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00:00And, Asahi, what a treat to have you here.
00:02Likewise. It's great to be here.
00:04So we are indeed living in interesting times,
00:08and you're right in the middle of a number of policy cross-currents.
00:13Just talk about what it's like to navigate the philanthropic space right now.
00:17What's changing? What are you doing differently?
00:19Sure. So there's a sense of panic and pessimism among nonprofit leaders.
00:24To speak plainly, in the U.S., around $769 million has already been lost year to date.
00:3222,000 nonprofit jobs have been slashed since the beginning of this year alone.
00:40And so nonprofit leaders are very, very concerned.
00:43We pulled together some of the largest nonprofit heads in Goldman Sachs headquarters
00:49to really talk about this, really to hear from them what they're experiencing.
00:53And, frankly, what do they need?
00:56The answer back, Laura, was loud and clear.
01:00We need unrestricted multi-year funding, please.
01:05And I said back to them, I said, we're happy to do that,
01:10but the amount that I'm giving won't necessarily change.
01:14And so if I do multi-year unrestricted,
01:17it means that this room of nonprofit leaders may get smaller next year
01:22because we're doing multi-year funding.
01:25And you may not be surprised by their answer back.
01:29Without a single dissenter, they said, do non-restricted multi-year funding.
01:34I'd love to be the one getting the multi-year funding,
01:37but if I'm not, I'm happy to know that this nonprofit next to me in the room
01:42is going to get it because there's such a critical need for it.
01:45And so we adjusted that RFP program to really provide unrestricted multi-year funding.
01:51So this really gets into the changing balance in public funding and private philanthropy.
01:57And from what you're saying, is it, you know,
02:00we know about some funding cuts from the U.S. government.
02:03The U.S. Supreme Court last month cleared the way for the administration
02:08to withhold more than $4 billion in foreign aid.
02:11I think you said as much as $9 billion, which has incredible impact around the world.
02:17Do you see the opportunity for philanthropies to step in and bridge the gap?
02:22In what ways are you trying to do that?
02:24So, Laurie, you're exactly right.
02:26Huge cuts that impact programs globally.
02:29On the flip side, we do see, versus last year, that private donating has gone up.
02:37Seven percent increase in private donors and a nine percent increase among corporate donors.
02:43That's the largest increase in a single year in over a decade.
02:48And so you are seeing this sort of rise.
02:50Now, is it going to fill that gap?
02:52No.
02:52I mean, the amount of government giving to philanthropic causes is just too great for the private sector
03:00to be able to fill all of that.
03:02But we're seeing those increases.
03:04And I have to say this.
03:07This conference is women, money, and power.
03:10A lot of the philanthropic funding disproportionately go to women and girls around the world.
03:18And so to the extent that those dollars continue to be cut, there will be fewer women and girls
03:24around the world with money or power.
03:27And so we need to really put a finger on that, know that, and really talk about it in terms
03:32of the impact.
03:33Now, what are nonprofit leaders doing?
03:36There have been really a number of responses.
03:38Some of them behind closed doors say, look, there's been some scope creep over the last
03:46several years.
03:47And just like any astute business leader, I'm not wasting a good crisis.
03:52And so my board and I are targeting our resources where we think we, at this point in time, need
03:59to target it to really service the individuals that we service, whether it's in education or
04:03health care, housing across the board.
04:06So some of them are doing that.
04:09Others are figuring out a partnership approach, right?
04:12If there are other orgs that are focused on the same thing, I've had to cut my funding
04:16for this particular program.
04:18Can I partner more with others in the sector, private actors, NGOs, to really make sure that
04:26the pain in the community is not as much felt?
04:29Just specifically in your role, first of all, has Goldman increased its giving?
04:33You mentioned the increase in corporate giving.
04:36And to what extent are you trying or able or thinking about playing a role in helping create
04:43new kinds of partnerships?
