85 Broads is a women’s professional network of over 17,000. In 1997, the network started off as a global community for former and current Goldman Sachs employees, but has since expanded to include females in MBA programs and leading undergraduate universities. A play on Goldman Sachs‘ street address in New York City, the network was founded by Janet Hanson after she left Goldman Sachs to start her own institutional money management company.
Events Supporting Microfinance:
In 2005, 85 Broads co-hosted an event as part of the United Nations International Year of Microcredit with several other women-based Wall Street groups and the United Nations Capital Development Fund. The event drew both financial experts from Wall Street and the UN to discuss providing financial services to the millions of people at the bottom of the pyramid.
85 Broads has also raised USD 1 million from women on Wall Street. The network is also part of growing wave of active volunteering and philanthropy by business women. According to a 2005 survey by the Business and Professional Women’s Foundation, seven in 10 women business owners volunteer at least once per month, 31% contribute USD 5,000 or more to charities annually and 15% give USD 10,000 or more.
The 85 Broads Foundation is a non-profit organization which supports causes promoting women’s empowerment around the world. For instance, members of 85 broads work with Twana Twitu to assist them with micro-enterprising projects. Twana Twitu is a non-profit organization that seeks to support Kenyan AIDS orphans.
Biographies:
Janet Hanson is a leading entrepreneur, distinguished Wall Street executive and champion for women. Mrs. Hanson graduated from Wheaton College and Columbia Business School. She started her 14 year career at Goldman Sachs in 1977, eventually becoming the first woman in the firm’s history to become part of sales management. Mrs. Hanson left Goldman Sachs to start a USD 2 billion institutional money management firm, Milestone Capital Management. She also served as Managing Director and Senior Adviser to the President of Lehman Brothers from May, 2004 to February 2007.
In addition to her professional career, Mrs. Hanson serves on the Board of Trustees of Wheaton College and The Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation. She is also an 85 Broads Foundation Board Director and on the Advisory Board of the Center for Work-Life Policy’s Hidden Brain Drain Task Force. Mrs. Hanson is also an Associate Fellow of Pierson College at Yale University.
In 2006, Mrs. Hanson published More Than 85 Broads, a book in which she and other talented women candidly relate their personal stories. Each discusses making decisions about careers paths, risks taken, and how they define their own success.
One such story is that of Bhakati Mirchandani. Ms. Mirchandani has founded three organizations: the Global Microentrepreneurship Awards (GMA), the Graduate Student Microfinance and Development Venture Capital network, and the Harvard College Social Enterprise Club. The GMA is a global business competition for the self-employed poor and was an official event of the International Year of Microcredit. Professionally, Ms. Mirchandani has worked for a variety of large investment firms in capital markets groups to wealth and asset management divisions. She also completed a joint MBA/MPA program at Harvard Business School and the Kennedy School of Government.
Ana Escalona is another 85 Broads member featured in the book. After working for Goldman Sachs in both Mexico City and New York, Ms. Escalona joined Pro Mujer, a non-profit microfinance organization which provides small business loans and training to impoverished women in Latin America. She was in charge of cultivating Pro Mujer’s program in Mexico as well as financial management functions. Ms. Escalona is a graduate of Instituto Tecnologico Autonomo de Mexico and has a master of science in finance from Boston College.
An 85 Broads member not presented in the book but active in microfinance is Darline Augustine, a Ph.D. candidate at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Her research includes social responsibility and financial viability of global microfinance operations with a focus on the Chinese market. Ms. Augustine is also a steering committee member of Women Advancing Microfinance of New York and a member of the Microfinance Clubs of New York and U.K. Ms. Augustine also worked as a Summer Association at Goldman Sachs and in Global Equity Sales at UBS.
As for employees of 85 Broads, Melissa Hayes served as a director, overseeing all its programs and initiatives. She also worked as the Director of Development and New Ventures at Milestone Capital Management, LLC in 2004. Ms. Hayes received a B.A. in Economics from Northwestern University and an MBA from Harvard business school.
Other employees have included Mary Tiebout as Member Relations Manager and Wendy Satin as Manager of Grants, Volunteer Programs, and Angels Abroad. Angels Abroad aims to create network-based venture philanthropy partnership in seven different developing regions. Ms. Satin is also the executive director of the 85 Broads Foundation. Ms. Tiebout is Janet Hanson’s sister and worked closely with Mrs. Hanson on More Than 85 Broads. She graduated from Middlebury College in 1975.
by Jennifer Lee
Additional Resources:
85 Broads: Home, Team, Foundation, More Than 85 Broads
“New York Women on Wall Street”, by Erin Arvedlund, March 1, 2007.
UN News Centre: “Wall Street, UN Experts Mark International Year of Microcredit”, June 10, 2005.
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