NYC Mayor Appoints Margaret Anadu to Chair EDC Board of Directors
By Celia Young April 22, 2022 4:49 pm
reprints
Goldman Sachs’ former global head of sustainability, Margaret Anadu, has been tapped by Mayor Eric Adams to chair the board of the New York City Economic Development Corporation (EDC), Adams announced Friday.
In her new role, Anadu will steer the agency’s 27-member board in spurring economic development across the EDC’s 66 million square feet of property. She will start the gig after being sworn in on April 27.
“With her investing expertise and her deep commitment to underserved communities, Anadu is the right person to ensure the city’s economic development work is building a more prosperous, more equitable and more inclusive city,” Adams said in a statement. “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.”
The ex-Goldman employee joins the board after the turbulent appointment of Andrew Kimball to president and CEO of the EDC, who Adams chose for the role in February after his reported previous choice, Carlo Scissura, allegedly lobbied city officials without registering as a lobbyist.
Anadu has served on Adams transition team as one of the five leaders of the Economic and Workforce Development Committee since December 2021 and will take over as chair of the board from restaurateur Danny Meyer.
“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,” Anadu said in a statement. “I am energized by the opportunity to volunteer my time and effort to build a stronger, more equitable and more resilient future for this great city that we all love.”
A 17-year veteran of Goldman, Anadu was the youngest Black female partner in Goldman’s history and helped create a $1 billion lending platform at the bank for small businesses and communities during the early months of the pandemic in 2020. Rumors of her departure from Goldman began circulating in February and Anadu’s name was even floated as a potential pick for Joseph Biden’s administration after the 2020 presidential election, Bloomberg reported.
She played a key role in creating an initiative dubbed Goldman’s One Million Black Women, which committed to investing $10 billion and donating $100 million over 2021 directed toward 1 million Black women in the U.S. in businesses including health care, education and housing, Commercial Observer reported. The bank has since invested in the construction of affordable housing in Jamaica, Queens, and broadband services in the Bronx and Upper Manhattan, according to its website.
Aside from her work for Goldman, Anadu served on the boards of the public policy think tank the Center for an Urban Future, the San Francisco-based Low Income Investment Fund, New York Public Radio, Planned Parenthood Federation of America and the Africa Center museum.
“Margaret Anadu is uniquely qualified to serve as EDC board chair, as we work to both revitalize and build a more inclusive economy,” Kimball said in a statement.
Goldman did not respond to a request for comment.
Celia Young can be reached at cyoung@commercialobserver.com.
