We’re tackling systemic barriers by taking meaningful action and showing up where it counts.
This Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, explore the richness and diversity of the community through artworks, stories, and more
Building racial equity starts within our own walls.
leadership representation of Black+, Latino+, and Native American+ Googlers in the U.S. by 2025
Learn about our 2025 goalsHow we’re making progress on our representation goals
As of 2021, we've reached our goal of improving leadership representation of Black+, Latino+, and Native American+ Googlers by 30%, and we're on track to double Black+ representation throughout our U.S. offices by 2025.
As we work towards our representation goals, we're focusing on more than just hiring. Our recruiting leads are working closely with internal groups like the Black Googler Network to improve hiring, progression, and retention for underrepresented groups at Google. We're launching new onboarding programs for all Black Googlers, and doubling down on our commitment to support Googlers of color through expanded mental health resources, and through internal mentorship programs like Stay and Thrive. We're driving allyship and holding leaders accountable by incorporating diversity, equity, and inclusion into performance reviews for all vice president+ levels. We're also focusing on hiring more employees of color in key growth sites, and we're working with external partner organizations and Minority Serving Institutions in order to strengthen pathways to careers in tech for those historically excluded from the industry.
Transcend: Bringing together women from around the globe
Learn about our first Women of Color SummitTranscend: Our first Women of Color Summit
We’re cultivating community and celebrating intersectionality at Google through our growing employee resource group (ERG) network and through conferences like Transcend, our first Women of Color Summit. Transcend brought together women of color across the company and around the globe, with over 20,000 women attending virtually, across 100+ cities. Of the women who attended, 95% said they felt a stronger sense of community and 92% felt more included at Google after attending the summit.
We’re helping Googlers pay off their student loans.
Find out about the programHow we’re helping Googlers pay off their student loans
Student loan debt disproportionately impacts communities of color. In October 2020, to help address the debt that hinders economic progress for many Googlers, we launched our student loan debt repayment program. To date, Googlers have received over $9 million in repayment matches.
Our racial equity commitments are driving systems-level change at Google
Read about our workHow our Black+ racial equity commitments are driving systems-level change at Google
In the spring of 2020, Google’s Black Leadership Advisory Group consolidated feedback from Googlers across the company on how Google could better show up for Black communities internally and externally. These learnings directly informed the racial equity commitments announced by Google CEO Sundar Pichai in June 2020, and are driving structural changes across Google. Here’s how:
Our work to center racial equity across every part of the hiring process:
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We’ve expanded our key growth sites by 3,393 employees in 2021, with 40% of these new employees coming from Black, Latino, or Indigenous groups, and we’re on track to expand by 10,000 employees by the end of 2025.
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We’ve trained 10,000 Googlers in the “culture-add” mindset (instead of “culture-fit”), and we’re working to extend these trainings to all employees.
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We launched new onboarding and mentorship programs for Black Googlers in the U.S., and we’re working to extend globally.
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We’ve met our goal of improving leadership representation of underrepresented groups by 30%, and we’re on track to double the number of Black Googlers at all other levels by 2025.
How we’re holding leaders accountable and driving internal allyship:
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We made diversity, equity, and inclusion a part of annual performance reviews for all vice president+ levels, and refined fairness and equity checks in our performance review process for all Googlers.
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We’re engaging 4,000+ leaders and managers in the work of allyship through our #ItsUpToMe campaign.
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In 2022, we’re pioneering a new, comprehensive, multi-series training for Googlers of all levels around the world. The training helps Googlers explore issues such as the history of global racism and racial consciousness through a living, breathing platform that will evolve over time.
New programs to support Googlers of color and improve retention:
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In 2020, we doubled, and in 2022 we tripled our investment in Stay and Thrive, a retention program that provides direct support and advocacy for employees from underrepresented groups, focusing on job satisfaction and career growth.
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We launched a student loan repayment program to help offset the disproportionate effects of student loan debt, with over $9 million in repayment matches to date.
