. 

Brianna Thompson grew up mere miles from the opulent playgrounds of Hamptons, but her hometown of Hampton Bays is working class, and she was the first generation in her family to attend college. Mindful of the sobering statistics about low-income first-generation college students — only 11% complete their degree within six years — she established an annual scholarship at her high school for these students.

That was only five years after she herself graduated from high school. Thompson started working at Mastercard upon graduation from Baruch College with a bachelor's in business administration and quickly advanced while working toward her MBA. But immediately after being hired, she starting thinking about how she could help other first-generation college students gain confidence and continue their education.

With her signing bonus, she created a self-funded scholarship to be awarded to a Hampton Bays High School graduate who would also be a first-generation college student, and she continues to fund the award every year. After being named one of Mastercard's volunteers of the year through the company's CEO Force for Good Awards, she was able to fund five scholarships with a donation from the company. Tune in to their insightful chat... 

On the latest episode of “Inside the Circles,” Mastercard’s podcast about the future of work and the topics of now, host Latoya Bennett-Johnson sat down with Chad Wallace, who is the executive vice president and global head of Commercial Solutions. After a robust career with Goldman Sachs and Capital One, Wallace joined Mastercard a little over a year ago to lead the company’s commercial and B2B businesses, including product, engineering, and sales. 

Three years ago, on National Coming Out Day, Wallace penned a letter to his younger self. He had written the draft ten times before he felt comfortable with it. After years, both in his youth and early career, of being reserved and keeping his cards close to his chest, Wallace was ready to raise his voice and put it all out there – the experiences he had growing up as a young gay man in rural Tennessee, the evolving relationships with his family and what it means to show up as your authentic self in your personal and professional life.

Wallace reflects on his letter and all that has occurred in his life that led him to writing it. “Even in some of the toughest things through my life, there were really good things that ended up happening because of that,” says Wallace. “I think I’m a better person at the end of the day because of the things that I went through during my childhood and upbringing.”

As we close out Pride Month, two of Mastercard’s LGBTQ+ employee leaders discuss what inclusion means to them and why it’s important to bring their authentic selves to work. On the latest episode, host Latoya Bennett-Johnson chats with Mira Belgrave and Ashley Thomas, both of the company’s PRIDE business resource group, about the power of visibility, the need for intersectionality and the meaning of bravery. 

During the nearly 18 months of constant anxiety, stress and fatigue, the pandemic has affected the global population in unimaginable ways. For millions, the line between work and life has been blurred, and there should be no shame in admitting that our wellbeing is sometimes suffering.

On the latest episode of "Inside the Circles,” host Latoya Bennett-Johnson chats with Mastercard's Chief People Officer Michael Fraccaro about the company’s approach to wellness: “We put our hand on people's back, not in their face,” he says. 

Even before the pandemic, wellbeing was a priority for Fraccaro. He noticed employees working long hours and travelling a lot, but there seemed to be a stigma against speaking up about feeling overwhelmed, he says.

Once the lockdown hit, Fraccaro recognized that keeping the workforce happy and healthy was a key priority, so he and his team implemented meeting-free days to combat Zoom fatigue, shorter summer hours on Fridays and global benefits including COVID leave for employees to recover from the disease, to care for others, or to get vaccinated.

Fraccaro says it has been an unprecedented year, and this whole wellness journey for employees comes down to a few key attributes: "Take care of yourself and find out what works for you," he says. "Look out for each other and then focus on what matters."  

As the one-year milestone of the COVID-19 pandemic fades into the rear view, certain insights have crystallized. For starters, consumers are more willing to reduce their own carbon footprint, according to a recent global consumer survey commissioned by Mastercard, and they’re demanding that brands be more sustainable as well.

On the latest episode of "Inside the Circles,” Mastercard’s podcast about the future of work and the topics of now, host Latoya Bennett-Johnson chats with Sue Kelsey, the executive vice president who oversees inclusive and sustainable digital products for Consumer Solutions, and Paul Trueman, a senior vice president in Cyber & Intelligence Solutions who champions sustainable and eco-friendly cards. 

