Connie K Duckworth

She began at Arco in the oil business in the late 1970s when the industry was at its hottest, then became a woman of firsts at Goldman Sachs, serving as the firm’s first female sales and trading partner, co-head of the Municipal Bond Department, head of Fixed Income in Los Angeles, and co-head of the Chicago office. In 2001, Duckworth retired from Goldman to make mentoring fledgling businesswomen her full-time vocation. She co- founded 8 Wings Enterprises, a group of angel investors that advises and selectively funds early-stage, women-led companies, co-authored The Old Girls’ Network: Insider Advice for Women Building Businesses in a Man’s World and served as chair of the Committee of 200, a professional organization of the nation’s most powerful women entrepreneurs and corporate executives. Now Duckworth is in the spotlight for her work as founding president of Arzu, a not-for-profit organization that aims to provide sustainable income to Afghan women by sourcing and selling the carpets they weave.