In a world where everyone belongs, anything is possible.
JOHN A. POWELL: How do we actually create a world in which our shared humanity becomes real, a world where everyone can belong?
MAYA SCOTT: Very much in our lives, we’re invited to watch or listen, instead of witnessing or doing.
MAMBU BAYOH: How do we make sure that when someone takes a photo of them, they see themselves?
PERNELL CEZAR: We have a role and requirement to do right by the communities that we come from.
LUCY PINTO: We know that the starting point is uneven. But we can generate equitable outcomes and give everybody a level playing field.
PEDRO PINA: If we are to be producing products and services that are for everyone, we need to look at ourselves and we need to see our users in ourselves.
JUAN RAJLIN: What we’re trying to create is a culture where literally everyone can reach their full potential.
GIRL: It feels nice not to be like, “Oh, she’s a special kid. We got to do everything different just for her.”
FEMALE VOICE: Who is that, Owen? Who is that? That’s you!
EVE ANDERSSON: By making our products more accessible, we’re enabling people to learn more, to accomplish more in their lives.
FEMALE VOICE: I have a custom voice model now. Take a selfie!
ERNEST JOHNSON: Being able to set somebody on a better path in their life, I can't put into words the satisfaction you get from something like that.
THOMAS PANEK: The safest thing for a blind person to do is to sit still. I ain't sitting still.
CASSANDRA JOHNSON: No matter what background you are, your experiences, at the core of it is your heart and your soul.
FEMALE VOICE: Let’s try it out and see how it goes.
VOICE: Let’s do this.
MICHAEL BRENNER: This is only the tip of the iceberg. We’ll learn lessons, which we can then combine to build something that really works for everyone.
DMITRI KANEVSKY: To understand and be understood, it’s absolutely unbelievable.
Belonging is not just critical to our survival, it’s essential if we are to thrive.
john a. powell (he/him) Director, Othering & Belonging Institute
Explore the philosophy driving our workWe’re building belonging through:
Addressing barriers for everyone means taking targeted action. We've started with these key issues:
How 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.
Helping everyone identify 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.
Celebrating 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 working to better recruit, hire, and co-create with Googlers with disabilities
Googlers with disabilities make critical contributions across the company. We’re actively working to make Google a place where everyone can learn, grow, and have an impact. Here are a few ways we’re doing it:
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Launched a new careers site to better recruit people with disabilities, including information about workplace accommodations
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Created a training on Disability Fundamentals for managers at Google, then partnered with Disability:In to make the course available to their partner companies.
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Cultivating community through Disability Alliance, our internal employee resource group (ERG), which was named ERG of the Year 2020 by Disability:IN
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Joined the Valuable 500 as one of 14 iconic companies, working to “co-create solutions which will transform the business system to be more inclusive of people with disabilities.”
Pushing for more authentic representation of people with disabilities
The stories we tell shape the way we see each other and ourselves. Representing people with disabilities authentically and with respect for their full identities is an essential part of building more disability inclusion in the world.
We’ve officially partnered with LaVant Consulting, a disability-focused strategy and communications firm founded by Andraéa LaVant (she/her), to guide our work in disability representation. With the help of LaVant Consulting, we are featuring stories that show how people in the disability community are driving accessibility in the world.
In 2021, we also launched All In, our inclusive marketing toolkit, which shares our learnings and ongoing work to improve representation of people with disabilities, as well as other groups who are marginalized by structural inequalities due to their identities. We worked with Disability:In to create specific guidelines for eliminating stereotypes in representations of people with disabilities, and share these insights in the hopes of driving progress in the industry overall.
We were named 2021 Marketplace Innovator of the Year for Products by Disability:IN.
Accessibility is at the core of our product mission at Google, and we have pushed this commitment even further in recent years.
Hiroshi Lockheimer (he/him) and more Android team members accepted the award on Google’s behalf, acknowledging this work. The award recognizes innovative products that are inclusively designed for people of all abilities.
Our progress toward gender equity in our workplace
2020 was our best year yet for hiring women in tech, and we know that equity doesn’t end with hiring. That’s why we’re focused on ensuring fairness throughout the employee lifecycle to help women and gender-expansive people thrive.
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We’ve ensured pay equity for all women employees globally since 2017, and have shared our approach for others to use.
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We’ve created targeted career development and promotion programs for women Googlers at every hiring level, from entry-level to director.
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We’ve created internal policies to alleviate stressors that tend to disproportionately impact women. For example, we expanded our Carer’s Leave from 4 to 14 weeks of paid time away with reimbursement for up to 20 days of caregiver costs.
