Tag Archives: Nonprofits

Google tools support more nonprofits in new ways

When 2020 brought uncertainty to communities around the world, nonprofits stepped up to help those in need. From moving educational programs online with Canada Learning Code to providing frontline coronavirus relief in Milan with Croce Rossa Italiana, the work of nonprofits around the world has inspired us. And we were proud to support hundreds of thousands of organizations with the tools and resources they needed to bring programs online and expand their impact. 

Here’s a look at how Google and the nonprofit community rose up to the challenges of 2020.

Expanded reach and access

This year, access to digital tools was crucial to continue operations, sustain productivity, and raise awareness. In April, we expanded Google for Nonprofits to an additional 16 countries, bringing our reach to a total of 67 countries around the globe. Jorge Gomes, the National Coordinator of VOST in Portugal, told us that Google for Nonprofits helped them streamline communication and project development so they could provide emergency information to health professionals during COVID-19.

Nonprofits sought to get the word out about their services. To help, we made it easier to use  Ad Grants, which gives nonprofits access up to $10,000 of credits per month for search advertising. FoodFinder, for example, focused on running ads related to keyword phrases like “food pantries near me” to provide information to the more than 25,000 people seeking food resources for themselves and family. 

We reduced the time it takes to request an Ad Grants account by 50 percent. And in partnership with the Applied Digital Skills team we developed acollection of digital skills lessons specifically for nonprofits which includes a step-by-step tutorial on how to launch and build an Ad Grants campaign. Now more nonprofits can use Ad Grants to drive their mission forward. 

More product tools and resources

At the start of the pandemic, we asked nonprofits about the challenges they faced and used that information to curate a set of resources to help use technology to navigate through these barriers. And we started broadcasting our live show on YouTube twice a month, where our experts dive into requested topics. 

We learned that larger nonprofits needed access to more advanced productivity tools, like increased cloud storage and enhanced security features. To meet this need, we announced new G Suite Business and Enterprise for Nonprofits discounts. The Last Mile, a nonprofit organization that prepares incarcerated individuals for successful reentry through business and technology training, upgraded to G Suite Enterprise for Nonprofits to streamline operations and boost efficiency. This played a huge role maintaining and growing the opportunities they provide despite the pandemic—which is hitting prison populations especially hard. 


And last but not least, video storytelling became a powerful tool during the pandemic for nonprofits to spread the word about their mission and impact. We partnered with YouTube to support the launch of  YouTube Giving. Already, fundraisers on YouTube have raised millions of dollars for nonprofits like The Bail Project and Goats of Anarchy. This powerful tool allows viewers to donate directly on YouTube through the live chat donations or the Donate button, and it’s now available to all YouTube Partner Program channels with more than 10,000 subscribers in the United States, United Kingdom and Canada. 


Sharing nonprofit stories 


The stories of what nonprofits have accomplished this year inspire us. We’ve continued to highlight the amazing accomplishments of nonprofit organizations through videos, case studies, and conversation on social media. To thank our nonprofit community for doing so much to help so many, here’s a video that shows the impact of organizations from Colombia to Cambodia. 

Around the world, nonprofits are spreading hope through action. To nonprofits doing so much to help so many, thank you.
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You can find more stories of resilience, like how FoodFinder is using Google Maps to reduce food insecurity, in the Nonprofits section of The Keyword.  

Google.org supports Latino SMBs this holiday season

When I think about small businesses, I think about my family. My uncle runs a small freight forwarding business in South Florida. My cousin works at a family-owned Peruvian restaurant. And my father-in-law is a serial entrepreneur who has run a hair salon, a construction company, and an outdoor food court over the years. These small businesses have been a lifeline for my family, and provided opportunities for us to succeed in this country. 


Small businesses are the backbone of families like mine and the U.S. economy as a whole. It’s critical that we come together to support these pillars of local communities, especially for historically underserved groups, like the Latino community, which have been disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Latinos are 1.5 times more likely to start a business, but in the past few months alone about 32% of Latino-owned businesses have been forced to close due to COVID-19. 


