Mastercard announced news that former United States Trade Representative Michael Froman will join the company as vice chairman and president of strategic growth In a press release the payments company said the newly created role will be effective as of Monday April 16 The company said that in the role Froman will be in charge of integrating and aligning the companys global approach to doing business with governments cities financial inclusion and other business opportunities under one organization He will also be in charge of the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth and will join the companys management committee We are thrilled to add Mike to our team said Ajay Banga president and CEO of Mastercard in the press release At every stop in his career he has made a real positive impact whether it was in the public or the private sector in international trade development or finance His experience and insights will help advance our strategic growth Mastercard noted that back in 2015 it set a goal to bring 500 million new consumers and 40 million small and medium-sized businesses into the financial mainstream by 2020 The effort it said starts with access to financial tools and services Mastercard also said its focused on making a real impact by helping people get on the path to more prosperity Fromans team will look to expand public-private partnerships while driving enterprise partnerships with governments non-government organizations and foundations Froman and his team will also collaborate with organizations to create and manage its products including the Mastercard Lab for Financial Inclusion in Kenya With Mike at the helm and with these teams working seamlessly together we can build on our foundation to dramatically advance digital identity power and water efficiencies digital payments acceptance and government benefits as scalable solutions said Banga in the same press release Froman joins Mastercard from the Council on Foreign Relations and from the University of Virginias Miller Center of Public Affairs He will continue to serve as a Distinguished Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations From 2013 to 2017 Froman served as the US Trade Representative President Barack Obamas principal advisor and negotiator on international trade and investment issues He worked to open foreign markets for US goods and services reached trade agreements and enforced the rights of American workers farmers and firms Join The Conversation Related Items financial inclusion MasterCard Merchant Innovation News Whats Hot