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We’ve bolstered mental health resources with new, dedicated programs and an expanded network of counselors.
We’re building inclusive tools for the moments that matter.
How co-creation led to our most equitable camera
Learn about Real Tone™How expert partnerships helped us build our most equitable camera
Camera technology has historically overlooked or excluded people of color. These biases can carry into modern tools through unfair experiences like overbrightening or unnaturally desaturating skin. In 2021, a range of expert image-makers helped our teams create our Real Tone™ camera technology to ensure all people, particularly people with darker skin tones, feel accurately and beautifully seen in photos.
More ways to support Black- and Latino-owned businesses
Learn about the attributesHelping everyone find and support Black-and Latino-owned businesses
As part of our commitment to economic equity for Black and Latino communities, we’re building tools that make it easier to support Black- and Latino-owned businesses. Business owners in the U.S. can add a Black-owned or Latino-owned attribute to their Business Profile, which customers can see on their listings on Google Search and Google Maps. In 2020, 17 million American businesses added features like these to their Business Profiles to better connect with their customers.
Tools to celebrate and protect Indigenous communities
Learn about the featuresTools to uplift and protect Indigenous communities
Many Indigenous communities must overcome decades of underfunding and structural racism as they build toward the future. Here are a few examples of ways we’re uplifting these resilient communities through our tools:
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In collaboration with over 40 cultural institutions, we created the Indigenous Americas hub, a celebration of Indigenous art and culture that spans beyond the U.S. and across the Americas.
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Our Google Earth tour, Celebrating Indigenous Languages, shares audio recordings from more than 50 Indigenous language speakers with the aim of helping save Indigenous languages around the world from extinction.
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We’re keeping Indigenous languages alive by adding them to Google Translate.
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With Support from the Google Aboriginal and Indigenous Network, the Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development used Google tools to build a set of Nation Building Toolboxes to help tribal nations connect and share solutions related to subjects like Business Enterprises, Constitutional Reform, Justice Systems, and COVID-19 recovery and distance learning.
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The Navajo Nation is using Plus Codes in Google maps to provide addresses for its residents, improving their access to emergency health services and mail deliveries. Plus Codes have been used to support people around the world who do not have street addresses.
From 2014 to 2022, we’ve committed over $500 million to communities of color. Our biggest focus areas have been:
toward equity in computer science learning and higher education
(Opens in a Dialog Window)Driving equity in CS learning and higher education
Students from marginalized groups face major barriers to computer science education, including lack of exposure and lack of opportunity. We’re working to expand computer science (CS) education and help all students develop future skills.
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$38 million through Google.org to computer science organizations in the U.S. like the Kapor Center, CodeHouse, and the Computer Science Teachers Association, to support their work closing equity gaps for women and students of color
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$50 million in unrestricted grants to 10 Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), plus an additional $6 million for the Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF) and United Negro College Fund (UNCF), to help support scholarships, faculty programs, curriculum development, and career support programs. Since 2020, we’ve also committed $400,000 to help HBCU faculty acquire materials and access resources to develop machine learning courses for their students, plus $110,000 to 11 African Universities to support faculty there.
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$2.5 million in exploreCSR awards since 2018, which support institutions around the world to design and host research-focused initiatives during the academic year that expose students from marginalized groups to computing research methodologies, career pathways, and exploratory problems
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Over $600,000 in support for academic research focused on addressing the needs of historically marginalized groups in the area of equitable and inclusive education through the Award for Inclusion Research Program
toward economic opportunity
(Opens in a Dialog Window)How we’re supporting economic opportunity for communities of color
Since 2016, we’ve committed over $500 million to support economic opportunity for communities of color, focusing on skills training for job seekers, and capital and systems of support for businesses and creators. Here’s how our investments break down:
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$175 million economic opportunity package for Black small business owners, startups, job seekers, and developers, plus an additional $11 million for Black founders in the U.S. and around the world in 2021, and another $5 million for Black founders in the U.S. in 2022
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$40 million toward economic opportunity in Latino communities over the past five years, including $5 million in 2022 to three prominent Latino-serving organizations working to help members of the Latino community prepare for jobs in the digital economy. This also includes $15 million in 2021 for entrepreneurs, job seekers, and students in the U.S. These grants build on over $20 million in Google.org grants to support the Latino community since 2016, including $3 million to the Hispanic Federation for job seekers and Latino-led/serving nonprofits, and $3 million to Hispanics in Philanthropy’s Inicio Ventures (formerly the PowerUp Fund) to support Latino-owned small businesses.
