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.
