Tag Archives: Company announcements

Honoring Asian Pacific American Heritage Month at Google

My parents fled China by boat in the 1940s during the Communist Revolution, ultimately landing in New Jersey, where I grew up. As one of three Asian kids at my school, I felt like an outsider and it seemed clear that popularity and success didn’t come easily to people who looked like me. Today, I sometimes still feel like an outsider, and as a father of two girls, I often worry about what lies ahead for them. Our community is worried about our families, as the Asian and Pacific Islander (API) community has faced unabated, horrific violence and racism over the last year. We’re afraid to step outside our homes. These challenges require national attention and dialogue in order for lasting change to occur. 

Photo of a young Marvin Chow and his parents.

Marvin Chow and his parents in New Jersey.

This year, for Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, Google is reaffirming its commitment to standing with the Asian and Pacific Islander community in the fight against hatred, while also honoring the diversity of different Asian cultures and elevating API voices. We’re doing this in part by launching a number of initiatives that uplift the API community through our products and in our own workplace. 


Our commitments to help #StopAsianHate

We're honored to grow our support for the organizations on the front lines fighting for safety, dignity and equity for the API community and have committed more than $10 million toward this critical work.

There’s an urgent need to improve the psychological and physical safety of the API community. To help, we’ve donated more than $3 million in Google.org cash grants to Asian Americans Advancing Justice - AAJC, The National Council of Asian Pacific Americans and more than 35 local organizations across the country that provide physical protection services and mental health resources. These organizations include Self Help for the Elderly in the San Francisco Bay Area, Asian Counseling and Referral Service (ACRS) in Seattle, the Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council (A3PCON) in Los Angeles and the Asian American Federation in New York City. 

We also understand that the challenges facing the API community require sustained attention in order to achieve lasting change. That’s why we’re providing $3.5 million in Ad Grants to Asian Americans Advancing Justice - AAJC, The National Council of Asian Pacific Americans, Stop AAPI Hate and more to help fund incident reporting, bystander training and the advancement of civil rights for the Asian Pacific Islander community.  

Sharing our own history, celebrating our breakthroughs and educating the world about how we experience racism are critically important in this moment. So, we’re elevating API voices by providing $4 million in YouTube Ad Credits to nonprofits, creators and storytellers who are championing the #StopAsianHate movement. 

These organizations and individuals are doing the work required to create meaningful change. 

 

A spotlight on Asian and Pacific Islander art and culture

Throughout May, we’ll be elevating the voices of influential and inspirational members of the API community across our products and platforms. Today, the Google homepage celebrates the life and work of Hisaye Yamamoto, a Japanese-American author who was interned during WWII. Hisaye’s work reveals the Japanese immigrant experience in America, the disconnect between first- and second-generation immigrants, as well as the intersectional challenges she experienced.

Google Arts & Culture is also launching a hub dedicated to Asian American and Pacific Islander experiences alongside more than 48 partners, including the Museum of Chinese in America, the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center, the Center for Asian American Mediaand the Shangri La Museum of Islamic Art, Culture & Design — to name a few. It features more than 114 online stories, and thousands of cultural artifacts, archives and artworks that dive into a rich history, such as the emotional story of the Chinese Poetry engraved on the walls of Angel Island by detainees of the Immigration Station.

  • Image showing Shimomura Crossing the Delawareby artist Roger Shimomura.

    Shimomura Crossing the Delaware: Artist Roger Shimomura creates artworks that generate thought-provoking questions about racial and cultural identity.

  • Jenifer K Wofford's mural, patterned with Tibetan bone aprons and Thai Kranok motifs

    Jenifer K Wofford's Pattern Recognition:Jenifer K Wofford's mural, patterned with Tibetan bone aprons and Thai Kranok motifs, name-checks prominent figures in Bay Area Asian American art history.

  • Image shows a portrait of Ellison Onizuka was the first Asian American to fly to space

    Portrait - Astronaut Onizuka, Ellison S: Ellison Onizuka was the first Asian American to fly to space, and whose important legacy has inspired many since.

  • Photo showing Hieu Pham, the owner of Crawfish Shack Seafood in Atlanta.