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$1.25 million in Google.org grants to the National Congress of American Indians to support Native-owned small businesses
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$100 million commitment to spend with Black-owned suppliers as part of our broader commitment to spend a minimum of $2.5 billion with diverse-owned suppliers in the U.S. every year, starting in 2022
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$100 million #YouTubeBlack Voices Fund to help Black creators around the world grow and thrive on YouTube
and over 50K pro bono hours for racial justice organizations
(Opens in a Dialog Window)Our efforts to support racial justice
Since 2015, we’ve given $44 million in Google.org grants and over 50,000 pro bono hours through the Google.org Fellowship to support the work of racial justice organizations, including $12 million and 25,000 pro bono hours since 2020.
We’ve also given $5 million to organizations specifically addressing racial and geographic disparities in COVID-19 vaccinations in the U.S., including funding and pro bono services from 18 Google.org Fellows to help the Morehouse School of Medicine create the Health Equity Tracker. We also provided additional funding to help Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance support equitable vaccination in countries around the world.
More ways we’re building for racial equity
We’re on a mission to close the equity gap in computer science education.
Read about our workOur work to close the equity gap in computer science education
We’re focused on creating resources and pathways to careers in tech for groups historically excluded from the industry. Here are some highlights of the programs and commitments we’ve made toward this goal.
Increasing equitable access to education:
- Supporting the creation of culturally relevant CS learning materials and ways to help curriculum providers implement them, with a $3 million grant from Google.org to the Kapor Center
Creating programs that open doors across education levels:
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CS First: An introductory CS curriculum for students in 4th to 8th grade that has helped over 60,000 teachers reach more than 2 million students in 100+ countries
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Code Next: A CS education program that meets Black, Latino, and Native high school students in their own communities to support successful careers in computer science–related fields
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CS Research Mentorship Program: Encouraging students to pursue graduate- and doctorate-level CS studies by matching them with Google mentors
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Tech Exchange: Working in partnership with Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) to build applied computer science skills and social capital among Black and Latino students
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exploreCSR: Funding university faculty who wish to host CS workshops for undergraduates from underrepresented groups
Investing in HBCUs and beyond:
- 25% of African American graduates with STEM degrees come from Historically Black Colleges and Universities. To support these institutions and work together to close the tech gap, we’ve given $50 million in unrestricted grants to 10 Historically Black Colleges and Universities, plus an additional $6 million for the Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF) and United Negro College Fund (UNCF). These grants will help support scholarships, faculty programs, curriculum development, and career support programs.
We’re increasing access to the tools to succeed in today’s job market.
Find out howTools and systems to support the success of job seekers from underrepresented groups
Underrepresented groups are far less likely to have access to digital skills training. We’re working to close that gap. To date, we have partnered with 8,000+ organizations across the U.S., to ensure our digital skills trainings reach underrepresented communities of color, with a total of over 8 million Americans trained so far. Here’s some of our work:
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Google’s Applied Digital Skills program provides lessons on how to create a resume, how to communicate effectively at work, and more.
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Google Career Certificates are flexible online courses, available in English and subtitled in Spanish, designed to prepare students for entry-level jobs in high-growth fields, like IT, data analytics, and UX design, in as little as six months.
