Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women is a global initiative that fosters economic growth by providing women entrepreneurs around the world with a business education, mentoring and networking, and access to capital. To date, the program has supported thousands of women-led businesses from more than 50 countries.

During its 10th anniversary in 2018, we wanted to celebrate graduates of the program as well as reinstate our commitment to female entrepreneurs and strengthen associations with Goldman Sachs at a key moment for gender equality conversations in the news and culture. The objective of our campaign was to build awareness of the program and its global impact.

10KW graduates are leading and growing their businesses, and creating a ripple-effect impact in their communities. GS is committed to empowering these unsung leaders and telling their stories. In doing so, we flipped a familiar visual trope on its head – the gilded CEO portrait – and celebrated the success of our graduates at the same time.

The campaign centered around a film entitled "When a Woman Leads” that features the journey of Ayo, a program graduate. It was her story that inspired us to rethink the very way we told it.

Our female-led agency team recognized a larger mission. We didn’t want to just tell what happens when women lead, we wanted to live it.

We hired women for all major roles. Director, DP, Editor, colorist and sound mixer. Even the choir that composed the original score — proving the promise of the program: when women lead, everything changes.

Having reached its milestone 10th anniversary in 2018, we wanted to celebrate graduates of the program as well as reinstate our commitment to female entrepreneurs and strengthen associations with GS at a key moment for gender equality conversations in the news and culture. Hence, the objective was to build awareness of the program and its global impact.

In light of the fact that only 7% of advertising filmmakers and 12% of creative directors are women, we wanted to do more than tell a story about the power of female leadership. We wanted to truly demonstrate — through the way we told that story, and the voices who brought that story to life — that when women lead, everything changes.

In the “When a Woman Leads” film, we give an inspiring female entrepreneur the “CEO portrait” she deserves, both literally and figuratively.

The spot follows the delivery of a wrapped package to Ayo Megbope, a graduate of the 10,000 Women program, intercut with shots of Ayo interacting with her employees and members of her community on the way to her catering business, No Left Overs. Finally, Ayo receives and unwraps her CEO portrait before hanging it proudly in her business. In parallel, we hear her voice-over describing the story the ripple-effect impact that occurs when a woman leads a business: economies grow and entire communities prosper.

In addition to the film that aired on TV, Hulu, and online, the full integrated campaign also included print, custom mobile, paid and owned social media, digital partnerships with The New York Times and Washington Post, and a podcast partnership with The Skimm.

Overall the campaign provided significant lift in awareness of the 10KW program, and lift in the firm’s overall reputation.

Integrated Campaign Totals:

81.6M Impressions

22.2M Video Views

1.1M Social Media Engagements

140K Podcast Streams/Downloads with a 70.66% completion rate