Good morning, Broadsheet readers! A U.K. Ads council objects to ads it says objectify women, an all-female city council takes power, and Goldman Sachs ends Launch With GS. Have a thoughtful Thursday.
– From launch to sunset. Over the past five years, Goldman Sachs’s program Launch With GS has been a well-known player in the diverse funding ecosystem. In 2018, the investment bank pledged to invest $500 million—later upped to $1 billion—in companies and funds led and founded by women and people of color.
Now, Goldman has shut down Launch With GS, saying that it met its $1 billion investment goal in June 2023. Regina Green, a 17-year Goldman vet who was the most recent head of the program, announced her departure from the bank last week.
What’s unusual about the situation is that Goldman didn’t celebrate the milestone with a big, flashy announcement. Instead, it quietly updated Launch With GS’s website to the past tense and reassigned a handful of staffers working on the program to other roles.
After I contacted Goldman about the end of the program, the bank connected me with Asahi Pompey, its global head of corporate engagement and foundation president. She calls Launch With GS a “success story” and says that the principles behind Launch With GS—finding “fantastic investments” from a more diverse pipeline—are now integrated into Goldman’s asset and wealth management division.
The firm is pivoting its diversity focus to One Million Black Women, its 2021 pledge to invest $10 billion in investment capital and $100 million in philanthropic aid to address gender and racial bias faced by Black women. While Launch With GS focused on venture investments, One Million Black Women invests across a wider array of asset classes.
The sunsetting of Launch With GS comes in a tough market for founders and emerging managers. Funds raised by emerging managers declined by almost 35% between 2021 and 2022. In 2023, emerging managers secured less than $20 billion in commitments for the first time since 2016.
Read my full story here.
Emma Hinchliffe
[email protected]
@_emmahinchliffe
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ALSO IN THE HEADLINES
- Not ad-ing up.The U.K.’s Advertising Standards Authority banned a Calvin Klein ad featuring musician FKA Twigs and warned against two others with Kylie Jenner because they “objectified women,” according to the advertisement regulation agency. Both women signed off on the advertisements, however, and Calvin Klein noted the “confidence” and “empowerment” the women described feeling from the advertisements. Time
- Magnificent 7.The first all-female city council in the history of St. Paul, Minn., was sworn in on Tuesday. The seven councilwomen come from a variety of different careers like education and civil engineering and represent one of the youngest and most diverse city councils among large American cities. New York Times
- Taylor's turnout.The vice president of the European Commission wants to recruit Taylor Swift to help mobilize more voters for the 2024 European Parliament election amid record-low turnout rates and the rise of far-right political groups. VP Margaritis Schinas asked that Swift, who was credited with registering 35,000 new American voters in 2022, issue a similar call to the polls during the upcoming European leg of her Eras Tour.Forbes
- DEI forever. A survey of U.S. Executives found that while a majority have expanded their DEI efforts over the past year, a majority has also experienced more backlash since the Supreme Court overturned affirmative action last year. Legal attacks on firms like the Fearless Fund, the venture capital firm that invests in businesses founded by women of color, led the executives to tweak the frameworks of their DEI programs instead of ditching them altogether. Axios
MOVERS AND SHAKERS: Simple appointed Krista Scott-Dixon as chief resolutions officer. Supermajority announced Taylor Salditch as executive director. Hair care brand Amika promoted Chelsea Riggs to chief executive officer.
ON MY RADAR
How motherhood transformed tennis great Naomi Osaka Glamour
Barbie launches ‘Women in Film’ doll collection Variety
Rashida Tlaib gave Palestinian Americans a voice. Then came the war Washington Post
PARTING WORDS
"Sometimes I’m speaking not only for myself, but I’m being a voice for others that can’t."
—Gymnast Simone Biles on dealing with her trauma in public
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