Bringing Light to Children Through Education: Goldman Sachs Wins Special Philanthropy Award

The following article appeared on 22 February 2013 in Nikkin, The Japan Financial News, and is reprinted with permission. Translation by Goldman Sachs:

Bringing Light to Children Through Education: Goldman Sachs Wins Special Philanthropy Award

"We are truly honored to be receiving this award in recognition for our longstanding efforts to help underserved children, " said Masa Mochida, president of Goldman Sachs, the recipient of the Japan Philanthropy Association's 10th Annual Special Corporate Philanthropy Award.

The association chose to award the firm for the "Goldman Sachs Gives Community Support Program," which provides educational support to children and single-parent families facing financial difficulties. "We focused on the people who were most in need of our help," said Mr. Mochida, who will be accepting the award on behalf of the firm at a ceremony on Thursday.

The award-winning program is actually derived from Goldman Sachs' global Community TeamWorks initiative, conducted annually since 1997 and through which some 80% of employees in Japan take part. The high participation rate is due to the active engagement of senior leadership, including the firm's president, in the volunteering program each year.

"We all want to contribute to society," said Mr. Mochida. "Goldman Sachs just provides the foundations that allow people to do so, and as a result, our people take pride in their activities, as well as in the firm."

He also stressed the importance of sticking with something for the long haul. "There were times when we were operating within a difficult external environment, but we never once discussed scaling back on the (CTW) program."