04:45So on the Goldman Sachs gift side, we have seen, because I'm president of the foundation
04:49and gift, so in that entity, we have seen an increase in giving.
04:54We have been working with the World Bank and the IFC on a facility called the Women Economic
05:01Opportunity Facility to provide capital to women entrepreneurs around the world.
05:05And we actually just published a report around the impact of that over the last 15 years.
05:11Surprise, surprise.
05:12Women are a good investment.
05:14They pay back their loans early and default less.
05:17And so those kinds of arrangements where we can get scale by partnering with the World
05:23Bank and the IFC are some of the ways in which we're trying to really make sure that
05:27we're being as impactful as possible.
05:30Okay.
05:30Let's talk about another challenging topic, which is some of the programs.
05:34We're going for it.
05:35Okay.
05:36The programs that were set up post-2020, Golden was really out front with many programs,
05:42but the One Million Black Women, which you've been very involved in.
05:46And I want to ask how it's been impacted by the rollback, the sort of pressure to rollback
05:51DEI initiatives and to what extent you've had to make changes.
05:56Sure.
05:56And so you're right.
05:58We launched our One Million Black Women Initiative in 2021.
06:02And we have made changes to that program to comply with law.
06:07And so we have a specific part of that program called One Million Black Women, Black in Business.
06:13It's focused on solopreneurs who are looking to become bona fide entrepreneurs.
06:19We changed the eligibility criteria for that program.
06:22There are no restrictions on gender or race to be a part of that specific program.
06:30And look, we want to make sure that we're still doing this work, but we're going to have to do it in a way that's compliant with the law.
06:37If the law changes, Goldman changes its program.
06:40That being said, the impact is unequivocally there.
06:44We are working with solopreneurs across now 47 states to give them free of charge, best-in-class education to help their business grow.
06:53And we're tracking their growth over time.
06:55And so for those who are committed to continuing this work and where the thesis is clear, they're continuing to do it and finding ways to do it and adjusting where necessary.
07:06So between what you've just said about nonprofits and how you've had to change that program, how are you feeling about all this work now?
07:14Like, are you optimistic that the change is possible, that these changes that you've been working so hard for?
07:20Or are you, you know, more reserved about the potential impact of the philanthropy?
07:26It's a tough time.
07:28But I think, and anyone who says otherwise, I think there's just, you know, not seeing the reality on the ground.
07:36That being said, I think that there are ways in which working with the nonprofit sector, we can navigate this.
07:44Really letting people know, here's what's being cut.
07:48Here's the ways in which we are, as a nonprofit sector, being nimble and thinking about how we best marshal our resources.
07:56That being said, we need your focus in these particular areas.
08:00Different financial tools, blended finance, more public-private partnerships, right?
08:06And so those are the kinds of things where we're working with nonprofits to figure out how best to have impact.
08:11You've also done a lot of work with small businesses around the world.
08:15Terrace is a big challenge for them, I'm sure.
08:18I just want to ask, what are you hearing from them, and how are you trying to help?
08:22So we really try to keep a pulse on small business owners.
08:25We have our 10,000 Small Businesses Program, which has surpassed its ambition of 10,000.
08:31We're about 17,000 small businesses as of this morning.
08:34And we also have launched a program in the U.K. where we have over 2,000 business owners and also in France.
08:40So what are we hearing from business owners?
08:42A number of things.
08:43For business owners that are involved in import-export, they are doing, they're raising their prices, though they don't want to.
08:51They've had to raise their prices.
08:53They're also trying to figure out ways in which they can control their costs in other areas to be able to manage the increase in prices.
09:03I, you know, sit with business owners and they'll talk to me about the price of door hardware
09:08or the plastic cup that the hot sauce comes in at a restaurant, that the price of that has gone up.
09:16Like, that's the level at which small business owners' incremental increases in prices really impact them.
09:23So they're passing some along, but they're also trying to see to what extent we can eat some of those costs
09:29because they don't really want to pass it along to their customer.