In September, Google.org announced a $3 million grant to Hispanics in Philanthropy PowerUp Fund to directly support Latino-owned small businesses across California, Texas and New York. Through this effort, 500 small businesses were selected and will receive $5,000 in cash grants as well as a year's worth of business training from Ureeka, a community-based platform that connects underserved small business owners to peers, mentors and coaches, to help these businesses grow. We’re optimistic that through cash and training like this, small businesses will be able to build the resilience they need to withstand economic downturns, especially during the holidays. 


The PowerUp Fund grant recipients represent more than 55 industries including food and beverage, health and wellness, childcare, technology and more. Nearly 60 percent of these businesses are Latina-owned and more than 15 percent of business owners identify as a member of the LGBTQIA+ community, a U.S. veteran or persons with disabilities. We asked recipients to share how this support will help keep the lights on, here’s what some of them had to say: 


  • Gisselle Hernandez, CEO of Glamlite Cosmetics

    Gisselle Hernandez, CEO of Glamlite Cosmetics

    Gisselle Hernandez founded Glamlite Cosmetics, a food inspired cosmetics brand. Giselle is a Caribbean immigrant that lives by the motto: "beauty isn't one-size-fits-all." Our brand is grateful to be one of recipients of this outstanding support from the PowerUp Fund,” says Gisselle. “Through the Ureeka coaching we will continue to learn how to use social media to expand our audience and create engaging content for our current customers.”


  • Alejandro Cuadra, owner of Urban Barber College

    Alejandro Cuadra, owner ofUrban Barber College 

    Urban Barber College prepares students to become licensed professionals within the beauty industry. “This funding and coaching will help bring some stability in this very unpredictable year,” said Alejandro.“I can look forward to growth and sustainability with the opportunity to learn from a Ureeka business coach.” 


  • Laura Bruce, Director of Mi Casa Es Tu Casa

    Laura Bruce, Director ofMi Casa Es Tu Casa 

    Mi Casa Es Tu Casa offers highly-rated online baby and toddler music classes to teach Spanish through music, sign language, and games. “The PowerUp funding and coaching from Ureeka will help us have a solid plan to move forward with our small business by setting our priorities straight, recover from the damages done by COVID-19, and have a more efficient business strategy to make 2021 our best year yet,” says Laura. 


  • Joe Melig, Co-owner of 2M Smokehouse

    Joe Melig, Co-owner of 2M Smokehouse

    2M Smokehouse is one of the most popular barbeque and catering restaurants in San Antonio. “With all the uncertainty that lies ahead for small business owners, this grant is helping us by allowing us to make the necessary improvements and adjustments during these ever-changing times,” says Joe. “However, it is the support brought to us through the coaching course and a sense of community with fellow business owners that will last a lifetime.” 


  • Carmen Rodriguez, CEO of Brooklyn Cupcake

    Carmen Rodriguez and Gina Madera, Founders of Brooklyn Cupcake

    Brooklyn Cupcake is a family owned and operated cupcake shop with a menu of Puerto Rican and Italian inspired cupcakes. “We’ve seen a spike in our internet shipping since the start of the pandemic,” says Carmen. “This grant will go towards building a much needed shipping department so that we can capture every single sale and continue to grow our shipping platform.”


  • Javier Castaño, Director of QueensLatino

    Javier Castaño, Director of QueensLatino 

    Queens Latino is a monthly bilingual newspaper that provides  local news from Queens, New York—one of the most diverse regions in the U.S. "COVID-19 has transformed New York City’s Latino community,” says Javier.  “In response to the disruptive impacts the QueensLatino community-based platform has endeavored to report on the systemic socio-economic dislocations–thus contributing to reactivating the local economy. This grant money will be used to pay reporters, videographers, and acquire new technologies. The coaching will assist in making our newsroom more robust, strengthen our business strategy and help us navigate the digital ecosystem and develop new perspectives that will ensure growth and prosperity."


Google.org’s funding for the PowerUp Fund builds on Google’s $180M commitment to support minority and women-led small businesses across the country through the Grow with Google Small Business Fund and Google.org grants. Read on to learn more about the other PowerUp Fund recipients and consider supporting a small business this holiday season— whether it’s buying your favorite candle from the shop around the corner or giving a shout out to your go-to dinner spot on social media—every little bit counts. 


