Breaking Free from the Glass Ceiling: A Former Goldman Sachs Executive’s Quest to Bridge the Gender Wealth Gap
Ayesha Ofori, a 40-year-old entrepreneur, has embarked on a mission to revolutionize the financial landscape for women. After spending six years as a wealth advisor at Goldman Sachs, Ofori realized that she was perpetuating a system that disproportionately benefited wealthy men. Despite her success, she felt unfulfilled, knowing that she was contributing to the widening gender wealth gap.
Ofori’s epiphany came when she realized that women were not investing at the same rate as men, despite living longer and having less money working for them. The statistics were staggering – a £567 billion gap in investments between men and women in the UK, with men holding £1.01 trillion in investments compared to women’s £450 billion.
Determined to make a change, Ofori quit her high-profile job and founded Propelle, a female-focused financial investment platform. The app-based platform offers a range of investment options, including funds from Vanguard, Blackrock, and HSBC, and has raised over £1.2 million in pre-seed funding. Backed by Google and other prominent investors, Propelle aims to empower women to take control of their financial futures.
Ofori’s journey began when she started hosting events for women in London, sharing her story of building wealth and encouraging others to do the same. The response was overwhelming, with 2,000 women signing up to attend within a few months. It was clear that women wanted to invest, but were held back by a lack of time, confidence, and access to user-friendly platforms.
Propelle addresses these concerns by offering a risk assessment tool, smart goal setting features, and investment options that align with users’ personal values. The platform also plans to introduce alternative investments, such as fractionalized real estate and startup investing, to provide women with a more diverse range of options.
Ofori’s vision is to create a platform that truly understands women’s needs and goals. By doing so, she hopes to bridge the gender wealth gap and provide women with the financial freedom they deserve. As she says, “I didn’t want to build a platform where women were just investing in things just because it’s there and it’s not working for them. We really made an effort to make sure that it’s suitable for the woman based on whatever background that she has.”
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