Excellence in leadership in North America 2020: Goldman Sachs

To the detractors of big Wall Street banks, Goldman Sachs might not seem an obvious candidate for recognition of its response to a humanitarian crisis. But when the Covid-19 crisis struck, the bank rapidly deployed a raft of measures spanning frontline support for hospitals to online versions of its community volunteering programmes.

The bank has been one of the most public communicators on the Street of its analysis of the Covid-19 crisis and the operational and support measures that it has been taking. Goldman chief executive David Solomon has been talking about it to employees and clients since January.

A Covid-19 family-leave scheme was one way the firm looked after its staff, along with a range of physical and mental health support initiatives – including for the children of staff.

The bank also developed a virtual version of Community TeamWorks, an existing initiative that supports volunteer projects that employees are involved in.