They discuss their personal career journeys and how they've blended passion, purpose and practicality into their daily roles to drive significant change – from curbing first-use plastic in payment cards to unifying the efforts of merchants, banks, cities and consumers to restore 100 million trees by 2025 through the Priceless Planet Coalition, which Kelsey leads for Mastercard.

“A lot of what we’re trying to get done here is groundbreaking,” she says. “And it’s not always easy work. It’s the right work. It’s the meaningful work, but it doesn’t always make it easy.” 

What does it mean to support woman at work? It’s more than just clearing a path for a few to the C-suite. It’s about creating a culture where woman’s perspectives are valued and where their needs are met.

In the latest episode of "Inside the Circles,” Mastercard’s podcast about the future of work and the topics of now, host Latoya Bennett-Johnson chats with London-based Ronel Lundall, an executive vice president for customer delivery for Mastercard’s New Payment Platforms business, and Dublin-based Amy Neale, a senior vice president who leads global initiatives for fintechs.

In honor of Women's History Month, they discuss their personal career journeys, the need for authenticity in leadership, and the role of mentorship in corporate life, both as mentors and mentees.

Black History Month is a time to celebrate the contributions and achievements of the Black community. At Mastercard, it’s also a time to celebrate our people, their efforts and our organizational commitments to equality and inclusion. Part of what that looks like is our In Solidarity commitment and building more partnerships with historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) – helping us attract, attain and advance Black employees. Hosted by Latoya Bennett-Johnson, the first episode of the newly-relaunched “Inside the Circles” podcast featuring Alissa ‘Dr. Jay’ Abdullah, deputy chief information security officer and Les Matthews, executive vice president, Sales and Servicing, North America, chat about the impact and influence of HBCUs. Latoya chats about her days at Hampton University and asks Les about Clark Atlanta with Dr. Jay remembering her days at Savannah State.

Welcome back to "Inside the Circles." We’ve learned a lot over the last 12 months. The value of connection with each other, the importance of real conversations and the need to think about both the here and now – especially when it comes to the future of work, life and culture.

To help meet these needs, we’re re-introducing our podcast with a new host: Latoya Bennett Johnson of Employer Brand Marketing. She’ll bring you open, honest conversations with Mastercard employees and executives about a wide range of topics that matter in 2021. We'd love for you to join us.

SPECIAL EDITION: Since this special edition of "Inside the Circles" revolves around the dual manager relationship, we thought it would make perfect sense to chat with two execs who are no stranger to the above - especially during this time of objective setting.

Recorded inside Mastercard's Storylab, guest host Chris Meyrick, executive vice president, Human Resources, International Markets chats with Jennifer Rademaker, executive vice president,  Global Customer Delivery and Carlo Enrico, president, Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region.

So why are dual reporting lines so vital? Carlo sums it up nicely. "We are a global company because we are in a global business. We have a global brand. We have global products and solutions and we need to have a global organization to run our global strategy," he says. "At the same time, however, we need to serve local needs and cooperation across business lines is the name of the game. The dual management infrastructure is definitely a key tool."   

Grab some java because Jennifer and Carlo bring us some fabulous insight and will surely spark inspiration for your own objective setting. It's a must-listen...

We understand the kind of dread that self-assessments can drudge up, so don't worry... Navigating the choppy waters of corporate life isn't easy, but good news! We’re here to help.  

Self-assessment season is about to get less scary. We’re psyched to debut the fourth episode of “Inside the Circles,” our popular advice exchange podcast produced inside Mastercard’s Storylab and hosted by Kerri Warner.

Since our fourth episode revolves all around self reviews, we thought it would make perfect sense to have an executive who is highly skilled in both giving and receiving feedback - Parag Mehta, executive director for Mastercard's Center for Inclusive Growth. He chats with Brianna Thompson, an associate analyst in Products and Innovation. 

From advice on how to ensure you're thinking about your self-evaluations all year long to how to get comfortable talking about yourself in the first place, Parag and Brianna's insights will surely spark some great inspiration for your own self-reviews -- all in roughly 12 minutes. It's a must listen.