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Grow with Google Career Readiness Programs help students develop skills to secure internships and jobs that will help them build successful careers. We partner with the Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF), the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU), and Partnership with Native Americans (PWNA), to bring digital skills and workforce training to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs), and Native-Serving Organizations (NSOs). Together, we’ll train more than 250,000 students by 2025.
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We work with a network of external organizations to deliver our job seeker trainings to communities of color. For example, in partnership with Dress for Success, The Links, Inc., and sororities in the National Pan-Hellenic Council, we created Black Women Lead, an initiative to train 100,000 Black women in digital skills by 2022. We’ve also partnered with the Hispanic Federation and the Latino Community Foundation, and have helped 10,000 individuals upskill through digital skills and job readiness trainings so far.
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We also partner with nonprofits like The Ladies of Hope Ministries (The LOHM), to help people affected by it the criminal legal system develop the digital skills they need to successfully find a job or start a business.
Training and resources for startup founders and business owners
Explore the resourcesTraining and resources for startup founders and business owners from communities of color
More than 80% of Black- and Latino-owned small businesses reported that they use digital tools as a key part of their operations. We’re working to support these businesses and help them grow through accessible skills training and resources targeted to their needs.
Skills-building programs, mentorship, and resources:
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Google for Startups Accelerators, like Black Founders and Women Founders, provide access to Google’s people, networks, and advanced technology to help founders solve technical challenges specific to their businesses.
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Programs like Black Founders Exchange, hosted by American Underground and Google for Startups, and Google for Startups Founders Academy are helping to build systems of mentorship and networking for underrepresented founders.
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The Grow with Google business portal is a hub of actively updated resources on digital skills for business owners, including tailored resources for Black women–owned, Latino-owned, and veteran-owned businesses.
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The Grow with Google Digital Coaches program provides hands-on coaching and digital skills workshops to Black and Latino small business owners in English and Spanish. Since 2017, Digital Coaches in 20 cities have helped train more than 100,000 business owners.
Capital to support small businesses and help them grow:
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The Google for Startups Black Founders Fund and Latino Founders Fund provide selected U.S. founders with up to $100,000 in non-dilutive capital along with Google Cloud credits, Google.org Ad Grants, and hands-on support to help their startup grow.
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To help underserved small businesses gain access to critical capital, we committed $185 million to the Opportunity Finance Network (OFN) to establish the Grow with Google Small Business Fund and OFN’s Grant Program funded by Google.org. The fund delivered low-interest loans to over 50 Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs), who in turn provided loans to tens of thousands of underserved small businesses, including $50 million to support Black-owned businesses.
How access to quality data is helping to reduce racial disparities in the justice system
Read about our partnershipsHow access to quality data is helping to reduce racial disparities in the justice system
Although only 12% of the U.S. population, Black citizens make up nearly 40% of people who are incarcerated in the U.S. We have supported those who are working to reduce disparate racial outcomes by expanding quality data and legal representation and advocacy. Here are some examples of our recent work:
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In 2017, 10 Google.org Fellows helped the Center for Policing Equity to create the National Justice Database, the nation’s first database measuring statistics on police behavior. In 2020, 14 Google.org Fellows expanded on that work by helping to create a new, interactive dashboard, the Justice Navigator.
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In 2020, we built on our $32 million and 15,000 pro bono hours toward criminal justice reform to give 12 million in Google.org grants and 10,000 pro bono hours through the Google.org Fellowship to organizations working to advance racial justice.
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In 2020, we renewed our grant support for the Equal Justice Initiative, an organization we’ve supported since 2015 in its mission to end mass incarceration.
Initiatives to uplift the Asian and Pacific Islander community
Read about our workCelebrating the impact of the Asian American and Pacific Islander community
The Asian American and Pacific Islander community is one of the most culturally diverse groups in the country. We’re celebrating this community for Asian American Heritage Month and beyond through storytelling and initiatives to uplift AAPI small business owners and creators. Here are a few highlights from recent years:
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Our Asian Pacific American Cultures hub, made in partnership with more than 48 Google Arts & Culture partners, is a growing platform created to celebrate the rich history of the AAPI community and to honor Asian American and Pacific Islander experiences.