    Hieu Pham Crawfish Shack: Meet Hieu Pham, the owner of Crawfish Shack Seafood in Atlanta, who uses his multicultural background to create unique Vietnamese cuisine with a touch of the American South.

  • Photo of Bruce Lee in 1972's in "Game Of Death".

    Bruce Lee: 1972 in "Game Of Death"

    https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/1972-in-game-of-death-golden-harvest/lAFjVW_s_9HVOw?e

    Learn about Bruce Lee’s journey from television superhero sidekick, to iconic martial arts movie actor, writer, director and producer.

  • Photo showing a group of Japanese Americans march to commemorate the unjust mass evacuation and incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II.

    Redress NOW! Reparations NOW! A multi-generational group of Japanese Americans march to commemorate the unjust mass evacuation and incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II.

On the YouTube Spotlight channel, we’ll be showcasing the breadth of API creators and artists throughout May and YouTube Music will release a flagship playlist titled “Celebrating APAHM” featuring both emerging and iconic Asian American artists.


Taking care of our Asian and Pacific Islander community at Google

How we support our own Asian and Pacific Islander community is critical — and we’re focused on ensuring our employees feel supported and heard. Over the past few months, Employee Resource Groups like the Asian Google Network (AGN), Filipino Google Network (FGN) and other API community groups have hosted listening sessions for our global communities, as well as highlighted priorities for our allyship programs. Google is also matching donations for an internal giving campaign focused on organizations supporting the community and advocating for justice. 

And this month, AGN will be hosting events like the “Celebrate Your Elders” campaign, which will share stories of resilience from seniors in our communities. AGN will also host virtual Talks at Google speakers to discuss the API experience. Additionally, FGN will host “The Adobo Project,” highlighting the historical and personal significance food holds in the community. 

In recent months, I’ve been encouraged by how our Google API community has come together and how the company has stood against anti-Asian racism and hatred. And as I think about my own story and role as a father, I remain hopeful things can be different for my daughters and that they’ll feel a sense of belonging and inclusion which I, and so many others, have not.

Honoring Asian Pacific American Heritage Month at Google

My parents fled China by boat in the 1940s during the Communist Revolution, ultimately landing in New Jersey, where I grew up. As one of three Asian kids at my school, I felt like an outsider and it seemed clear that popularity and success didn’t come easily to people who looked like me. Today, I sometimes still feel like an outsider, and as a father of two girls, I often worry about what lies ahead for them. Our community is worried about our families, as the Asian and Pacific Islander (API) community has faced unabated, horrific violence and racism over the last year. We’re afraid to step outside our homes. These challenges require national attention and dialogue in order for lasting change to occur. 

Photo of a young Marvin Chow and his parents.

Marvin Chow and his parents in New Jersey.

This year, for Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, Google is reaffirming its commitment to standing with the Asian and Pacific Islander community in the fight against hatred, while also honoring the diversity of different Asian cultures and elevating API voices. We’re doing this in part by launching a number of initiatives that uplift the API community through our products and in our own workplace. 


Our commitments to help #StopAsianHate

We're honored to grow our support for the organizations on the front lines fighting for safety, dignity and equity for the API community and have committed more than $10 million toward this critical work.

There’s an urgent need to improve the psychological and physical safety of the API community. To help, we’ve donated more than $3 million in Google.org cash grants to Asian Americans Advancing Justice - AAJC, The National Council of Asian Pacific Americans and more than 35 local organizations across the country that provide physical protection services and mental health resources. These organizations include Self Help for the Elderly in the San Francisco Bay Area, Asian Counseling and Referral Service (ACRS) in Seattle, the Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council (A3PCON) in Los Angeles and the Asian American Federation in New York City. 

We also understand that the challenges facing the API community require sustained attention in order to achieve lasting change. That’s why we’re providing $3.5 million in Ad Grants to Asian Americans Advancing Justice - AAJC, The National Council of Asian Pacific Americans, Stop AAPI Hate and more to help fund incident reporting, bystander training and the advancement of civil rights for the Asian Pacific Islander community.  