Googler volunteers teach (and learn) important lessons

The COVID-19 pandemic has made distance learning the default option for many school-age children around the world. But many students, especially those in underserved communities, still aren’t familiar with using technology to learn.


Over the past few months, I’ve had the opportunity to help address this challenge as a Google volunteer mentoring with Ini Budi, a nonprofit organization in Indonesia that creates digital learning materials for teachers and students. This volunteering opportunity was part of Ashoka: Innovators for the Public’s Changemaker Journey program, supported by Google.org and aimed at helping nonprofits get the tools, knowledge and skills to meet their immediate priorities and sustain their efforts over the long term. 


It was really rewarding to work with Indi Budi’s team to help them develop a learning hub using YouTube, and teach staff members how to use Google’s analytics tools to see how engaged students were with their classes. But what surprised me most was just how much I gained from the experience. 


Despite being the mentor, I felt I was learning from the Ini Budi team as much as they were learning from me. I started to better understand the challenges the education sector faced, and how we can begin to tackle these systemic issues. I realized that you can solve any problem with the power of collaboration. 


I want to highlight a few other Googlers who have been dedicating their time as mentors to help various Google.org grantees and show how helping others can lead you to learn more about yourself. 

Pat Choa

Pat Choa, gTech Ads Operations Director, Philippines

Being Filipino, I want local businesses to succeed, so I signed up to be a mentor to Filipino startups through a local enterprise, QBO Innovation Hub. 

Tapping my media and digital marketing knowledge, I reviewed these startups' media plans and shared my perspective on using digital platforms to grow their businesses. 

These group mentoring sessions made me feel like I was part of a broader community, where I, too, was learning from these startups’ challenges, motivations and ideas.

Talking to these entrepreneurs and hearing what they're trying to achieve brings me so much joy— just knowing that there are so many businesses trying to create better opportunities for other Filipinos inspires me to strive to do more to help my own community.

Brian Weidenbaum, Software Engineer, Singapore

I had the chance to be a hackathon mentor to pre-college students working on exciting software ideas at Engineering Good, a Singaporean nonprofit that empowers disadvantaged communities through engineering.

Brian Weidenbaum

Our hackathon team worked on a feature to make it easier for visually-impaired people to read screens that lack integrated screen readers. 


I was deeply impressed by how motivated the students were and how quickly they picked up machine learning techniques to create a prototype. Watching them build some compelling features in such a short period of time was inspiring, and seeing their idea come to life during the hackathon was a proud moment for me. Volunteering is such a great way to serve the community and, in this case, to help build the next generation of engineers. I want the engineers of the future to be more skilled than I am, and I am happy to see what people are capable of when you invest in them.

Max Tsai, Google Customer Solutions Direct Sales Lead, Taiwan  

I spent the last few months volunteering with the Institute for Information Industry, a local nonprofit that supports the development of the information industry in Taiwan.

Max Tsai

I was tasked with designing and developing a series of webinars to help local businesses gain new knowledge on topics like finding the right talent for building a great workplace culture. 

Together with five other Google volunteers, we were able to produce three webinars, with more sessions to come in the coming weeks. 

More than 900 entrepreneurs attended these sessions, with many reaching out to share how useful our insights and tips were. 

Through this experience, I learned how valuable knowledge-sharing sessions could be. It felt good knowing that we had this opportunity to use our skills to help these organizations as they continue to evolve.

YouTube Giving makes it easier to support nonprofits

Whether it's a livestream video of goats or educational stories about the challenges of the criminal justice system, YouTube creators have long helped rally people behind causes they’re passionate about.

Last year, we set out to make it even easier for creators and viewers to support charitable causes they care about by testing YouTube Giving—a fundraising tool that helps creators raise money for eligible nonprofit organizations directly from their videos and live streams. 

YouTube Giving is now available to all YouTube Partner Program channels with more than 10,000 subscribers in the United States, United Kingdom and Canada. We spoke with two nonprofits that have benefited from fundraising efforts on YouTube to learn more about their causes first hand. 

