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Long-time Goldman Sachs (GS) CEO used to be “scared to death” when presenting to senior leaders at the firm in his younger years. That’s one reason why he particularly impressed with a group of millennial-aged analysts who pitched him and the partnership committee.
“I can’t remember a moment where I wasn’t scared to death doing it and I’m thinking to myself, ‘boy, who are these people?'” he told Yahoo Finance.
Tuesday’s event was the firm’s third-annual Analyst Impact Fund, a contest where analysts from around the world compete for the chance to win up to $150,000 for non-profits in their communities. The fund is part of Goldman Sachs Gives, which is a donor-advised fund where managing directors at the firm recommend grants for non-profits. Since its inception in 2010, the fund has given more than $1.3 billion in grants to more than 6,000 organizations. The firm recently opened up what’s historically been an outlet for the most senior leaders to analysts who’ve been with the firm for at least one year.
This year’s field began with 66 teams of analysts, with a range of charities, from technology that would improve medical devices for infants suffering from respiratory distress to providing access to technology that would help diagnose tuberculosis.
This year’s first-prize was awarded to a London-based team who pitched on behalf of Bondh-E-Shams, a non-profit that enables access to safe water via solar energy.
While there were many impressive ideas submitted, Blankfein explained that Goldman is thoughtful about where it allocates its philanthropic dollars.
“These are real dollars that are beings spent, and we’d like every dollar to have an impact of ten dollars, not every dollar have an impact of ten cents. And so, we’re kind of ruthless in requiring things that are proven, that will work, where we think that we’ll get a lot of leverage for our investment. Just like in our core commercial activities, we want to see the same thing out of our philanthropic activities.”
That golden age really wasn’t that golden
Blankfein, 63, joined Goldman Sachs in 1982 through J. Aron & Co., a commodities trading firm, and eventually worked his way up the ranks. He’s held the role of CEO for 12 years. The son of a postal worker who grew up in public housing and put himself through Harvard, Blankfein still sees an opportunity for young people.
“[Everybody] talks back to some golden age which wasn’t that, you know, really wasn’t that golden. In mid-century, really, before there was such an awareness of gender rights, civil rights to the same extent. We’re aware of the problems that we have today, and I don’t want to diminish them, but the opportunities are better than they were, and there’s plenty of opportunity to make them better still.”