Sharing our own history, celebrating our breakthroughs and educating the world about how we experience racism are critically important in this moment. So, we’re elevating API voices by providing $4 million in YouTube Ad Credits to nonprofits, creators and storytellers who are championing the #StopAsianHate movement. 

These organizations and individuals are doing the work required to create meaningful change. 

 

A spotlight on Asian and Pacific Islander art and culture

Throughout May, we’ll be elevating the voices of influential and inspirational members of the API community across our products and platforms. Today, the Google homepage celebrates the life and work of Hisaye Yamamoto, a Japanese-American author who was interned during WWII. Hisaye’s work reveals the Japanese immigrant experience in America, the disconnect between first- and second-generation immigrants, as well as the intersectional challenges she experienced.

Google Arts & Culture is also launching a hub dedicated to Asian American and Pacific Islander experiences alongside more than 48 partners, including the Museum of Chinese in America, the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center, the Center for Asian American Mediaand the Shangri La Museum of Islamic Art, Culture & Design — to name a few. It features more than 114 online stories, and thousands of cultural artifacts, archives and artworks that dive into a rich history, such as the emotional story of the Chinese Poetry engraved on the walls of Angel Island by detainees of the Immigration Station.

  • Image showing Shimomura Crossing the Delawareby artist Roger Shimomura.

    Shimomura Crossing the Delaware: Artist Roger Shimomura creates artworks that generate thought-provoking questions about racial and cultural identity.

  • Jenifer K Wofford's mural, patterned with Tibetan bone aprons and Thai Kranok motifs

    Jenifer K Wofford's Pattern Recognition:Jenifer K Wofford's mural, patterned with Tibetan bone aprons and Thai Kranok motifs, name-checks prominent figures in Bay Area Asian American art history.

  • Image shows a portrait of Ellison Onizuka was the first Asian American to fly to space

    Portrait - Astronaut Onizuka, Ellison S: Ellison Onizuka was the first Asian American to fly to space, and whose important legacy has inspired many since.

  • Photo showing Hieu Pham, the owner of Crawfish Shack Seafood in Atlanta.

    Hieu Pham Crawfish Shack: Meet Hieu Pham, the owner of Crawfish Shack Seafood in Atlanta, who uses his multicultural background to create unique Vietnamese cuisine with a touch of the American South.

  • Photo of Bruce Lee in 1972's in "Game Of Death".

    Bruce Lee: 1972 in "Game Of Death"

    https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/1972-in-game-of-death-golden-harvest/lAFjVW_s_9HVOw?e

    Learn about Bruce Lee’s journey from television superhero sidekick, to iconic martial arts movie actor, writer, director and producer.

  • Photo showing a group of Japanese Americans march to commemorate the unjust mass evacuation and incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II.

    Redress NOW! Reparations NOW! A multi-generational group of Japanese Americans march to commemorate the unjust mass evacuation and incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II.

On the YouTube Spotlight channel, we’ll be showcasing the breadth of API creators and artists throughout May and YouTube Music will release a flagship playlist titled “Celebrating APAHM” featuring both emerging and iconic Asian American artists.


Taking care of our Asian and Pacific Islander community at Google

How we support our own Asian and Pacific Islander community is critical — and we’re focused on ensuring our employees feel supported and heard. Over the past few months, Employee Resource Groups like the Asian Google Network (AGN), Filipino Google Network (FGN) and other API community groups have hosted listening sessions for our global communities, as well as highlighted priorities for our allyship programs. Google is also matching donations for an internal giving campaign focused on organizations supporting the community and advocating for justice. 

And this month, AGN will be hosting events like the “Celebrate Your Elders” campaign, which will share stories of resilience from seniors in our communities. AGN will also host virtual Talks at Google speakers to discuss the API experience. Additionally, FGN will host “The Adobo Project,” highlighting the historical and personal significance food holds in the community. 

In recent months, I’ve been encouraged by how our Google API community has come together and how the company has stood against anti-Asian racism and hatred. And as I think about my own story and role as a father, I remain hopeful things can be different for my daughters and that they’ll feel a sense of belonging and inclusion which I, and so many others, have not.

