Opinion: Both Evolution and Image-Repair in Goldman’s Giving

While Goldman Sachs’s efforts to help budding businesswomen in the developing world have a post-crash public-relations purpose, they also fill a genuine need and show how corporate philanthropy is evolving from writing checks to building and implementing programs, a Financial Times columnist says.

Gillian Tett notes the Wall Street giant’s launch this week of a partnership with the World Bank to create a $600-million loan fund for credit-starved female entrepreneurs as well Goldman’s continuing 10,000 Women venture. “Undoubtedly, part of the reason for this initiative is to apply some polish to Goldman’s tarnished public image,” she writes.

But Ms. Tett says the effort also addresses a “pressing need” to boost seed capital for entrepreneurial women, builds internal morale at a publicly unpopular company, and demonstrates a new level of direct involvement by banks and other corporate donors in developing social-impact programs, with Goldman “doing a lot of the design work itself and providing much of the intellectual capital and energy.”