Top YouTube creator raises funds to help people who can’t afford bail 

The Bail Project is a national nonprofit that combats this injustice by providing free bail assistance to thousands of people every year while working to eliminate cash bail. Every year, millions of low-income Americans are forced to sit in jail for weeks or months as they wait for their day in court. They’re presumed innocent under the law, but their freedom is tied to whether they can afford cash bail. Many end up pleading guilty to crimes they didn’t commit just to go home, leading to an undeserved criminal record that will follow them for the rest of their lives. 

The Daily Show with Trevor Noah told the story of The Bail Project on its channel and used YouTube Giving to raise $127,000 from viewers for their National Revolving Bail Fund. With teams in 24 cities around the U.S., they pay bail using their National Revolving Bail Fund and connect people to social services and community resources as needed upon release. Every donation made possible through Youtube Giving helped make a difference in The Bail Project's efforts to fuel momentum for bail reform.

An animal sanctuary hosts a fundraiser to support its cause

Nonprofits with more than 10,000 subscribers, like Goats of Anarchy, can now host their own fundraisers with YouTube Giving. Goats of Anarchy is a New Jersey-based sanctuary for animals with a focus on goats that have disabilities ranging from blindness to mobility impairment to neurological disorders. In addition to rescuing and rehabilitating animals, Goats of Anarchy also advocates for animal rights and teaches the world about inclusion and acceptance of disabilities.  

Caring for 240 animals, of which about 30 wear custom prostheses, they’re constantly working to provide the best possible care and find new ways to fund these efforts. Just over a year ago, Goats of Anarchy stumbled upon a passionate community of supporters on YouTube. The team had rescued Maybel, a pregnant goat. To keep an eye on her as she approached her due date, they set up a camera and created a livestream on YouTube. This live stream won the hearts of viewers who not only spread the word about these adorable animals, but also donated to Goats of Anarchy. 

Now with a growing audience of more than 16,000 subscribers and access to YouTube Giving, the team at Goats of Anarchy continues to share content and fundraise with YouTube Giving. Ellen, an Animal Caregiver at Goats of Anarchy, told us that YouTube allows them to share in-depth stories with their enthusiastic audience, many of which have some personal connection to disabilities. 

Nonprofits with more than 10,000 subscribers, like Goats of Anarchy, can now host their own fundraisers with YouTube Giving.
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With these updates, viewers across more than 40 countries can use the Donate button or Live Chat donations to contribute to causes they care about—already fundraisers on YouTube have raised millions of dollars for organizations in the U.S. Thanks to the support of creators and the ability to fundraise with YouTube Giving, nonprofits can make an even bigger impact in their communities.  

Help for Asia’s change-making nonprofit leaders

As someone who came to Google from the nonprofit world, I understand how challenging it can be for nonprofit organizations to find the right resources and talent to tackle some of the world's complex challenges. 


COVID-19 doesn't make it easier. So in June this year, Google.org granted $600,000 to Ashoka: Innovators for the Public, helping them launch a six-month capacity-building program for 28 nonprofits from Singapore, Indonesia and India. The Changemaker Journey program has two main goals. First, to help nonprofits get the tools, knowledge and skills to meet their immediate priorities and sustain their efforts over the long-term. Second, to build a community where organizations can learn from one another, collaborate, and discover new ideas together.


I spoke to Janine Teo, founder and CEO of Solve Education, a Singapore-based nonprofit working to make high-quality education more accessible, to learn about her personal journey and how the program has helped her during the pandemic.
The Source team

Tell me about yourself. What led you to the nonprofit world? 

It started with two questions from my mentor. He first asked, "What are you working so hard for?" My parents grew up in poverty. Both of them had to drop out of school to support the family, but they knew the importance of education. My father put himself back to school and graduated when he was 30. My mother paid off her brothers' education fees then enrolled herself in night school to get her diploma. My parents showed me how you could still learn and grow even at a later age. 


He then asked, "What's your purpose?" I was trained as a software engineer but tried different industries, including hospitality. While I appreciated these experiences, I knew I wanted to solve deeper problems, contribute to society and help others. So five years ago, and with my mentor’s support, I’d started Solve Education to help people of all ages, nationalities, and backgrounds get a high-quality education. 