Championing women’s sports with the WNBA and ESPN

When I think back to all of the time I have spent watching sports, a few memorable moments rise to the top. Lisa Leslie’s famous dunk, the first in WNBA history, took the world by storm. My daughter and I were on the edge of our seats when the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team won the FIFA Women’s World Cup for the fourth time back in 2019. And seeing Simone Biles perform multiple signature gymnastics moves that have never been done before is a testament to her creativity and incredible talent. These moments are inspiring and remind us that investment in women and girls allows for them to live out their dreams.  

Despite knowing the importance of representation, only 4% of television sports coverage and less than 1% of sponsorship is dedicated to women’s sports. This lack of visibility and support impacts not only professional athletes, but all of us, from fans and emerging athletes to our kids who dream of following in the footsteps of their idols. It even transcends sports by reinforcing standards of inequity. This is something I am personally passionate about, and that we at Google are eager to help change. 

Today, we’re proud to announce that we’re embarking on a multi-year partnership with the WNBA and ESPN as a WNBA Changemaker. As a Changemaker, we are committed to increasing visibility and coverage of women’s sports to help break down barriers.

First up, as the Presenting Partner of the WNBA on ESPN, we will work with both companies to deliver “25 for 25”: 25 regular season games on ABC and ESPN for the 25th season of the league. We are also working with ESPN to add a dedicated segment for women’s sports on SportsCenter, ensuring the network’s flagship program celebrates the top plays, inclusive of all genders. 

Like all of us, WNBA players have their own stories off the court. So later this month, we'll work with the league, ESPN and others to launch these stories on ESPN Films' 30 for 30. We’ll follow Maya Moore and her fight for criminal justice reform as well as get a peek into the energy of last year’s WNBA Playoff Wubble in the documentary “144.”

Finally, as an ‘Official Trends & Fan Insights Partner’ of the WNBA and an 'Official Technology Partner,' we will harness the best of Google's products and innovation to enrich WNBA fans' connection to the game, to the culture and to one another. We will continue to make it easy to follow the game on Search, helping you check scores, standings, stats and more. Plus, this year you’ll be able see highlights from the recent games on Search, so you never miss any of the action.


Two mobile phone screens showing search results for WBNA — one screen shows games, another shows teams

Keep up with all your favorite WNBA teams on Search.

The WNBA has been at the forefront of progress, for gender equity, racial justice and sport as a whole. And with ESPN as the leading platform for sports coverage, they are at the forefront of telling stories that need to be heard and shining a light on athletes making a difference. We are incredibly proud to partner with these two organizations that share our values on equity and inclusivity, so that women athletes can get the recognition they deserve.

My hope is that we can lay the foundations so that every woman and girl can turn on TV,  go to Search and YouTube, and see themselves represented in sports and media. By sharing the stories and talent of these incredible athletes through this partnership, we have a big opportunity to make that hope a reality.


Investing in America in 2021

One of the best parts of my job is getting the opportunity to visit the communities that Google is a part of across the U.S. Whether it’s meeting small business owners in Pittsburgh, congratulating graduates of our Google Career Certificates in Dallas, or visiting a classroom of kids learning to code in Oklahoma, these trips have always filled me with optimism and insight.

Obviously in-person visits haven’t been possible over the past year. Yet I continue to be inspired by the stories I’ve read of teachers moving to virtual classrooms, local shops taking digital orders, and job seekers enrolling in online courses to sharpen their skills. It’s why I believe a lasting economic recovery will come from local communities, and the people and small businesses that give them life. 

Google wants to be a part of that recovery. That’s why we plan to invest over $7 billion in offices and data centers across the U.S. and create at least 10,000 new full-time Google jobs in the U.S. this year. This includes investing in communities that are new to Google and expanding in others across 19 states.

A map with pins showing the locations of Google's data centers and offices. 19 states are shaded to indicate new 2021 investments.

