At Davos in January, I announced a new firmwide policy around our board diversity initiative: as of July 2020, Goldman Sachs is not taking any company public (in the US or Western Europe) unless the company has at least one diverse board member. And, during 2021, we pledged to increase this minimum to two. Since the policy has gone into effect, we’ve taken 54 companies public and I’ve been encouraged by the many client requests to help source board talent.
Underpinning this commitment is our belief that diverse perspectives lead to better governance and stronger company performance. It is important to go beyond statements or policies alone and to ensure that we as a firm are in the best possible position to help our clients meet and exceed these goals, and put resources in place to do so. To that end, we have a dedicated team supporting this initiative that I’ve been proud to work with, and we continue to scale our efforts to connect diverse talent with board opportunities.
We also recognize the unique opportunity we have to support diverse talent, prompting the launch of our Spotlight initiative. Spotlight focuses on a select group of talented board candidates who have not yet served on public boards and provides them with a platform, exposure and networking opportunities to accelerate and ease their entry to corporate board service, ensuring board candidates have the opportunity to make meaningful and lasting contributions. I joined the launch of our initiative today and was humbled by the level of talent in our virtual room.
We’re already bearing witness to the progress made, including several board placements, and are galvanized to further build on this momentum as we continue to advance these goals. While I am energized by the progress we’ve seen to-date, there is so much more to do.
Originally published on LinkedIn.com