Has it been challenging being a social entrepreneur in 2020? 

Definitely—we can all agree education creates opportunities. But COVID-19 has made learning challenging, especially for those in underserved communities. Some of the families we support in India don't have the luxury to socially distance themselves — or even study — because of the lack of space. For others, being a daily wage worker means they need to find work every day to put food on the table. The people we serve are more afraid of dying of hunger than the pandemic—it’s survival mode for many of them. We had to be creative to solve this problem, so we introduced Game for Charity, a point-based program where beneficiaries could earn points by completing learning modules and exchange these points for food packages. 


What inspired you to be part of the capacity-building program, and how did it help your organization? 

The concept of finding solutions to complex problems that have positive effects in changing the system fascinates me. As a social entrepreneur, I think it's important to look at the root causes of the problems we’re looking to solve. I also wanted to widen my network through the Ashoka Foundation and Google.org—and continue learning, too. In fact, one of my most memorable sessions from the program was attending a Google Ads coaching session led by Google volunteers with my team. The session was so useful because it was exactly what we needed help with! 


This program also gave us a fresh perspective one some of the issues we’re dealing with. It helped us question ourselves more and home in on projects that will have the biggest impact. 


The truth is, capacity-building is often overlooked. It's hard to expect nonprofits to contribute to systemic change without building their ability to think critically, as well as the broader skills they need to run their organization effectively. After all, we are solving problems that no one has solved before. When we look at education, we still have a world where 263 million children and youth aren’t attending school. We are nowhere near solving the problem, but joining this program gave me and my team the inspiration and excitement to continue challenging ourselves.

From Cambodia to Colombia, nonprofits spark change

In Australia, a koala returns to the wild after surviving devastating bushfires. It’s safe and healthy thanks to WWF Australia. Over 10,000 miles away in Colombia, at-risk teens dance together in a program designed by Vive Bailando. 


Head to Portugal and you’ll see Just a Change fighting poverty by rebuilding homes—and lives. In India, The Madras Crocodile Bank Trust educates communities about venomous snake bite prevention. The Halo Trust clears landmines in Cambodia, while Amref Health Africa helps women in rural Kenya have healthy pregnancies. The U.S. National Domestic Workers Alliance promotes dignity and fairness for essential care workers, and the Italian Red Cross is devoted to COVID-19 relief.


Though these nonprofits are in different locations and have unique missions, they all share one thing in common: their actions create hope for a better, safer world. Google for Nonprofits is honored to support organizations like these, and we’re inspired by their tireless efforts to address society’s most pressing issues.

This giving season, to nonprofits around the world, we say, “Thank you.”


How we’re supporting the transgender community

I log onto work, with my long black hair down and my nails freshly painted red. I keep my pronouns (they/them) visible on my email signature, my company profile and for a time even on my shirt. Joining my first meeting, I immediately hear: “David, he’s here!” I wince, I correct my colleague and continue to increase awareness of who I am in my gender identity. 

As I’m a first-generation Salvadoran American who’s gender nonconforming (GNC), it’s important to me to create spaces for allies to educate themselves and for trans and GNC people to feel seen and included within Google. And as a small business marketer, I work to uplift stories of people who are frequently unseen—in particular, Black or Latino trans business owners.

One of these business owners is Marli Washington, who like many trans or GNC people, began realizing that his gender identity was not aligned with his body. This feeling of incongruity (sometimes called gender dysphoria) can be a daily reality, and can compromise a person’s well-being, comfort and physical and psychological safety. 

Marli recognized a need in the broader trans and GNC communities for accessible and safe chest binding options—garments used to flatten the chest. So Marli founded gc2b to create better products that allow people to align their bodies with their gender identities—products designed by trans people, for trans people. With the help of Google, gc2b has continued to grow its digital presence to meet a critical need of trans and GNC people around the world. 

“Some people might not have the vocabulary or the experience to connect with being transgender; they might be feeling body dysphoria and they don’t know what that is,” Marli says. “So they hop on Google, which has helped us become discoverable to them, and eventually they will find that gc2b exists to serve them.”

