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Goldman Sachs Launches 10,000 Women


    The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE: GS) today announced 10,000
    Women, a global initiative that will provide 10,000 underserved women,
    predominantly in developing and emerging markets, with a business and
    management education. The initiative will invest in a largely untapped
    yet significant resource - the exponential power of women as
    entrepreneurs and managers. Through partnerships between universities
    in the U.S. and Europe and business schools in emerging and developing
    countries, 10,000 Women also will seek to have a lasting impact on the
    quality and capacity of business education in developing regions
    around the world.

    The initial partnerships will support pragmatic, flexible and
    shorter term programs, resulting in business and management
    certificates that can open doors for thousands of women whose
    financial and practical circumstances prevent them from receiving a
    traditional business education. There will also be a select number of
    MBA and BA degrees conferred.

    "Those of us who champion open markets must also do our part to
    create more opportunity to ensure economic growth is more broadly
    shared," said Lloyd C. Blankfein, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
    of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. "10,000 Women focuses on a critical,
    yet often overlooked area where we believe Goldman Sachs can use its
    resources and convening power to help build the foundation to expand
    the ranks of businesswomen, managers and entrepreneurs around the
    world."

    In addition to funding tuition for business and management
    education, 10,000 Women will work with development organizations to
    better understand the local challenges girls and young women must
    overcome so more of them can realize economic opportunity and achieve
    their full potential. Many of these partnerships will seek to
    establish mentoring and networking channels for women and encourage
    career development opportunities.

    10,000 Women has been in development for more than a year and was
    inspired by economic research from Goldman Sachs that showed the
    powerful effects of greater labor force participation of women on
    economies and societies. Goldman Sachs will commit $100 million to
    this initiative over the next five years. In addition, the people of
    Goldman Sachs will contribute their time and expertise through
    classroom instruction and mentoring.

    Increasing the entrepreneurial talent and managerial pool in
    developing and emerging economies - especially among women - is one of
    the most important means to reducing inequality and ensuring more
    shared economic growth. Goldman Sachs also will announce in the coming
    months additional 10,000 Women program partnerships that will provide
    more business and management education for disadvantaged women in the
    United States.

    Initial Academic Partners:

    -- American University of Afghanistan

    -- American University in Cairo

    -- Brown University

    -- Columbia Business School

    -- Harvard Business School

    -- Indian School of Business

    -- Pan-African University, Nigeria

    -- School of Finance and Banking, Rwanda

    -- Stanford Graduate School of Business

    -- Thunderbird School of Global Management

    -- United States International University, Kenya

    -- University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business

    -- Judge Business School, University of Cambridge

    -- University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

    -- William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

    -- Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania

    Delivering Business and Management Education to 10,000 Women

    10,000 Women will pursue a variety of ways to provide a business
    and management education to underserved women. For instance, schools
    will work together to establish or expand certificate programs ranging
    from 5 weeks to 6 months that could include courses in marketing,
    accounting, market research, writing a business plan, strategic
    planning, accessing capital and e-commerce.

    There will also be a strong focus on capacity building: developing
    curricula, creating local case study models and "Training the
    Trainers" to improve the level of faculty training and expertise as
    well as increasing the overall quality of business education.

    More detailed information about 10,000 Women as well as specific
    program details for each of the program´s initial markets can be found
    in a fact sheet available for download at 10000women.org

    Women Hold Up Half the Sky

    Goldman Sachs just released a research report, "Women Hold Up Half
    the Sky," which demonstrates that strengthening education for women is
    a critical and underutilized lever for economic growth in developing
    and emerging economies.

    -- The impact of female education is felt not only in women´s
    lifetimes, but also in the health, education and productivity
    of future generations as well. The economic growth that
    results from higher education feeds a virtuous cycle that
    supports continued improvements in education and health.

    -- Narrowing the existing gender gap in employment could increase
    income per capita by as much as 10%-14% above our baseline
    forecasts in the BRICs and other key emerging markets by 2020.
    Higher levels of female education could also have raised trend
    GDP growth rates in these countries by 0.2% over the past
    decade.

    Goldman Sachs Corporate Engagement

    10,000 Women is one of Goldman Sachs´ largest corporate engagement
    programs and is a reflection of the firm´s commitment to initiatives
    that help advance the continued development of markets and economies.
    These initiatives include Goldman Sachs Gives, a donor-advised fund;
    The Goldman Sachs Foundation, an education foundation that has made
    over $100 million in grants since 2000; the Goldman Sachs Center for
    Environmental Markets, which works with independent partners in the
    academic and non-governmental organization community to examine
    market-based solutions to environmental challenges; and The Public
    Service Program, a competitive global initiative that gives top
    employees the opportunity to work for a nonprofit organization for up
    to one year. In addition, more than 20,000 employees participated in
    2007 in the firm´s Community TeamWorks program, which provides
    employees a day to volunteer in team-based projects coordinated with
    local non-profit organizations around the world.

    Goldman Sachs is a leading global investment banking, securities
    and investment management firm that provides a wide range of services
    worldwide to a substantial and diversified client base that includes
    corporations, financial institutions, governments and high net worth
    individuals. Founded in 1869, it is one of the oldest and largest
    investment banking firms. The firm is headquartered in New York and
    maintains offices in London, Frankfurt, Tokyo, Hong Kong and other
    major financial centers around the world.