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To address issues of inappropriate conduct in the workplace, we overhauled our internal processes and added new care programs for people who report concerns.
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We’re cultivating community through conferences like Transcend, our first Women of Color Summit, and through our employee resource groups (ERGs) like Women@Google and Trans at Google.
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We’ve engaged over 4,000 Google managers and leaders in #ItsUpToMe, an internal allyship campaign to hold them accountable as they craft and reach our diversity, equity, and inclusion goals.
How we’re building online safety for people marginalized because of their gender
Nearly all forms of online violence disproportionately affect vulnerable groups like women and others who are marginalized due to their gender. As part of its mission to address threats to open societies, Jigsaw (a team within Google) is working toward globally scalable solutions to the issue of online toxicity.
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The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) was commissioned by Jigsaw to study prevalence of online violence against women.
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To help spot abusive content at the scale that online content requires, Jigsaw created Perspective, an API that uses machine learning to help mitigate toxicity and abuse on online platforms. Jigsaw also worked with several NGOs, tech industry partners, and a group of highly targeted journalists to develop Harassment Manager, an open-source tool that allows users to document and manage abuse targeted at them on social media
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To provide women with tools to be safer and thrive online, Jigsaw teamed up with Women Techmakers to create the Women’s Online Safety Program. This program, embraced at Google offices around the world, includes training on how to push back against online violence and hackathons to develop scalable solutions.
$25M Google.org Impact Challenge for Women and Girls
In 2021, we launched the Google.org Impact Challenge for Women and Girls, which focused on gender inequity, one of the most urgent challenges we face as a society. The challenge, launched in partnership with Vital Voices and Project Everyone, was an open call to organizations that create pathways to prosperity for women and girls. Thirty-four organizations have been selected and will receive between $300,000 and $1 million in funding, plus opportunities for mentorship and additional support from Google.
Ensuring equity in benefits and healthcare for LGBTQ+ Googlers
All Googlers are entitled to quality healthcare regardless of gender identity or sexual orientation. We are working to ensure that all Googlers have access to the health resources they need.
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We offer health coverage for all Googlers and their spouses or partners of any gender, nearly everywhere in the world.
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Our inclusive life insurance policy guarantees a Googler’s spouse or partner of any gender with 3X their salary and 50% of their income for 10 years in the U.S. We provide similar guarantees in nearly every country globally.
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We’ve offered coverage for gender affirming surgery and related services for Googlers in the U.S. since 2011. We continue to roll out coverage in additional countries; and where local coverage is not available, we provide access to a global plan that includes reimbursement for care and navigation of healthcare services.
Boosting support for spaces of belonging through Google tools and technology
For LGBTQ+ communities, spaces to belong make a big impact – they’re places of validation, safety, community, and joy. We’re working to celebrate and protect these spaces through our tools.
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Businesses can identify themselves as spaces of belonging by using the business attributes, LGBTQ-friendly, Trangender safespace, and gender-neutral restrooms. These attributes help people find and support these businesses, which are so vital to LGBTQ+ communities.
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We’ve added LGBTQ+ points of interest on Google Maps, to help everyone honor important cultural landmarks and murals like the Black Trans Lives Matter Mural in San Francisco or the Gay Liberation Monument in New York.
Helping The Trevor Project support LGBTQ+ youth in crisis
Suicide disproportionately affects LGBTQ+ youth. To support youth in crisis, The Trevor Project offers free, confidential, 24/7 crisis services via phone, chat, and text.
Since 2019, Google.org has provided the Trevor Project with $2.7 million in funding and 20,000 hours of pro bono support from almost 30 Googlers through the Google.org Fellowship. In 2020, Google.org Fellows assisted The Trevor Project in building an artificial intelligence system that could identify and prioritize high-risk contacts while also reaching more people.
How we’re building belonging for the military-affiliated community at Google
We’re working to make Google a place where the military-affiliated community can thrive and grow. The Veteran-focused career website has information about resources at Google and job opportunities. Here are a few programs and policies that help strengthen the military-affiliated community here at Google:
Growing the global military-affiliated community at Google through VetNet:
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The Google Veterans Network (VetNet) was formed to unify and connect Veterans, service members, military spouses and partners, and civilian allies.
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VetNet members mentor newly hired Googlers, supporting them in the transition to corporate civilian life.
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VetNet supports the military-affiliated community and brings more Veterans to Google by providing resume-building, training workshops, and mentorship programs, like its annual Google VetNet Career Week. With help from nearly 500 Google volunteers, VetNet has hosted hiring workshops for 1,600+ service members and their families transitioning to civilian life.
