Sonia Gardner was born in Morocco and immigrated with her family to the United States at the age of four. She grew up in Connecticut and attended Clark University, receiving a BA with honors in philosophy, and Cardozo School of Law, where she received a JD. Today she is considered one of the most powerful women on Wall Street — a leader in finance and philanthropy.
Gardner believes her degree in philosophy was “great training for any career as it teaches you to think logically, evaluate arguments, to be critical and open to new ideas.… It covers an array of areas that are necessary skills” for both life and investing.
She began her career as senior attorney in the bankruptcy and corporate reorganization department of an investment bank, then joined her brother, Marc Lasry, in launching a debt brokerage firm, with Gardner as senior portfolio manager. In 1995 they cofounded Avenue Capital Group, an investment firm now managing assets estimated at $12.3 billion, with Gardner as president and managing partner.
In 2008 Gardner received the Industry Leadership Award from the professional group 100 Women in Hedge Funds, now named 100 Women in Finance. Today she sits on the group’s board, which has 30,000 members worldwide.
Gardner is the first United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) Goodwill Ambassador for Gender Equality in Access to Finance. She focuses on advocating for ways to give women access to the economic resources they need to start and grow businesses as means of lifting their families out of poverty.
