A Champion of Women’s Financial Independence

In March 2024, Maro Elliott ’11 interviewed Kaplan about her remarkable career empowering women to take charge of their lives and personal finances. The Conway Center is pleased to share this article as a tribute to her lasting impact on Smith College. 

“My number one love,” Ann Kaplan said, “is this idea of creating financial independence for women.” Among the earliest women to be named partner at Goldman Sachs and the chair and founder of Circle Financial Group, a peer-to-peer investment think tank, Kaplan was a visionary leader both in the finance industry and at Smith College, where she was instrumental in founding the Women and Financial Independence (WFI) program, now the Jill Ker Conway Innovation & Entrepreneurship Center (Conway Center).

Kaplan's legacy was celebrated through the naming of the Ann Kaplan ’67 Director of Conway Center, a position currently held by Andrea St. Louis. Kaplan is also a Smith Medalist and former trustee.

A “Circuitous” Path

Smithies who have yet to find their calling will take comfort in Kaplan’s “circuitous” path. A career in finance,” she said, “was not something that I thought [about] at Smith… or even when I first left Smith.” A government major, Kaplan spent her immediate years after graduation at Columbia University, where she earned a master’s degree in social work. She soon discovered, however, that as much as she loved studying social work, she didn't love practicing it; the Freudian approach popular at the time didn’t resonate with her.

To pivot, Kaplan worked as a healthcare consultant and returned to Columbia for an M.B.A., expecting to continue her career in consulting. Instead, business school introduced Kaplan to her new focus: investment banking and, specifically, municipal bonds. Her expertise in this area would enable her to help nonprofits and governmental entities finance their services—later, her specialty at Goldman Sachs.

Financial Literacy for Women

As a partner at Goldman Sachs, Kaplan joined several organizations dedicated to women leaders and CEOs, many of whom, she came to realize, lacked the skills needed to manage their personal finances, despite being accomplished professionals with advanced degrees.

Kaplan recalled thinking, “If women who have an M.B.A working in the financial industry don't have clarity, then how can other women?” This inspired her to interview one hundred successful women about their personal finances. Only about 5% felt confident managing their personal finances, while 95% either lacked confidence or delegated the responsibility to men. It was clear to Kaplan that more needed to be done to support women’s financial literacy.

Smith Legacy: WFI → Conway Center

With this goal, Kaplan helped to found Smith’s Women and Financial Independence (WFI) program in 2001, under the directorship of economics professor Mahnaz Mahdavi. The founding of the WFI program addressed a significant gap in financial education for women. Its main objective was to provide women at Smith College with the skills necessary to achieve financial independence, a critical factor for personal empowerment.

Kaplan’s vision in helping to establish WFI was rooted in the belief that financial education is a cornerstone of women’s empowerment. The program not only focused on equipping students with basic financial tools but also aspired to elevate their capacity for strategic financial thinking. Kaplan and Mahdavi, along with their collaborators, recognized the transformative power of financial independence in shaping women’s futures, both personally and professionally.

The success of WFI laid the groundwork for its transformation to the Conway Innovation & Entrepreneurship Center. This transition was a natural progression of the program’s original mission, expanding its scope to include innovation and entrepreneurship as essential components of personal and professional development. While financial literacy remains a core tenet, the Conway Center broadened its focus to include entrepreneurial thinking and leadership skills that are crucial in today’s rapidly evolving global economy. The Conway Center remains committed to empowering women to be financially independent, innovative, and creative leaders in their fields.

Women Supporting Women 

“I just love being with other women,” said Kaplan. “That has been one of the absolute highlights of my life: to have female friendships and to work with other women on projects that we want to accomplish.”

Kaplan, with 11 other women, half of whom were Goldman Sachs colleagues, created yet another unique avenue for women to manage their wealth by founding Circle Financial Group, an investment think tank, in 2003. This group, composed entirely of women, analyzes the capital markets and leverages their funds for investment and philanthropic opportunities. Each member controls her own portfolio while also gaining insights from fellow group members and outside experts.

In 2007, following a four-year period spent researching existing financial groups, Kaplan and her colleagues decided to establish Circle Wealth Management, a financial advisory firm led by and tailored to the needs of women and multigenerational families. The majority of their clients were and continue to be women, whom they felt were often neglected by financial advisors. “When women and men go to see a financial advisor, [the advisors] tend to address the comments to men, even if the women are the ones who made or inherited the money,” Kaplan said.

Mentoring women has been a cornerstone of Kaplan’s career. “I know there's this rumor that women don't support women, but in my personal experience it hasn't been true,” she said. Part of Kaplan’s mission when mentoring women was to alleviate some of the tremendous pressure they felt while working in the finance industry and also supporting a family. “Part of my mentoring was obviously related to business. How do you do deals? How do you make relationships with people that lead to new business?” she said. “But I also did a great deal of mentoring on lifestyle balance, taking risks, and feeling more confident.”

Looking Forward

Despite significant progress in women's rights and equal treatment, Kaplan acknowledged that there is more work to be done. "When I was at Smith, I thought there'd be more progress by now," she says. “I think it's still, unfortunately, a very important topic for women. The statistics are still not as good as they should be in terms of what assignments women get, how they negotiate salaries and other benefits, how much they save, how much they get paid. This is not a problem that's in any way been solved.”

Kaplan described the reason for the continued importance of women's colleges as “very simple.” “When you go to a women's college, by definition, you have the leadership roles filled by women. You have to talk in class and ask questions. You can't just abdicate to a man.” She appreciated the confidence that women gain in these settings: “You're running the organizations. You're making the decisions. And you’re making decisions partially based on information and guidance you're getting from other strong women.”

She credited the Smith network and the legacy of alums as a factor in what makes Smith so special. “Smith had a heritage of people like Gloria Steinem, Betty Friedan, and many others. That is very influential in creating a subtle tone that women have an obligation to get out there and be activists, be community leaders, be mentors. The other thing about Smith was that tone of the leaders who came before us, and, of course, one of the greatest of those was Sophia Smith herself.”

Just as Sophia Smith’s vision endures, Kaplan’s legacy continues to pave the way for future generations of Smithies to achieve their full potential.