Investing in our offices

Coming together in person to collaborate and build community is core to Google’s culture, and it will be an important part of our future. So we continue to make significant investments in our offices around the country, as well as our home state of California, where we will be investing over $1 billion this year. Outside of the Bay Area, we’ll keep growing our offices across the U.S., including plans to add thousands of roles in Atlanta, Washington, D.C., Chicago and New York. This will help bring more jobs and investment to diverse communities as part of our previously announced racial equity commitments. We’re already making progress: 2020 was our largest year ever for hiring Black and Latinx Googlers in the U.S., both overall and in tech roles.

Expanding our data centers 

In addition to Google offices, we’re investing in data center expansions in Nebraska, South Carolina, Virginia, Nevada and Texas. Our existing data center sites in Nebraska, Ohio, Texas and Nevada will be fully up and running in 2021. Our data centers are what powers your searches, emails, photos and the maps that help you find the fastest way home; they’re also important to the fabric of local communities, from providing opportunities for supply chain partners and small businesses to supporting distance learning in South Carolina and Nevada.

Creating more economic impact 

Not only will these investments enable us to create new opportunities in the places where we operate; they’ll also make it possible to provide products and services that help boost economic recovery. In 2020, Google Search, Google Play, YouTube and Google advertising tools helped provide $426 billion of economic activity for more than 2 million American businesses, nonprofits, publishers, creators and developers, according to our2020 U.S. Economic Impact Report, released today. For example, Corinna relies on the reviews on her Business Profile to attract new customers to Celsious, an eco-friendly laundry service and public space in Brooklyn, NY. In South Carolina, Tay and Sarah use YouTube for business tips and inspiration daily, helping Bobby’s BBQ draw lines around the block for its famous all-purpose seasoning.

In addition to helping businesses adapt and recover during the pandemic, the Android app ecosystem, including Google Play, helped support 1.9 million jobs in 2020—from software engineers and mobile applications developers, to marketing and human resources teams. And YouTube creators started and grew their businesses on the YouTube platform, creating over 345,000 jobs for Americans last year. That’s in addition to the more than 84,000 Googlers we employ full-time throughout the U.S.

Where we’re investing in 2021

Across offices and data centers, here are more details on where our investments will be focused in 2021.

  • A photo of Bay View campus under construction, including two unique shaped buildings and a crane.

    Bay View campus under construction that will be opening this year in Mountain View, California. (Photo credit: C. McAnneny of Heatherwick Studio)

  • An overhead photo of our data center in Henderson, Nevada

    Our data center in Henderson, Nevada is now operational with further expansion planned.


  • An overhead photo of a construction site in Kirkland, Washington

    Construction underway at our new Kirkland Urban campus in Washington State.

  • An overhead photo of our U.S. Google Operations Center under construction in Southaven, Mississippi

    Our first U.S. Google Operations Center in Southaven, Mississippi opening this year.

  • An artist's rendering of Google’s first office in Houston

    Construction on Google’s first office in Houston will be completed in 2021. (Credit: Shannon Ohara)

  • An overhead photo of our new data center in Papillion, Nebraska

    Our new data center in Papillion, Nebraska is now operational.

  • A photo of the interior of our expanded Chicago office

    Making new investments in our Chicago office at 210 N Carpenter this year.

  • An artist's rendering of our office in Cambridge, Massachusetts

    We’re building out our office headquarters presence in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

  • A street-level photo of a building under construction on 550 Washington St. in NYC

    Construction underway on 550 Washington St. in NYC as part of Google Hudson Square. (Photo credit: Oxford Properties)

South


We’re increasing our investment in our South Carolina data center, establishing our newest Cloud engineering site in Durham, North Carolina, and opening the first U.S. Google Operations Center in Southaven, Mississippi. In Virginia, we’ll open our new Reston office building and expand our Loudoun County data center. In Texas, the new data center in Midlothian is now operational, we’re opening our first Houston office and continue to invest in our campuses in Austin. We’re continuing to invest in our Atlanta campus as well.


Midwest


Earlier this year, we established Google’s first Minnesota office in Rochester, and our data centers in New Albany, Ohio and Papillion, Nebraska, are now operational. We’ll expand our data center footprint in Nebraska with an additional investment, and make further improvements to our Detroit, Ann Arbor, and Chicago offices. 

