Vendor Diversity

Our Vendor Diversity Program aims to help break down barriers to market access for small and diverse enterprises and unlock commercial opportunities with Goldman Sachs. We seek vendors that can continuously drive competitiveness and innovation in our supply chain. We also recognize the wider economic impact of partnering with small and diverse enterprises and supporting them in their growth. To further support business owners around the world, the firm provides access to education, networks and capital through our 10,000 Small Businesses, 10,000 Women and One Million Black Women initiatives. 
 

Between 2020 and 2022, we spent over $1 billion with small and diverse businesses. In 2023, we set a new goal to spend a cumulative $1.5 billion with small and diverse vendors between 2023 and 2025.
 

In 2023, we achieved nearly a third of our 2025 goal, with an increase in global spend to $485 million, 63% of our small and diverse spend was with minority-and-women-owned businesses; and 38% was reported as Tier 2 through our prime vendors. The percentage of our addressable spend with small and diverse vendors remained constant at 7%.  

Our Vendor Diversity Program began in North America in 2000 before expanding to Europe in 2005 and Asia Pacific in 2009.
 

In 2018, we committed to reporting our 2020 spend with small and diverse vendors and set a goal to increase our spend by 50% by 2025.  
 

In 2020, we bought goods and services worth over $265 million from small and diverse vendors globally, representing 5% of our addressable spend. Our spend increased in 2021 to $335 million; and in 2022, three years early, we exceeded our goal, spending over $450 million with small and diverse vendors, globally, a 70% increase relative to our 2020 spend. This represented 7% of our addressable spend.
 

In 2023, we set a new goal to spend a further $1.5 billion by the end of 2025.
 

In partnership with our vendors, we have introduced initiatives that aim to positively impact our employees, on-site construction workers and the community at large. The following major real estate projects reflect our commitment to working with diverse vendors across the world:

• In New York, we spent more than $300 million with minority- and women-owned businesses while constructing our global headquarters, which was the most successful project in the history of New York State’s Minority- and Women-Owned Business Enterprise Program at the time.

• In London, we spent over £100 million with local small and medium-sized enterprises during the construction and fit-out phases of our new Plumtree Court office, which opened in 2019. 

• In Bengaluru, more than 64% of construction shell and core spend and 33% of interior work spend for our new campus, which opened in 2019, was with diverse vendors. Over 9,000 height adjustable desks were designed, manufactured and installed by a local, medium-sized enterprise, exemplifying our commitment to supporting local SMEs.

We continue to partner with industry associations and work to leverage relationships developed through our initiatives. We are members and active participants of the following vendor diversity organizations:

• Disability:IN
• Minority Supplier Development UK (MSDUK) 
• National LGBT Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC)
• National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC)
• Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC)
• WEConnect International
• OutBritain
• Veteran Owned UK
• Financial Services Roundtable for Supplier Diversity (FSRSD)

Our Tier 2 program is an important component of our Vendor Diversity Program, giving small and diverse vendors an opportunity to grow and do business with Goldman Sachs, where a direct contract may not be feasible. This also enables our large, non-diverse vendor population to actively contribute towards our goals of creating a more inclusive supply chain, which drives innovation and maximizes economic impact in our communities.  

In 2023, we partnered with Proximo, a diverse-owned data analytics firm, to understand the economic impact of our Vendor Diversity Program in two of our key markets, the United States and the United Kingdom.
 

Between 2020 and 2022, as we progressed toward our 2025 public commitment, our Tier 1 spend with small and diverse vendors is estimated to have supported an average of 2,260 jobs per year, translating to over $360 million in wages and an overall $1.2 billion in Total Economic Impact across the United States and United Kingdom.
 

In 2022 alone, our US spend helped to enable workforce growth across our diverse vendor base, with approximately 1,500 new hires and a net gain of an estimated 600 jobs supported; 19% of these jobs were held by the Black community, over-indexing the general population by nearly 40%. In the UK, 53% of jobs were held by ethnic minorities, over-indexing the general population by nearly 100%.
 

Based on the data gathered in this economic impact assessment, over 90% of our small and diverse vendors surveyed believe working with Goldman Sachs has or may have helped provide opportunities to grow their business.

The diverse vendor application portal is open in January, April, July and October, and periodically in alignment with signature Vendor Diversity events throughout the year. 

No, Goldman Sachs does not guarantee business to any vendor. We are committed to providing diverse enterprises an opportunity to compete on a fair and equal basis for our business. 

Please refer to our Diverse Vendor Definitions Guide for our accepted definitions and certifications.

Yes, Goldman Sachs requires diverse business certification from a national, state or locally-recognized third party certification agency. In countries where third party certification does not exist, self-certification documentation will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.

Diverse business certification is a process managed by third party certification agencies. Please refer to our Diverse Vendor Definitions Guide for the relevant organizations that offer certification.

We welcome all eligible and interested diverse businesses to complete the prospective vendor form. Upon review of your submission, we will contact you if there are relevant opportunities. Inquiries providing products/services not currently sought will be maintained for future consideration. Note that submission of the prospective vendor form is for informational purposes and any confidential information submitted will be for internal use only. It is not a guarantee of business and does not ensure “Approved” vendor status.

We are always interested in finding ways to partner with organizations who can help us deliver innovative and creative solutions and invite you to explore the types of goods and services we look for from our vendors.

We also encourage you to increase our awareness of your capabilities by setting up an account on the Ariba® Network. Our teams leverage the Ariba® Network searchable database to consider potential partners and also use it to create opportunity postings for potential suppliers to match our requirements.

For diverse vendors, please also enter details regarding any diversity certifications when setting up an Ariba® Network account.

Reference the Frequently Asked Questions for information on a variety of topics.

Submission of the prospective vendor form is not a guarantee of business. Please keep in mind that there may not currently be a need for your products/services or we may be under contract with another vendor at present. Goldman Sachs will maintain your information for future consideration and reach out to you when relevant opportunities become available.

We accept the following definitions for diverse vendors and require diverse business certification from a national, state or locally-recognized third party certification agency. View certifying agencies that we recognize. Certifications from all other agencies, or diverse businesses which do not have certification, will be are considered on a case by case basis.