Connie Duckworth

Connie Duckworth "is a retired Partner and Managing Director of Goldman, Sachs, & Co. where she was named the first woman sales and trading partner in the firm’s history during her 20 year career. She co-authored a primer on entrepreneurship titled The Old Girls’ Network: Insider Advice for Women Building Businesses in a Man’s World (Basic Books 2003) and has been an angel investor, mentoring and selectively investing in women-led businesses. She is the recipient of numerous awards.

"Ms. Duckworth serves as President and Chairman of the Board of Arzu, Inc., a non-profit organization she founded in response to a site visit to Afghanistan in early 2003. Arzu, meaning “hope” in Dari, aims to provide sustainable income to underprivileged Afghan women and their families by sourcing and selling handmade rugs in the U.S. She is an active member of the U.S.-Afghan Women's Council, a public/private partnership established by Presidents Bush and Karzai in 2002.

"Ms. Duckworth sits on the Board of Trustees of Northwestern Mutual, the Boards of Directors of Smurfit Stone Container Corporation and DNP Select Income Fund, and the Board of Overseers of the Wharton School, and is Vice Chairman of the Board of Evanston Northwestern Healthcare. She is a past Chair of the Committee of 200, the organization of leading women entrepreneurs and corporate business executives in the United States. Ms. Duckworth holds an M.B.A. from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a B.A. from the University of Texas."


 * Trustee, Global Heritage Fund