East


In 2018 we made a commitment to double our workforce in New York by 2028, and this year, we will continue to invest in building out our campus presence to meet that goal. We’ll continue to invest  in our Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania offices, as well as increase our workforce in Washington, D.C.


Central + West


Our growth continues in Boulder, Colorado, and we will open our new office in Portland, Oregon, this year. We continue to invest in our Kirkland and Seattle campuses in Washington State. In California, we will continue to invest in our offices in the state and support affordable housing initiatives in the Bay Area as part of our $1 billion housing commitment. We project that our $250 million investment fund will help create 24,000 housing units by 2029. In Nevada, our data center in Henderson is now operational, with plans to expand it, along with our Storey County data center, in 2021.

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Supporting small businesses around the world

Small businesses are the backbone of the global economy and at the core of many of Google’s tools, services and products. So when the pandemic hit last year, we announced a $200 million investment fund as part of our $800+ million commitment to support small businesses in the face of COVID-19.

We set out to partner with organizations who share our desire to empower small businesses in underserved communities, which are often overlooked by traditional lenders.  

In the U.S. we are partnering with Opportunity Finance Network (OFN). To date, OFN has helped us provide over $90 million in low-interest loans from the Grow with Google Small Business Fund and Google.org grants to over thirty Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) across the country. CDFIs in turn finance hundreds of small businesses, like Gem City Market, a new grocery cooperative that secured funding from Finance Fund Capital Corporation (FCAP) to help them provide affordable, quality kitchen staples to the Dayton, Ohio, community. 

A group of people holding a sign advertising Gem City Market in Ohio

Today, we are announcing our international partners who will help fulfill our $75 million commitment to small businesses outside of the U.S. We've partnered with two innovative government-sponsored investment initiatives, with the belief that public-private partnerships can provide creative solutions to meet the needs of small businesses in this critical time:

  • In Europe, we are proud to be partnering with the European Investment Fund (EIF), an EU body supporting Europe’s small and medium-size businesses. We will be the first company investing in two EIF funds: $15 million in loan capital that will support more than 1000 European small businesses and $10 million in EIF’s Life Sciences Fund, a venture capital fund that will help support approximately 200 life sciences companies, many of which are helping with the COVID-19 crisis. This Life Sciences Fund is also supported by the European Commission’s European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI).

  • In Latin America, with the help of a long-term partnership with the Inter-American Development Bank through its innovation lab, we are allocating $8 million to increase the capital available in the region for small businesses. Two out of three workers in Latin America are employed by a small business, which makes their success one of the most essential elements for economic recovery in the region.

In addition, we’re working with non-government partners who have a long track record of providing resources to businesses that are generally overlooked by traditional lenders:

  • In Africa, the Middle East and Indonesia, we’ve established a $26 million loan initiative with Kiva, an organization which crowdfunds loans to unlock capital for the underserved around the world. Kiva’s global reach, local relationships and mission-driven approach make them an ideal partner to scale across several regions. Over the coming months, Google and Kiva will work together to create financial solutions that will support thousands of small businesses spanning 10 countries. Google.org is also providing a separate $1 million grant to help Kiva build capacity for their local partnerships and research the impact of this program.

  • In India, we will invest $15 million to support small and micro enterprises across the country and are in discussions with local partners. And in Israel, we will provide $1 million to the Ogen-Israel Social Loan Fund, which is designed to provide accessible, low-interest loans to micro and small businesses as well as non-profit organizations.

From our inception, Google has had a special relationship with small businesses around the world – helping them scale, innovate and reach new customers.  With today’s announcement, we’re proud to help them meet a new challenge — accessing capital needed to recover and build resiliency for the future. 

Progress on our racial equity commitments

Editor’s note: In June, our CEO Sundar Pichai shared the company’s commitments to advance racial equity. The following note was sent to employees today, and sets out the progress we’ve made over the last 100+ days.  

Hi everyone, 


In June, we committed to continue building sustainable equity for Google’s Black+ community and making our products and programs helpful in the moments that matter most to Black users. Thanks to the work of hundreds of Googlers, I’m glad to share some of the progress we’ve made over the last 100+ days. I want to acknowledge two things up front: first, this is only a progress report—systems-level change takes time, and we’re invested for the long term. Second, while much of our initial work has been focused on the U.S., we are deeply committed to diversity, equity and inclusion globally, and will continue to work with local leaders to make sure these approaches can benefit Black+ Googlers everywhere.

