Page 39 - Powerlist 2019 - Digital Edition

NEW Brian Robinson
2019
Senior Managing Director, Goldman Sachs

Brian leads a bespoke sales team of 55 people who provide
investment advice and strategic solutions to the foremost
equity asset managers across the globe. They advise clients
with assets under supervision well into the trillions of dollars. Business, Corporates, Financiers & Entrepreneurs
Brian uses this platform to create scale, champion diversity
and mobilise others to lead by example and reverse long-held
perceptions that have left people from African and African
Caribbean communities under-represented in client-facing
businesses.
Brian has set out to use his powerful voice to identify
and to advance the careers of black fund managers who
make up less than 1 per cent in the City. He has reached
out to all of the fund managers of African and African
Caribbean heritage and hosts content sessions on a range
of areas of focus within the financial markets. Each session
is followed up by networking among the group so they can
build stronger ties between themselves. In March, Brian
hosted a similar programme in New York. Between the two
cities has convened 25 senior black decision-makers in the
world of finance. Collectively, this group manages well over
$100billion.
Brian is also the Goldman Sponsor for BAI (Black Analyst NEW Eric Collins
and Associate Initiative) in EMEA, a programme that has 2019
successfully increased growth opportunities for individuals COO, Touch Surgery
by building, retaining, and binding a pipeline of diverse
professionals to the firm/finance industry.
Brian also works closely with Goldman’s Firmwide Black London-based Eric is a technology executive who has spent
Network to develop individuals and teams to maximise their a career building the value of digital companies through
potential. He is proactive in championing diverse thought innovative product, distribution, monetisation and
as a means to create competitive advantages and stands partnering strategies.
consistently committed to sharing his innovative messages. Eric has done this at AOL, TimeWarner, Tegic/Nuance,
In the wider community, he is on the Board of Make-a- MobilePosse, SwiftKey/Microsoft and currently Touch
Wish, which has a mission to grant the wishes of children Surgery where he runs operations as the Chief Operating
with life-threatening illnesses, and has volunteered formally Officer. Touch Surgery is an interactive surgical simulator
and informally in five African countries. for healthcare professionals that provides a realistic and
detailed guide to every step of a procedure. Users can
quickly learn surgery, instantly test their knowledge, and
rehearse surgery.
Other companies and divisions Eric has run have been
acquired and still others are operating as profitable entities.
Eric is also a sought-after board member and adviser in the
technology space. He is on the board of companies in San
Francisco and London as well as an adviser to companies in
the US, India and the UK.
Eric supports civic activities and has served as a trustee
of Washington Performing Arts and the Boston Symphony
Orchestra. He also serves on the board of Autograph ABP.
He donates his time and resources to many other
important contemporary causes, including the Smithsonian
Institute’s Museum of African American History and
Culture; The National Museum of African Art; The Power
Plant; and Philomela’s Chorus (a programme that helps
under-represented voices, especially young black British
women, produce films). Eric was appointed by then
President Barack Obama to serve on the Small Business
Administration’s Council on Underserved Communities and
as an evaluator for White House Fellows applicants.
Eric holds degrees from Princeton University and Harvard
Law School.

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