While Marli’s products are predominantly for trans men and transmasculine folks, he recognizes the need to do more to support the broader trans and GNC communities’ full diversity. Through special partnerships, like gc2b’s Black Trans Liberation Collection, Marli’s products are able to support nonprofits like The Marsha P. Johnson Institute, whose mission is to end violence against all trans people, especially Black trans women, across the United States.

I’m proud that Google is also a supporter of this critical organization. In June, Google.org donated $500,000 to The Marsha P. Johnson Institute, which will provide direct cash assistance to Black trans people affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Institute has already distributed $250,000 in cash assistance in 2020. Googler volunteers will provide technical and marketing skills to help The Marsha P. Johnson Institute garner and process cash assistance applications.  

At Google, we build our products for everyone, and this includes the trans community. Here are just a few product updates that focus on helping the trans and GNC communities at large:

  • On Google Maps, we’re adding points of interest, including cultural landmarks and murals that honor the trans and larger LGBTQ+ community. Check out the Black Trans Lives Matter Mural in San Francisco, for example.

  • On Search, users will find a celebratory banner at the top of the results page when looking for terms like "trans rights,” “trans awareness week” or other related queries.

  • The Google Play Store is highlighting apps that support the trans and GNC communities.

  • Google Assistant is sharing facts about the trans community. Just ask, “Hey Google, how are you celebrating Transgender Awareness Week?”

  • Grow with Google, our economic opportunity initiative, is partnering with a number of trans-serving organizations, including local LGBT Chambers of Commerce, to provide free training and resources that help people grow their career or business. Other nonprofit organizations interested in partnering with us can sign up here.

We’re using our social media accounts to help uplift and celebrate the trans community. In September, we launched our Black Trans Lives Matter campaign as part of Google’s ongoing commitment to racial equity. 

Marli, and many others in the trans and GNC communities, spread awareness every day by being their authentic selves. Over the past few months, many Googlers—in collaboration with The Marsha P. Johnson Institute, GLAAD and journalist and equality advocate Raquel Willis—have worked to make this Transgender Awareness Week one that uplifts and centers the trans and GNC communities. I’m proud that my colleagues and so many others are working to support and celebrate trans lives. If you’re interested, you can visit GLAAD’s website to learn more about Transgender Awareness Week. 

Helping Australian teens hone media literacy skills

On April 28, 1996 at the historical Port Arthur site in Tasmania, 35 people were tragically killed. Alannah and Madeline Mikac, aged six and three, along with their mother, died that day. Because of this terrible act of violence, Alannah and Madeline's father, Walter Mikac AM, and a small group of volunteers, created the Alannah & Madeline Foundation with the belief that all children should have a safe and happy childhood. For more than 20 years, the Alannah & Madeline Foundation has worked to safeguard every child’s basic right to live free from violence and serves as a beacon of hope for a better, safer world. 

As the dangers children face today become increasingly complex, the Foundation is adapting and responding to modern challenges. To help young people become less susceptible to online harms like disinformation and hate speech, the organization is focusing on helping teens better understand their relationships with media.

In Australia, as in the rest of the world, it’s more crucial than ever to help young people distinguish fact from fiction online. Research by Queensland University of Technology and Western Sydney University shows that many teenagers regularly consume news media, but their trust in the stories provided by news organizations has fallen significantly since 2017. More than half of young Australians pay little or no attention to the source of news stories found online, and only one third agree that they can tell “fake news” from real news. Teachers believe it's important to teach media literacy, but many feel constrained by barriers like a strict curriculum and a lack of confidence about the topic. 

With support from Google.org, the Foundation set its sights on tackling this issue and worked with an advisory group of academics, industry experts and educators to develop Media Literacy Lab, a first-of-its-kind education resource for teachers and students aged 12-16. This e-learning platform helps Australia’s youth become media-savvy digital citizens, questioning what they see, practicing smart and safe online behaviors and seeking help when needed. 

A video from the foundation announcing their media literacy lab.