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We worked with Gold House to help launch its A100 list of the most impactful AAPI talent with a film highlighting search trends like “Asian representation.”
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YouTube’s Asian Pacific American Heritage Month playlist features videos from Asian and Pacific Islander creators and artists.
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As part of our 2021 campaign to honor Asian American Heritage Month and #StopAsianHate, we committed $10 million to organizations fighting for safety, dignity, and equity for the AAPI community.
How we’re supporting those disproportionately impacted by COVID-19
Read about our workOur work to support those disproportionately impacted by COVID-19
The pandemic is taking a greater toll on marginalized communities, physically, mentally, and economically. In Google.org’s work to respond to COVID-19, we’re focusing our resources to help these communities recover and heal. Here’s some of what we’re doing:
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To help analyze the impact of the pandemic on communities of color, who are disproportionately affected, and to research more equitable responses to future public health emergencies, we’ve provided $1.5 million and support through the Google.org Fellowship to help the Satcher Health Leadership Institute at Morehouse School of Medicine create the Health Equity Tracker.
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To help increase equitable access to the vaccine, Google.org provided $5 million in grants to organizations addressing racial and geographic disparities in COVID-19 vaccinations. We also provided additional funding to help Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance support equitable vaccination in countries around the world. This built on the $250 million we donated in Ad Grants to promote vaccine education.
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To support domestic workers facing economic hardship due to the pandemic, Google.org Fellows supported the National Domestic Workers Alliance (NDWA) to build a cash assistance platform to distribute emergency funds more efficiently.
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We’ve also made over $20 million in emergency relief grants last year to support organizations in regions such as India, Brazil, Latin America, Indonesia, and Southeast Asia, which were severely affected by COVID surges.
#YouTubeBlack Voices Fund to center diverse Black creators, artists, and content
Learn about our commitment#YouTubeBlack Voices Fund: A commitment to amplify Black creators, music, and culture
In 2020, we launched the #YouTubeBlack Voices Fund, a global multi year commitment dedicated to spotlighting and growing Black creators and music on our platform, by giving them access to resources to help them thrive on YouTube. In our first two years, we welcomed 320 grantees hailing from the U.S, Kenya, the United Kingdom, Brazil, Australia, South Africa, and Nigeria.
Project Greenwood: raising awareness and celebrating resilience
Read about our workHow we’re supporting Black entrepreneurship and celebrating Tulsa’s resilient Black community
In the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, white mobs in Tulsa, Oklahoma, attacked Black residents, destroying homes, schools, and one of the most prominent Black-owned business districts in the U.S. at the time, Greenwood. One hundred years later, we’re working to raise awareness of the horrific event and celebrate the healing and resilience of Tulsa’s Black community, with programs highlighting its history and supporting the legacy of Black entrepreneurship.
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We’ve partnered with the National Urban League to provide local Black-owned businesses with complimentary Google Nest Storefront Kits, subscriptions to Nest Aware, and Grow with Google digital coaching. This project aims to create economic opportunity for Black entrepreneurs and supports a safer, more efficient business environment. So far, this program has helped over 1,200 Black-owned businesses in nine metropolitan regions across the U.S.
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Google Arts & Culture partnered with the Greenwood Art Project to feature a one-of-a-kind collection of documentary photos and short films collected and curated by visual anthropologist Marlon Hall (he/him). The project aims to raise awareness of the destruction suffered by Tulsa’s thriving Black community and also celebrate its resilience, healing, and recovery.
Google employee’s quote
Recent events have called for a strong stand in defense of the Black community, but we must extend this work to other groups. Many of our commitments are beginning to do this, and there will be much more to come.