Margaret Anadu, former Goldman Sachs Exec, named to chair NYCEDC

She's invested more than $10B across hundreds of transactions

April 21, 2022 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

Margaret Anadu, new chair of the board of the New York City Economic Development Corp. Photo courtesy of Mayor’s Office

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Mayor Eric Adams on Thursday announced the appointment of Margaret Anadu as chair of the board of directors of the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC). Anadu is a leader in identifying financially sound investments that provide resources for and support the growth of underserved communities.

In her role, Anadu, a Prospect Heights resident, will lead the organization’s 27-member board, which helps to guide NYCEDC’s agenda as the city’s primary economic development vehicle. NYCEDC leverages the city’s assets to create good jobs and drive growth, helping to build a more equitable inclusive economy as the city recovers from the pandemic.

Anadu has devoted her career to investing that simultaneously drives strong financial returns and demonstrable positive impact on underserved individuals, families, and communities. She is widely recognized as one of the foremost experts on equitable access to capital, having invested more than $10 billion across hundreds of transactions throughout the United States, and was named one of the most influential figures in U.S. commercial real estate by Commercial Observer.

Margaret is a trusted advisor to many senior government officials at the federal, state and local levels. As an experienced investor and thought leader on public-private partnerships, she is often asked to share her views, including appearances on CNN, Bloomberg, CNBC, and Yahoo Finance. She was named to “40 Under 40” lists by Fortune, Black Enterprise, and Crain’s.

Until recently, Margaret was a partner at Goldman Sachs, where she was the global head of sustainability and impact for asset management and chair of the Urban Investment Group (UIG), the first impact-investing platform at a major U.S. financial institution and Goldman Sachs’ primary impact-investing platform.

Under her leadership, UIG’s portfolio primarily comprised of real estate, with a focus on workforce, affordable, and mixed-income housing, but also included investments in community facilities, educational space, industrial facilities, green infrastructure, student loans, small businesses, and minority-owned financial institutions.

She also was the chief architect of the One Million Black Women investment strategy — Goldman Sachs’ $10 billion capital commitment to narrow opportunity gaps for Black women in the United States and, by extension, their families and broader communities. In addition, during the COVID-19 pandemic, she led the firm’s $2 billion relief effort for small businesses.

“With her investing expertise and her deep commitment to underserved communities, Margaret Anadu is the right person to ensure the city’s economic development work is building a more prosperous, more equitable and more inclusive city,” said Mayor Adams. “Bringing back our city’s economy is an urgent priority for this administration, but we must think bigger and do better than trying to bring back a pre-pandemic city.”

“I am deeply humbled to serve as the chairwoman of the New York City Economic Development Corporation’s board of directors,” said Anadu. “Mayor Adams has a fearless vision to ensure the city’s economic recovery not only rapidly accelerates but also reaches and uplifts all New Yorkers, and I have directly witnessed EDC’s central role in driving that inclusive growth.”

“Margaret Anadu is uniquely qualified to serve as EDC board chair, as we work to both revitalize and build a more inclusive economy,” said NYCEDC President and CEO Andrew Kimball. “The EDC team is thrilled to have the opportunity to work with Margaret and benefit from her experience and leadership.”

Margaret serves on the boards of the Center for an Urban Future, the Low Income Investment Fund, Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, New York Public Radio, Planned Parenthood Federation of America and the Africa Center.

Born in Houston, Texas, Margaret is a graduate of Harvard College and lives in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn with her husband and two children.