The Lab aims to both increase the media literacy of young Australians and support teachers to build their confidence in teaching the subject. Media Literacy Lab has two portals: one for teachers to administer the Lab and engage in professional learning, and one for students to experience narrative-based learning. In the Teacher Portal, educators can easily facilitate lessons, access resources and view real-time student reports. Media Literacy Lab’s gamified learning modules, including new and carefully curated content from our partners, sit in the Student Portal. Media Literacy Lab empowers students to strengthen their ethical understanding and critical thinking skills, crucial to navigate and thrive in today’s digital ecosystem.  

In its first month, we saw almost 200 Australian schools register, with nearly 270 educators facilitating the Lab and more than 100 users from other non-school settings like libraries and universities—a huge achievement amid a global pandemic. 

As we shifted to remote work in March as a result of COVID-19, we increasingly used Google for Nonprofits tools for organization and collaboration. Google Drive ensures our documents are protected, creating an easy way to invite the right people to contribute during product development. We simultaneously used Google Docs and Sheets for project management and content design documentation. The ability to collaboratively work with Google products was useful to keep project momentum. 

The Foundation recently extended the period to register and use Media Literacy Lab free-of-charge until the end of 2021. Next year, we will deliver a national series of professional learning events for teachers with expert guests and hold student workshops in critical media production. We will continue to support national media literacy research, partnerships, advocacy campaigns and policy development. With additional funding, we also plan to build new modules for upper primary students.

Media Literacy Lab forms part of the Foundation’s crucial work in transforming how society thinks about–and responds to–the barriers to every child’s basic right to safety. We believe explicitly teaching young people media literacy can lead to strengthened digital civic engagement and contribute to safer civil discourse, benefiting children across Australia. 

Investing in the next generation of NY tech talent

New York City is my home. I’m a proud graduate and parent of three children in the New York City public school system, and I chose to stay and build my career here. Twelve years ago, after a career on Wall Street, I joined Google and currently serve as Chief Information Officer (CIO) and co-site lead for Google’s growing New York campus. Like me, Google has been fortunate to call New York home and is committed to connecting students, teachers and job seekers to the local tech economy. 


Today, as part of Google’s commitment to the continued growth of our city’s current and future tech workforce, Google.org is announcing $3.5 million in grants to three local organizations: Pursuit, ExpandEd Schools and CS4All. 


Supporting organizations like these is especially important as the COVID-19 pandemic has unearthed unsettling truths about equity and access to resources, especially in underserved communities of color. As we navigate the short and long term effects of the pandemic, we must come together to create equitable solutions that meet the needs of the moment and provide a strong foundation for the future. This starts by making sure every New Yorker has access to a quality education and the training and resources needed for in-demand jobs—these grantees are working to make this possible. 


Pursuit: Connecting New Yorkers to careers in tech 

Pursuit creates economic opportunity for adults from low-income communities by training them to code and build careers in technology. Their fellows come from groups that are historically underrepresented in tech and are made up of majority Black or Latino people, women, immigrants and those without Bachelor’s degrees. Upon completing the fellowship, they go on to work at top tech companies, increasing their salaries from $18,000 to $85,000 on average. With $2 million in funding from Google.org, Pursuit will build on its work to remove systemic barriers preventing low-income communities from accessing careers in technology and connect 10,000 New Yorkers with jobs in the tech industry. 

 

ExpandEd Schools: Supporting after-school educators  

ExpandEdsupports a strong after-school system that enables students to thrive and educators to grow. Google.org's $1 million investment in ExpandED Pathways Fellowship Computer Science (CS) track will empower aspiring teachers of color from underserved communities to fulfill their professional goals through a 10-month after-school teaching practicum. Ultimately, this will help increase the number of diverse CS educators in New York City and nationwide.


CS4All: Sustaining Computer Science education in public schools

Computer Science for All (CS4All) began in 2015 as an innovative public-private partnership with the NYC Department of Education to train 5,000 teachers and bring equitable CS education to all 1.1 million public school students in NYC by 2025. As the program hits its halfway point, Google.org is providing $500,000 to fund their CS Leads program facilitated by the Fund for Public Schools. This will help provide more than 200 teachers with a comprehensive leadership training program focused on equity in CS education, peer coaching and in-school leadership.