Increasing supplier diversity 

We rely on thousands of suppliers to help us run our business—from marketing agencies and construction to food and professional services. Today we are setting a goal to spend $100 million with Black-owned businesses, as part of our broader commitment to spend a minimum of $1 billion with diverse-owned suppliers in the U.S., every year starting in 2021. This commitment will bring more business to a diverse set of suppliers, and more importantly, create sustained economic impact for these communities.

Supporting small business, job seekers and students

Increasing the diversity of our suppliers is one example of how we are helping to create economic opportunity for Black communities. Our partnership with Opportunity Finance Network is another: over $9 million in loans and grants for Black-owned businesses have been allocated to local partners out of the $50 million we pledged in June. We’ve also selected 76 founders to receive funding from the $5 million U.S. Black Founders Fund, and we’ve established a $1 million fund in Brazil and a $2 million fund in Europeto support Black founders outside the U.S.


In education, welaunched the Grow with Google HBCU Career Readiness Program in partnership with the Thurgood Marshall College Fund to help equip Historically Black College and University students with digital skills. And, we’ll grant 50 universities an exploreCSR award for the 2020-2021 academic year to help attract and retain underrepresented students in computer science. 

Supporting racial justice organizations

In June, we committed $12 million to support racial justice organizations—almost all of which has been distributed. We’ve also embedded a team of pro-bono engineers in the Center for Policing Equity to help expand its National Justice Database. Globally, Google.org has committed $1 million to support local organizations in Brazil, Europe and sub-Saharan Africa. Today, we’re committing another $1.5 million to support racial justice organizations and empower Black communities across Europe and sub-Saharan Africa, with a particular focus on entrepreneurs and job skilling for Black youth.

Building helpful products

On the product side, we’re continuing to make our products more helpful in the moments that matter most to Black users. Recent activations include a new Black-owned business attribute on Maps, Assistant responses on Black Lives Matter, and new ways marketers can support Black-owned publishers in Display & Video 360—with more to come. We’ve also announced thefirst YouTube Originals to come from our #YouTubeBlack Voices Fund, a $100 million global commitment to acquire and produce programming focused on Black experiences and racial justice education, as well as support Black YouTube creators and artists.

Supporting Black+ Googlers throughout their careers

Meaningful, lasting change needs to come from within our own walls. That means looking across the experience of underrepresented Googlers, including Black+, Latinx, and Indigenous communities, and at all of our internal processes, including recruiting, leveling, performance, promotion, talent assessment and retention practices.


We’ve laid some good groundwork here. Since June, we’ve doubled the Retention & Progression team so that each organization has a designated consultant to support underrepresented Googlers, and we plan to triple our investment in this program by 2022. Meanwhile, we continue to roll out more robust checks for fairness and equity in our Perf process, including this cycle. 


We’ve also taken steps to create a deeper sense of belonging for our Black+ community, from offering relevant and useful benefits to fostering supportive internal communities. For example, last month we introduced a student loan repayment program to address the debt that hinders economic progress for many communities of color. We also increased the percentage of Black+ mental health counselors available to Googlers in the U.S. and are partnering with healthcare providers to create new programs for concerns that disproportionately affect our Black+ community, to be in place by 2022. In EMEA, we've launched a new speaker series—RE:EMEA—to localize the conversation on racial equity and increase our understanding of the region’s unique history. And to create community globally, next year we’ll roll out a six-month onboarding program for Black+ Nooglers to help build networks during those first few months at Google.

Attracting new talent and investing in long-term growth of sites 

In June, we committed to improving representation of underrepresented groups at senior levels by 30 percent by 2025. Today, we’re adding a goal to more than double the number of Black+ Googlers at all other levels by 2025. 


We’ll also invest in the long-term growth of U.S. locations that contribute to a high quality of life for Black+ Googlers. Across our sites in Atlanta, Washington D.C., Chicago and New York we’ll aim to add an additional 10,000 Googlers by 2025, including 1,000 new roles by 2021. In global sites, including London, we will continue to focus on recruiting and hiring Black+ Googlers.

