The Goldman Sachs Group has announced a ten-year, $10 billion commitment, including $100 million in philanthropic capital, aimed at advancing racial equity and economic opportunity for Black women.

In partnership with Black women-led organizations, financial institutions, and other groups, the One Million Black Women initiative will work to address the gender and racial biases that Black women have faced for generations and that have been exacerbated by the pandemic. In recent months, the financial services giant has joined with partner organizations to beetter understand the barriers to opportunity Black women face and how targeted investments can address those barriers. Partners include Black women's organizations such as Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, the National Council of Negro Women, Power Rising, Black Women's Roundtable and the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation, Walker's Legacy Foundation, Sistahs in Business Expo, and The Links, Inc.. The initiative also is being informed by Black women employees of Goldman Sachs, as well as alumnae of its 10,000 Small Businesses initiative. Initial efforts under the commitment include a partnership with Hope Enterprise Corporation, mayors, and historically Black colleges and universities to distribute startup and make loans across the American South.

"This initiative is transformational," said Melanie Campbell, convener of the Black Women's Roundtable and president and CEO of the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation. "What Goldman Sachs is doing has the potential to materially impact the lives of Black women, their families, and communities across the country."

According to Goldman Sachs, reducing the earnings gap for Black women has the potential to create up to 1.7 million U.S. jobs and increase the U.S. GDP by between $300 billion and $450 billion annually in current dollars. "Our newly published research, Black Womenomics, suggests that no investment could have a bigger impact than unlocking the economic potential of Black women," said Goldman Sachs chair and CEO David M. Solomon. "In the face of significant disparities, they've shown admirable resilience, especially as they're starting businesses faster than anyone else in the U.S. Building on our twenty-year history of investing in female entrepreneurs and underserved communities, we are now proud to partner with Black female-led organizations and an outstanding advisory council to invest in opportunities to unlock their economic and leadership potential."