The creativity and entrepreneurial spirit of New Yorkers is one of the reasons Google calls this city home. And I’m proud that the work we do helps nurture that spirit. Whether it’s standing alongside 26 CEOs from the largest employers in New York to launch the New York Jobs CEO Council with the goal of hiring 100,000 traditionally underserved New Yorkers by 2030, committing to additional hiring efforts focused on Black+ talent in NY or developing alternative pathways into the workforce, we believe tech should be for everyone and we’re committed to making that a reality. 


Building disaster resilient cities with Team Rubicon

Editor's note: Jake Wood is the CEO of Team Rubicon, a Google.org grantee. Today, he talks about how their preparedness efforts help communities across the U.S. respond to natural disasters. 

The idea for Team Rubicon came after I finished my two tours with the Marine Corps in 2010. The devastation from the Haiti earthquake was unfolding, and I couldn't just stand idly by and watch. I realized there was an untapped resource in veterans like myself. Our collective knowledge could help communities recover from tornadoes, fires, floods and hurricanes like the one Haiti was reeling from. 

I co-founded Team Rubicon with a vision to create a team of volunteer military veterans and first responders that could help bring immediate relief to marginalized communities recovering from disasters. Lately, we’ve been building on that vision and thinking about how we can better help communities prepare before a crisis happens.To that end, we started the Resilient Cities Initiative, which focuses on recruiting, organizing, and training thousands of veterans and volunteers across 300 metropolitan areas to respond to disasters at a local level. And thanks to Google.org’s $1 million grant last year, we were able to start expandingour Resilient Cities Initiative and scale necessary structures to train a localized and skilled volunteer base.  

We expected this project to increase the resilience of cities. But 2020 gave us the opportunity to prove our hypothesis in ways we never imagined. While some had estimated this would be a record-breaking year for natural disasters, no one predicted that a pandemic would compound these crises. 

This spring, Team Rubicon volunteers saw firsthand how the spread of COVID-19 destabilized communities. With restrictions on long-distance travel, local volunteers became the only solution for direct service organizations. Simultaneously, the disaster season raged on. There were tornados and derechos in the Midwest, Hurricanes Laura, Sally, and Delta in the Southeast, and fires in the West—leaving communities across the country struggling with where to start the recovery process. Thanks to support from Google, when these disasters hit during the pandemic, we already had volunteers who lived in those communities and were able to quickly and safely go out and help. 

  • Team Rubicon volunteers deliver essentials to a community member affected by COVID-19 in Boulder, CO.

    Team Rubicon volunteers deliver essentials to a community member affected by COVID-19 in Boulder, CO. Photo credit: Team Rubicon/LE

  • Team Rubicon volunteers in a COVID-19 testing site in Charlotte, NC.

    Team Rubicon volunteers work in a COVID-19 testing site in Charlotte, NC. Photo credit: Team Rubicon/HART

  • A volunteer prepares for a food bank to assist those affected by COVID-19 by unloading boxes in Englewood, CO.

    A volunteer preapres for a food bank to assist those affected by COVID-19 by unloading boxes in Englewood, CO. Photo credit: Team Rubicon/LE

To date, we’ve managed hundreds of requests for assistance with food, personal protective equipment (PPE distribution), COVID-19 testing, storm response, and other efforts critical in alleviating the strain on local resources. Thousands of our volunteers have deployed to missions right within the communities they live in and have performed over 9,000 acts of service. Additionally, our food support operations have served more than 2.7 million meals and our volunteers have driven 122 thousand miles (equivalent to driving around the earth four times) to deliver 48 million pounds of food to the doorsteps of vulnerable residents across hundreds of cities. 

While Google.org's support helped fuel the success of this program, to us it was more than just funding. Google.org pushed us to think bigger, be bolder and gain the needed lessons to confront what we can expect to face for the foreseeable future.

In 2010 we set out with a big dream: to transform disaster response. We threw out the playbook and recruited a generation of people who’d served in some of the world’s most complex environments. Today, during a year of compounding crises, communities are turning to veterans to lead them through.  That’s something we can all be proud of.