Goldman Sachs kicked off the New Year with a round of investments as part of its One Million Black Women Initiative, named for the bank’s goal of impacting the lives of at least 1 million Black women by 2030. The investment bank is committed to spending more than $10 billion over the next decade to advance racial equity and economic opportunity for Black women and $100 million in philanthropic support to address the dual disproportionate gender and racial biases that Black women have faced for generations, which have only been exacerbated by the pandemic.
Last year, Goldman Sachs reported a significant gap in asset ownership – notably stocks and homes – between Black women and their White counterparts. The report showed that single Black women are six times less likely to own stocks than single White men, are nearly 50% less likely to own a home, and only a mere 0.5% of single Black women have their own business, a rate that is 24 times lower than single White men. The report pointed mostly to “lower earnings” among single Black women as the reason behind less relative ownership of high-return assets such as stocks, homes, and businesses.
The series of 17 new investments, partnerships, and grants reflects One Million Black Women’s ongoing commitment to invest in the core pillars of healthcare, job creation and workforce development, education, affordable housing, digital connectivity, financial health, and access to capital that impact Black women at every stage in their lives. Many of the organizations were identified through the more than 50 One Million Black Women listening sessions held with nearly 20,000 Black women from around the country, and the One Million Black Women Advisory Council.
New investment capital will be provided to expand the impact of the following seven organizations and entrepreneurs across the country:
- Chime Solutions (Atlanta) – mission of creating jobs and economic opportunity for people in underserved communities.
- Grameen America Elevate Initiative (National) – microloans and provide financial training , asset and credit building tools to underserved Black women entrepreneurs across the country.
- Funding U (Atlanta, national) – loans to high-performing low and moderate-income students attending four-year, not-for-profit colleges across the United States.
- Wonderschool (San Francisco, National) – reduce “childcare deserts” by scaling access to high-quality, flexible care for children and families.
- On the Road (Dallas) – expand existing operations and increase the number of women in high-paying, skilled auto repair jobs through an extensive apprenticeship program.
- Sendero Verde (NYC) – finance the construction of a public-private, mixed-use, mixed-income development in East Harlem which will consist of a Harlem Children’s Zone K-5 Promise Academy, and affordable and workforce housing units.
- South Meadows (Rome, GA) – to finance the construction of a 100% affordable residential development with 80 multi-family units, an onsite educational facility and community farm.
New philanthropic grants will be provided to expand the impact of the following six organizations across the country:
- Black Girls Breathing (National) – to address systemic issues impacting Black women and girls’ access to health care by providing free and accessible mental health care resources.
- BlackFem (National) – to transform school-based learning so that girls of color have the skills, habits, and resources to build and sustain personal wealth.
- Corner to Corner (Nashville) – to help underestimated entrepreneurs in Nashville plan, start and grow their own small businesses.
- Crittenton Services of Greater Washington (Washington, DC) – to support the social and emotional skills development of middle and high school-aged girls from low-income families to complete college and become economically secure
- Jeremiah Program (National) – to help disrupt the cycle of poverty for single mothers and their children through quality early childhood education, a safe and affordable place to live, empowerment and life skills training.
- The Fund for the School District of Philadelphia – to increase the hiring and retention of BIPOC teachers working in Philadelphia schools
Four new partnerships will support the work of the following organizations:
- The King Center (Atlanta) – to support the launch of the reimagined Beloved Community Leadership Academy over the next two years, creating a One Million Black Women cohort for Black girls from across the country
- Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation (Oakland, CA) – to combat food insecurity and low literacy rates, the partnership will employ Black woman-owned restaurants to provide meals in high needs areas and help distribute 500,000 books through new Eat. Learn. Play. Town Libraries.
- New Leaders (National) – to recruit and train principals of color through a one-year pilot program to be developed to support Black women in education leadership
- The Tory Burch Foundation (National) – partner with the venture leaders at the Fearless Fund and peer coaching platform The Cru to scale a grants program and community for entrepreneurs of color
“We are proud to lift up the brilliant work of organizations positively impacting Black women and girls,” said Asahi Pompey, Global Head of the Office of Corporate Engagement and President of the Goldman Sachs Foundation. “The systemic gender and racial biases Black women have faced won’t be reversed overnight, but with continued investment, coordination, and focus, we have good reasons to be optimistic.”