09:32They're also seeing customers reticent in holding back on making certain purchases, right?
09:38So a business owner said, I usually go to this trade fair, and I usually make X number of sales at the trade fair.
09:44This year, more people took my cart, right?
09:47And so they're navigating that.
09:53Okay.
09:54Let's talk about your own role in philanthropy.
09:57What's been the most difficult philanthropic decision that you've made?
10:02What are you most proud of?
10:03Well, the reality is I say no more than I say yes, right?
10:10Because there's so many amazing causes and organizations.
10:15And the other aspect of it is that you know with every decision that $1 here is a dollar that's not going there.
10:25And so you feel the weight of that.
10:28And if you didn't, you shouldn't be doing this job.
10:32And so I think so many of those no's I'm still haunted by where I'm like, you're amazing.
10:40How can I find some way to fund you, connect you with another org?
10:44And so those are some of the toughest decisions because we sit around the table and we say, wow, you're amazing.
10:51We'd love to fund this org.
10:52And what are you most proud of?
10:54Oh, lots.
10:56I think, I mean, I've been at Goldman 20 years.
11:00I've been in this seat for eight years.
11:02I think the impact we've had with the WeOff facility to help, you know, hundreds of thousands of women around the world to be able to get capital.
11:14We made a commitment of about 63 million and we were able to mobilize 3 billion to women entrepreneurs around the world and really prove out the case around women entrepreneurs being a good investment.
11:29We published it last week.
11:31The IFC is talking about it, the World Bank.
11:33So I think that's pretty remarkable.
11:35Going forward, what are you most passionate about?
11:37What do you want to have an impact on over the next five years?
11:41You know, we've been talking more with small business owners and nonprofits about AI.
11:47Like we'd be remiss if we weren't.
11:50They're telling us that 30 percent of them say I'm already, this is nonprofits, already using AI and seeing an increase in funding on the back of that.
12:00And I'm like, well, how are you doing that?
12:02They said we have never really dug in to our donor data in a really comprehensive way.
12:09And AI is allowing us to be able to upload all of that information and really look for trends, patterns, what's happened over time in that huge data set of donors.
12:20And so that's been really interesting to see.
12:23Small business owners, 70 percent of them say I'm already using AI, which we shouldn't be surprised about, right?
12:28Because they've got little margin, right?
12:31And so they need to find ways to be ever more efficient.
12:35And so, Laura, I'm excited about the potential of using AI to have even greater impact and have a greater scale to more of those in need around the world, including women and girls.
12:51Excellent.
12:52And now, you know, Gemma mentioned that you're a partner at Goldman.
12:58You're on the management committee at Goldman.
13:00I'm just wondering, in your early life, when did you have an ambition or did you have an ambition to actually become that?
13:10Because it just seems like such a star to reach for.
13:13I'll go back to Maslow's hierarchy.
13:17As I say, we were a family of seven.
13:20I have four siblings.
13:22And we were values rich but materially poor.
13:27And so for me, when I went to undergrad and law school, at the very beginning, my goal was to be able to help my immediate family.
13:35And as my experience grew, my influence grew, my power grew, then did my ambition become greater?
13:47And it's about being a servant leader.
13:50How can I, who am blessed and humbled to have this platform, use it in a way that years later I will look back on it and say,
13:59we were able to accomplish this for women, for girls, for small business owners.
14:04In the U.K., we've had a manifesto of small business owners who are giving us ideas on what they need to grow.
14:10And that my boys, Max and Sebastian, would be excited to see, like, when mom was away, these are all the things that she was working on.
14:20And so it's a matter of not just achieving the seat, but how are you in the room?
14:25How are you using it?
14:27And really leveraging it for the maximum impact.
14:31Asahi, you're an incredible role model.
14:33We're so lucky to have you here.
14:34Thank you so much.
14:35Thank you, Laura.
14:35Thank you, Laura.
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