Goldman's Jobs Act

Dina Powell, the head of the Goldman Sachs Foundation, breezed into an Upper East Side restaurant on the morning of April 19 and flung a red dress over a chair. “I’m traveling,” she said apologetically, referring to both the dress and her slight tardiness. After breakfast, she had a flight to Washington. As she scrutinized the menu—deciding on scrambled eggs with scallions and cream cheese—she contemplated the generous impulses that drive many of her colleagues at Goldman Sachs: “I think we attract people who want to work for an institution that is having a meaningful impact on the world,” she said brightly. “Did you know that Goldman Sachs has fielded more individuals who have served on nonprofit boards in the last 15 years than any other public or private institution? It’s remarkable!”

The Goldman Sachs Foundation is one of the largest corporate foundations in the world, and Powell is in charge of deploying its $500 million-plus in assets. Attractive and polished, she’s a gatekeeper and an ambassador of Goldman’s good deeds. She’s also a talisman to ward off regulators, Occupiers, and anyone else who might regard the investment bank as a less than benevolent force. It’s about as much money as Goldman paid the Securities and Exchange Commission—$550 million—to settle civil claims that it misled investors in mortgage securities whose selection was influenced by a hedge fund client that had secretly bet against them. Goldman settled without admitting or denying liability.