2022 Analyst Impact Fund

• Program Scope & Impact: The seventh annual Goldman Sachs Analyst Impact Fund has deployed $3.3 million in grants to date, with 4,400 analysts from 48 offices participating since its inception seven years ago.
• Current Event Metrics: The 2022 finals featured a $550,000 prize pool, narrowed down from 1,000 initial analyst submissions to 112 semi-finalists, and finally to four finalist teams competing for the $250,000 first-place award.
• Strategic Shift: For the first time, the competition required all finalist teams to present in person, with representatives traveling from Singapore, Frankfurt, Copenhagen, and London to pitch in New York.
• Judging Process: A panel of judges, including Jim Cramer (who noted he could not vote due to compliance rules), determined the winners, while a "fan favorite" vote among attendees also influenced the distribution of funds.
• Winner Announcement: Team IntelliHealth (telehealth) was awarded the first-place prize of $250,000; Upwardly Global won the "fan favorite" award of $25,000; and Climate Science received $75,000, while Witness received $25,000 for fourth place.

Finalist Presentations & Investment Proposals

• Team IntelliHealth (Winner - $250,000)

  • Mission: Utilizes an open-source telemedicine platform to bridge the gap for 1 billion people lacking healthcare access, specifically targeting low-literacy and low-income women in rural areas.
  • Current Impact: Has reached 5.3 million people, trained 2,500 frontline volunteers, and conducted 150,000 teleconsultations (60% with women) since inception.
  • Funding Allocation:
    • $200,000 for platform upgrades: Increasing teleconsultation capacity to 450,000/year, expanding clinical diagnostic protocols from 80 to 200, and adding 12 new languages.
    • $50,000 for implementation: Customized training for frontline volunteers.
  • Strategic Alignment: Leverages Goldman Sachs' 2021 Inclusive Growth focus on accessible healthcare to scale operations in India, Kyrgyzstan, and Syria, with a goal of reaching 20 million people by 2024.
  • Technical Resilience: The application is designed to function on basic cell phones and low-bandwidth networks, with medical protocols embedded in the app to allow offline diagnosis.

• Team Climate Science ($75,000)

  • Mission: Condenses inaccessible academic climate journals into digestible formats to educate the public on actionable systemic changes.
  • Current Reach: Scaled from a single Instagram account to a platform with 300,000 course completions, content in 17 languages, and collaboration with developing nations like Djibouti and the Philippines.
  • Funding Allocation:
    • 30% for "Gamification": Introducing profile badges and rankings to increase user engagement.
    • 40% for "Careers Pipeline": Creating a centralized resource to direct 60,000 potential candidates to 4,200 sustainability job applications over two years.
    • 30% for "Events Platform": Enabling global community building, workshops, and hackathons via a new technical infrastructure.
  • Corporate Partnership Opportunities: Proposes Goldman Sachs promotes ESG roles, offers mentorship on sustainability, and sponsors events like "Carbonomics" conferences.

• Team Witness ($25,000)

  • Mission: Trains activists to use video and technology to document human rights violations and ensure evidence meets legal admissibility standards.
  • Impact History: Trained 13,000 activists; notably helped secure a 14-year prison sentence for a Congolese warlord who conscripted child soldiers using video evidence.
  • Challenges Addressed: Courts often reject video evidence due to quality standards, deepfakes, and misinformation; the organization develops AI tools to verify authenticity and protect activist safety.
  • Funding Allocation:
    • $80,000 for technological infrastructure to meet legal proof standards.
    • $50,000 for in-person training for up to 200 frontline activists.
    • $80,000 to hire two regional staff members (Middle East and Africa) to expand local presence.
    • $40,000 for surge response resources to react to immediate crises, such as the situation in Iran.
  • Employee Engagement: Leverages Goldman's 110+ languages to help translate and contextualize critical resources for human rights defenders.

• Team Upwardly Global (Fan Favorite - $25,000)

  • Mission: Connects 2.2 million college-educated immigrants and refugees to the U.S. workforce by dismantling implicit bias in hiring through AI.
  • Problem Statement: Immigrants and refugees face unemployment or underemployment due to non-standardized resume formats, costing the U.S. an estimated $10 billion in lost tax revenue.
  • Proposed Solution: An AI-driven platform that standardizes resumes into culturally accepted formats and connects candidates to employers based solely on skills.
  • Impact Metrics:
    • Projected $1.24 billion economic impact by 2025.
    • Average salary increase for placed candidates from $9,000 to $68,000 (650% increase).
    • 53% of placed candidates enter STEM fields; 35% increase in employer Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) goals.
  • Ukrainian Refugee Pilot: Developing a rapid response portal to integrate 9,000 Ukrainian refugees into the U.S. workforce by the end of 2023, modeled after the Afghan refugee response portal.
  • Case Study: Gracie Espinosa, a former attorney in her home country, was hired as a Vice President at Goldman Sachs through the organization's placement process.

Executive Commentary & Narrative Arcs

• Jim Cramer's Address:

  • Cramer shared anecdotes about his tenure at Goldman Sachs (1983–1987) to illustrate the firm's historical commitment to ethics over profit, citing an incident where he was reprimanded for trying to sell a "junk bond" for a client he knew was high-risk.
  • He recounted a personal story where then-CEO Richard West (likely referring to Richard M. L. "Dick" Watson or Richard T. M. "Dick" T. or a similar senior figure, transcript indicates Richard Menschel) forced him to take time off to be with his dying mother, emphasizing the firm's human-centric culture.
  • Advice to Analysts: Emphasized that the firm's mission is to "make as much money for the partnership" first, then "do all the things that everyone's doing" to change the world, urging analysts to know their colleagues personally as long-term allies.
  • Media Relations Warning: Advised Goldman employees to never speak to media "on the record" without clearance and to emphasize their personal passion projects to combat the public perception that bankers are solely motivated by money.

• David Solomon Fireside Chat:

  • Personal Philanthropy: Solomon highlighted his support for pediatric heart transplants via the "Baby's Heart Fund" at Columbia following the loss of his own child, noting his wife's board role at Bucknell.
  • Jim Cramer's Origin: Cramer revealed his motivation to start his own hedge fund (Mad Money) was partly to prove himself to his father, a gift wrap salesman who struggled during recessions.
  • Economic Outlook: Cramer expressed optimism about the U.S. economy, citing strong consumer balance sheets and praising Federal Reserve Chair Jay Powell for being "compassionate" during inflation challenges.
  • Political & Social Critique: Both speakers lamented the deep political polarization in the U.S., with Cramer suggesting a need to return to a "great narrative" similar to the era of Ronald Reagan and Lincoln/Grant.
  • Veterans Initiative: Cramer noted Goldman's employment of 1,300 veterans and expressed pride in the firm's support for military personnel, including a planned interview with the Navy Secretary regarding Taiwan and China.

• Culture & Governance:

  • The event reinforced Goldman Sachs' commitment to "inclusive growth" and "democratizing philanthropy," allowing analysts to drive social impact alongside financial performance.
  • Asahi Pompei, Global Head of Corporate Engagement, emphasized that the event highlights the firm's culture of energy, camaraderie, and "healthy competition."
  • The firm explicitly connects its 2021 Sustainability Report goals to the funded projects, positioning the Analyst Impact Fund as a core component of its legacy.