Gauri Gupta

Title: Associate Director
Firm: S&P Global Ratings
Age: 32

When she first "fell into" the municipal market as an analyst at S&P Global Ratings, Gauri Gupta was impressed by the size and scope of the industry and intrigued by public debt issuance by colleges.

"Hearing how these institutions issue debt to meet the needs for students was very interesting to me," said Gupta, who has risen to associate director of higher education at S&P. "The real impact to people's lives is really what kept me engaged and wanting to build my career in public finance."

Gupta has focused on transactions with an environmental, social and governance impact, and is now the ESG representative for the Higher Ed group at the firm.

In October 2020, she was lead analyst in granting a AAA rating to $300 million of taxable bonds issued for W. K. Kellogg Foundation and Trust. The proceeds would "enable the foundation to increase substantially its grants and for PRIs [program-related investments] intended to address the critical needs of children, families, and communities in the wake of the global pandemic, as well as urgent issues of racial injustice," she noted in her report.

"Being a woman of color and a minority myself," Gupta said, "being part of that transaction was especially satisfying."

Gupta has also been active in the Chicago chapter of Women in Public Finance and was elected to a three-year term as board member.

"It's a rewarding experience to be part of that group and to be with like-minded women," she said. "I see a lot of young women looking for the same mentorship that I received."