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VetNet also shares tips and highlights from the military-affiliated community at Google through a YouTube video series.
Policies that support and strengthen the military-affiliated community:
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Google supports service members through a military leave policy. Google pays 100% of an employee’s salary for the first 30 calendar days of their duty. After that, Google will pay the difference in pay so the Reserve or Guard member continues to receive close to 100% of their Google salary for up to five years of service.
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Google also offers paid leave benefits of up to five days to military spouses and domestic partners experiencing changes of location due to military orders, or if they are preparing for deployment or activation.
Helping the military-affiliated community build meaningful careers
Due to the nature of the mobile military lifestyle, service members and their families face particular challenges in obtaining economic mobility. That’s why we’re working to increase access to portable career credentials and employment opportunities. Since 2015, we’ve committed over $29 million to support the efforts of U.S. Veteran-serving organizations. In addition, we’re developing tools and programs to help service members and military spouses and partners prepare for careers in tech and beyond.
Helping trusted military-serving organizations scale their impact through Google.org grants:
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In 2021, we committed a $10 million grant to help Hiring Our Heroes launch Career Forward. The new initiative is training 8,000 service members and their families in transition to the civilian workforce for in-demand jobs through access to Google Career Certificates.
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A $1.4 million grant to NPower is supporting their Tech Fundamentals program and helping launch careers in IT.
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We have pledged $10 million in ad grants over the next five years, to military- and Veteran-serving organizations. As of 2022, we’ve given $800,000 toward organizations including Code Platoon and Student Veterans of America, so they can better connect with those searching for their services on Google.
Expanding digital skills training for service members and their spouses and partners in transition to the civilian workforce through tools and online workshops:
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Workshops are available on demand year round in English and Spanish through Grow with Google OnAir and the Grow with Google Partner Program, which includes over 1,000 military- and Veteran-serving organizations across the U.S. These trusted partners propel the workshops into communities, helping to train nearly 20,000 military members and Veterans so far.
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Google for Education offers an Applied Digital Skills collection with tailored lessons, including resume building and workplace skills, helping Veterans maximize their experience and prepare for their new careers.
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We also added two mini-courses to the Primer app specifically for military spouses and partners with tips on transitioning to remote work, working from home, and starting and growing an online business.
Supporting the mental well-being of service members and Veterans through technology and resources
The impact of service can leave Veterans quietly battling invisible injuries, including post-traumatic stress, substance use disorder, traumatic brain injury, and depression. We are committed to supporting Veterans in mental wellness and recovery, and focusing on creating helpful tools and resources:
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1 in 14 Americans is in recovery from addiction. Our Recover Together site is designed to help anyone find nearby recovery groups, information about recovery-related initiatives, and personal stories of addiction, recovery, and community to help break the stigma and end the silence.
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Veterans can miss out on getting mental health support due to stigma or not knowing where to turn. In hopes of increasing the visibility and availability of resources, our internal military-connected employee group, VetNet, partnered with Code of Support and other Veteran-service organizations to launch Serving Veterans, a wellness hub with mental health resources and a series of personal stories from Veterans on the value of asking for help.
When we can be ourselves, more becomes possible.
Tulsee Doshi (she/her) Head of Product - Responsible AI, Google
Read the transcript (Opens in a Dialog Window)
“I am a young woman of color in tech. I’m also a dancer. I’m also, you know, a daughter of immigrants. I do the work that I do because I want to build products that work for more people. And I want to build products that work for me, that work for my family, that work for my friends. And as Google, the products that we build not only impact tons of users, but the path that we lay out is a path that others choose to follow across the industry. I really want to make sure that we’re building in a way that sets the right standard.”
“We all know what it feels like to be on the low end of the power slider. And so we should lean on that empathy to make sure that we're creating an environment in which other people belong.”
Mekka Okereke (he/him) Engineering Director, Google Play Growth
“When I think about belonging, I think about the moments when I see myself reflected in the spaces and places that I’m engaged in. I think about when I can create a sense of familia within the spaces that I occupy and when I can truly be myself in those spaces.”
Hector Mujica (he/him) Economic Opportunity Lead, Americas, Google.org
Celebrating LGBTQ+ Pride this month and beyond
We’re building inclusive products and supporting social initiatives to raise the voices and visibility of the LGBTQ+ community year round.
Google employee’s quote
Building a world where everyone can belong means ensuring that no one is left out and each person has what they need to thrive. We don't yet know how we'll get there, but we know it can only be together.
Explore more of our belonging work
We expanded how we help Googlers thrive at work, reaching hiring and retention milestones.
A world of belonging includes care for our planet. That’s why we’re committed to making every day more sustainable.