Why are so many people from Goldman Sachs in government? originally appeared on Quora - the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world.

I see this as source of pride and something to be celebrated or replicated rather than denounced or villainized.

Goldman recruits people that are oriented toward making a difference in their communities and in broader forums. They also encourage a culture of giving back through many firm-wide programs that introduce people to organizations and efforts. Additionally, through their work at the firm they learn valuable transferable skills that enable them to make a contribution to large, complex organizations. This makes employees uniquely suited for roles in not for profits and in the public sector after they leave the firm. Thus, there is a long standing tradition for those that have had long careers at Goldman Sachs to chose to join the public sector versus joining another firm or retire after they leave the firm.

I was fortunate to join just as the firm created Community Teamworks (CTW) and had the opportunity to participate and help lead efforts to forward the mission. CTW allowed every employee a paid day off to do community service with a project of their choice [Goldman Sachs | Community Teamworks]. Once CTW became successful, the firm created volunteer works so this was something that could be done throughout the year not just once a year like CTW. The firm then continued its efforts and created Goldman Sachs | 10,000 Women | An Initiative to Provide Business & Management Education to Female Entrepreneurs in Emerging Markets and Goldman Sachs | 10,000 Small Businesses. The firm also created Goldman Sachs Gives (Goldman Sachs | Goldman Sachs Gives) and Goldman Sachs Gives Analyst Impact fund effort as well (Goldman Sachs | Meet the Grantees - The 2017 Goldman Sachs Gives Analyst Impact Fund). In addition, to all these firm-wide programs, employees at GS organize countless charitable events including bowl-a-thons for Junior Achievement and F.I.R.S.T. The firm even helps its leaders who want to serve on a not-for-profit board get matched with boards of their interest.

All of these efforts involve participation from Goldman Sachs employees. Employees learn through these experiences how to apply their leaderships and expertise to broader problems in the world.

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