At Goldman, Dina Powell oversaw the “10,000 Women” program, one of the investment bank’s biggest charitable initiatives, which focuses on helping female entrepreneurs around the world. | Rodney Lamkey Jr. for POLITICO Goldman Sachs partner to join Trump administration

NEW YORK — Dina Powell, a Goldman Sachs partner with deep ties to both Republicans and Democrats in Washington, is leaving the bank to join the Trump administration in a senior role that will focus on entrepreneurship, economic growth and the empowerment of women, people familiar with the matter said. She is expected to work closely with President-elect Donald Trump’s daughter, Ivanka, and her highly influential husband, Jared Kushner.

Powell, president of the Goldman Sachs Foundation and a major advocate for women, would instantly become one of the more powerful people in Trump’s Washington. Ivanka Trump and her husband are expected to be among the president-elect’s most trusted advisers. Kushner on Monday was named a senior adviser to the incoming president.


POLITICO reported last week that Powell has been informally advising Ivanka Trump on personnel and other issues for weeks. She is expected to provide a connection between the Trump White House — eyed with skepticism by many in the GOP establishment — and corporate America and Wall Street.

Powell, 42, served as chief of the personnel office in the White House under President George W. Bush and as an assistant secretary of state for educational and cultural affairs in the Bush administration.

An Egyptian-born, Dallas-raised, fluent Arabic speaker, Powell also has strong relationships with senior Democrats including outgoing Obama White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett and former Obama economic adviser Gene Sperling, among many others.

Powell will be the latest Goldman executive to take on a leading role for Trump. Steven Mnuchin, who worked at the bank for 17 years, is Trump’s nominee for Treasury secretary. Gary Cohn, the former president of Goldman and a friend of Powell’s, will serve as chair of the president’s National Economic Council.

Steve Bannon, who will be a top White House aide, also worked at Goldman, as did senior transition official Anthony Scaramucci, who could be up for a role at Treasury or elsewhere in the administration. Jay Clayton, Trump’s pick to chair the Securities and Exchange Commission, is a top Wall Street lawyer at Sullivan & Cromwell with deep ties to Goldman.

Democrats have criticized Trump for relying so heavily on Wall Street executives, especially from Goldman, a bank the GOP nominee regularly ripped on the campaign trail. Goldman CEO Lloyd Blankfein appeared as a shadowy, dangerous figure in Trump’s final ad of the 2016 campaign.

But in Powell, Trump will snare one of Goldman’s young stars. Her appointment will ease some of the anxiety in the financial world about Trump. Kushner and Ivanka Trump are viewed as more moderate voices inclined to temper some of the new president’s more provocative instincts on the environment, trade, immigration and other issues. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, a highly progressive Democrat, praised Kushner’s appointment this week.

Powell connected with Ivanka Trump and Kushner last year and quickly won the trust of both Trump family members, people close to the transition said. Powell is close to many senior Republicans and worked with former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during the Bush administration.

“Dina is one of the most capable people I know. She is creative and committed,” Rice told Politico. “She did crucial work for me at the State Department where we were trying to be more effective in outreach to the Muslim world and to empower women. Because of her own background as a woman of Egyptian descent she was a cultural ambassador — absolutely an essential member of my team.”

Powell began her Washington career as a staffer for Rep. Dick Armey in House leadership in 1995. She was recruited to Goldman in 2007 by longtime partner John Rogers and built several programs at the bank including the Goldman Sachs Foundation, Goldman Sachs Gives and the Urban Investment Group. She became a partner in 2010. She is close to both Blankfein and Cohn.

At Goldman, Powell oversaw the “10,000 Women” program, one of the investment bank’s biggest charitable initiatives, which focuses on helping female entrepreneurs around the world. “She’s been great at doing it because she’s kind of lived it and she has exactly the right values,” said Arthur Brooks, president of the American Enterprise Institute. “I’m super psyched if she goes into the administration, because she will bring all of those ethics into the White House.”

Powell’s partner, hedge fund manager David McCormick, is the front-runner to serve as deputy defense secretary in the Trump administration, Bloomberg News reported. McCormick, president of Bridgewater Associates, was also reportedly on the short list for Treasury secretary, a post that ultimately went to Mnuchin.

Powell’s appointment will also be greeted with some enthusiasm among minority groups concerned about Trump’s fiery campaign rhetoric. “So much will depend on what the policies are, but what I can say is that Dina is not a shrinking violet,” said Marc Morial, the former New Orleans mayor and current president of the National Urban League. “She’s both charming and assertive, and if she’s given running room I think the opportunity for her to do something for small businesses, especially those run by women and people of color, will be significant.”

