“You should always focus on your strengths because you’ll get a marginal benefit from trying to improve on one of your areas for development. But if you double down on your strengths, you’ll get even more of a benefit from that and you’ll be able to stand out.” – Seun Awolowo

What does it take to be one of few Black women making an impact and overseeing a 1 billion dollar investment strategy in EMEA? For this conversation, Ebere Akadiri sat with Seun Awolowo, the Executive Director and Vice President, London at Goldman Sachs, for an interview that forms part of the Leadership Conversation series which is now on Spotify and Apple podcast.

Seun Awolowo began her career at Goldman Sachs as an intern and has risen to her current position where she is responsible for building “Launch with GS” at EMEA, and working to increase access to capital and facilitate connections for women, Black, Latinx and other diverse entrepreneurs and investors in order to close the opportunity gap and advance racial equality. Seun shares her leadership journey and how her understanding of the three dimensions of our lives contributed to her leadership and impact.

Launch with GS EMEA?

“Launch with GS is a $1Billion investment strategy grounded in the belief that diverse teams outperform”, Seun replied. She highlighted that the data-driven strategy is poised to close the investment gap that currently exists in the global business ecosystem by sourcing organisations where they (GS) will invest in and monitor in order to prove their thesis that these organisations will outperform their peers.

The target group for Launch with GS?

“The definition of diversity is very important to talk about here. We (GS) are trying to close the investment gap for underrepresented founders. And what underrepresentation means on our side of the pond is black people (men and women). That’s what our focus is going to be in Europe”, she clarified.

How female entrepreneurs in the Rise and Lead Women’s network can benefit from Launch with GS?

Seun highlighted that the best way to key into the initiative is to visit the Launch with GS website at www.launchwithgs.com where entrepreneurs and founders can connect with the ecosystem, stay informed about different programs through the newsletters.

Her excitement about Goldman Sachs and her role in the organization?

“For me, one of the themes throughout my career is the tendency to not necessarily take an opportunity just for the sake of what it is. I’ve always measured myself by impact”, she said. She went on to highlight that helping her community through her work excites her and fuels her passion for the role.

Want to learn more about the topic, find out how you can benefit from the Launch with GS initiative, and understand how the three dimensions of life can contribute to your leadership and impact? Listen on your favourite podcast platform, and be sure to subscribe, so you don’t miss anything!

The post EP5: Leading With Impact with The Executive Director and Vice President at Goldman Sachs in London, Seun Awolowo, appeared first in Rise and Lead Women Forum.

Rise to Leadership Podcast, which was launched on March 8, is a bi-monthly show (weekly in March) that explores topics that matter while sharing stories of inspiring leaders who are creating positive changes.

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