Rare with Google helps underrepresented creatives access the tools and networks they need to thrive at every stage of their career, while helping allies create a more inclusive working environment for them to do so. The programme offers training, research, resources, meetups, and mentorship to support women and other members of overlooked communities as they enter creative fields and rise into leadership positions. Supported by recognised creatives and scaled with a global network of agency and academic partners, it offers both global insights and localised knowledge so that no individual, industry, or region is left behind.

We’ve made steady strides toward improving gender equity within our own walls, but we still have work to do. Around the world, we’re investing in programs that offer specialised support and safe spaces to Googlers of underrepresented genders and expressions. Here are just a few:

• Launched in 2016 as an internal Google workshop, #IAmRemarkable has grown into a global movement that empowers women and underrepresented groups to celebrate their achievements while challenging the social perception around self-promotion. As of 2023, more than 1,300 organisations have brought #IAmRemarkable to 500,000 participants from 180 countries.

• In Asia Pacific, our monthly “You Can’t Ask That” discussion series drives awareness and understanding of the experiences of underrepresented genders and groups. The Women@Singapore employee resource group helps lead the programme.

• We recently piloted Phoenix Asian Women Leadership Development programme, a six-month virtual programme for women of Asian and Asian-American backgrounds that prepares them to ascend to leadership roles at Google.

We’re committed to increasing access to health-related data and information – because having that access helps you stay in control of your physical, mental, and emotional wellness. For example, we know people turn to Google Search when they need support during a health crisis. So we teamed up with New Zealand’s ThroughLine, the largest verified network of mental health and crisis helplines around the world. This partnership will increase the number of lifesaving resources that appear at the top of Google Search results in additional languages and countries for searches related to topics like suicide, which is prevalent among trans communities, and domestic violence, which disproportionately affects women.

YouTube is another leading destination for people who need health information, so we’re making it easier to find reliable, authoritative content. Our YouTube Health team has rolled out features in a number of countries, including Japan, India, and Brazil, that highlight videos from sources like doctors, nurses, and mental health professionals. Information panels underneath videos will help people verify and provide context on the source.

According to the WHO, approximately 830 women die from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth every day; more than 70% of these deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa. We’re interested in how technology can help improve perinatal health for mothers, other birthing people, and babies around the world, but especially in communities with limited access to healthcare services.

One way is through AI-assisted ultrasound, which could be especially useful in low-resource areas. We’re exploring this technology now in partnership with Jacaranda Health, a Kenya-based nonprofit. Another way is through digital tools for community health workers who care for expectant parents throughout their pregnancies, like Mama’s Hub, an app built with our Open Health Stack.

In Nigeria, we worked with partners to support maternal health by boosting timely access to emergency obstetric care (EmOC). Together, we we developed a tool that uses Google’s internal directions API – the same API that powers navigation in Google Maps – to estimate the average travel time to EmOC facilities for different regions. The goal is to help decision makers, governments, and other public health stakeholders address gaps in access.

Digital skills have become essential in today’s job market. But in some areas around the world, including parts of the Asia-Pacific region, women frequently lack access to the training and expertise they need to harness the full potential of technology, gain financial stability and flourish in their careers. We’re doing our part to help address the region’s digital skills gap in a number of ways:

• Women Will supports women’s economic potential through digital skills and community building in 49 countries around the world. From digital skills training to webinars on leadership and entrepreneurship, it offers options for women at all stages of their careers.

• An initiative in the Philippines by Google and YouTube, Digiskarteng Pinay is a digital upskilling campaign to help women learn new skills and create livelihood opportunities through YouTube creator content.

• The Internet Saathi initiative, a joint effort between Google and Tata Trusts, equips women in villages across rural India with basic internet skills. In 2021, the programme reached its goal of training 30 million women.

Shifting the global landscape of work for women and girls is a critical part of how our company – and the tech industry overall – can reach its representation goals. We’re investing in programmes to help women build community, support one another, and harness the power of mentorship – so that when women start careers in tech, they’re also able to stay in those careers.

Programmes like Mind the Gap, Women Techmakers, #IamRemarkable, and Google for Startups Accelerator for Women Founders provide mentorship and coaching to women in tech at different stages of their careers. In particular, the Women Techmakers Mentor Development Program empowers women in tech to pursue mentorship opportunities through one-on-one coaching, practical mentoring experience, networking, and skill development opportunities. In 2022, over 50 women graduated from the programme and joined Google for Startups Accelerator (GFSA) as mentors, resulting in a 22% increase in women mentors in the GFSA pool across Latin America alone.