Holding ourselves accountable

We’ll hold ourselves accountable for creating an inclusive workplace. As part of our commitment to anti-racism educational programs, we will integrate diversity, equity and inclusion into all of our flagship employee and manager trainings. And moving forward, all VP+ performance reviews will include an evaluation of leadership in support of diversity, equity and inclusion. 


I’ll be sharing progress with Alphabet’s board regularly through transparency reports covering representation, hiring, retention, performance and promotion equity, and we’ll continue to publish our Diversity Annual Report to share this progress with all of you.

Thank you

These efforts represent a significant body of work to address systemic racism and build equity for Black+ Googlers and users for years to come. They would not have happened without the leadership and guidance of hundreds of Googlers, including Melonie and members of our Black Leadership Advisory Group and Black Googler Network—my deepest thanks to all of you. 


The equity we’re working towards internally will help us build better products and continue to support our users, businesses, and communities. This effort is at the heart of our mission to make information accessible to everyone. 


Thanks for the work thus far; we’ll continue to share progress updates.


- Sundar

Progress on our racial equity commitments

Editor’s note: In June, our CEO Sundar Pichai shared the company’s commitments to advance racial equity. The following note was sent to employees today, and sets out the progress we’ve made over the last 100+ days.  

Hi everyone, 


In June, we committed to continue building sustainable equity for Google’s Black+ community and making our products and programs helpful in the moments that matter most to Black users. Thanks to the work of hundreds of Googlers, I’m glad to share some of the progress we’ve made over the last 100+ days. I want to acknowledge two things up front: first, this is only a progress report—systems-level change takes time, and we’re invested for the long term. Second, while much of our initial work has been focused on the U.S., we are deeply committed to diversity, equity and inclusion globally, and will continue to work with local leaders to make sure these approaches can benefit Black+ Googlers everywhere.

Increasing supplier diversity 

We rely on thousands of suppliers to help us run our business—from marketing agencies and construction to food and professional services. Today we are setting a goal to spend $100 million with Black-owned businesses, as part of our broader commitment to spend a minimum of $1 billion with diverse-owned suppliers in the U.S., every year starting in 2021. This commitment will bring more business to a diverse set of suppliers, and more importantly, create sustained economic impact for these communities.

Supporting small business, job seekers and students

Increasing the diversity of our suppliers is one example of how we are helping to create economic opportunity for Black communities. Our partnership with Opportunity Finance Network is another: over $9 million in loans and grants for Black-owned businesses have been allocated to local partners out of the $50 million we pledged in June. We’ve also selected 76 founders to receive funding from the $5 million U.S. Black Founders Fund, and we’ve established a $1 million fund in Brazil and a $2 million fund in Europeto support Black founders outside the U.S.


In education, welaunched the Grow with Google HBCU Career Readiness Program in partnership with the Thurgood Marshall College Fund to help equip Historically Black College and University students with digital skills. And, we’ll grant 50 universities an exploreCSR award for the 2020-2021 academic year to help attract and retain underrepresented students in computer science. 

Supporting racial justice organizations

In June, we committed $12 million to support racial justice organizations—almost all of which has been distributed. We’ve also embedded a team of pro-bono engineers in the Center for Policing Equity to help expand its National Justice Database. Globally, Google.org has committed $1 million to support local organizations in Brazil, Europe and sub-Saharan Africa. Today, we’re committing another $1.5 million to support racial justice organizations and empower Black communities across Europe and sub-Saharan Africa, with a particular focus on entrepreneurs and job skilling for Black youth.

Building helpful products

On the product side, we’re continuing to make our products more helpful in the moments that matter most to Black users. Recent activations include a new Black-owned business attribute on Maps, Assistant responses on Black Lives Matter, and new ways marketers can support Black-owned publishers in Display & Video 360—with more to come. We’ve also announced thefirst YouTube Originals to come from our #YouTubeBlack Voices Fund, a $100 million global commitment to acquire and produce programming focused on Black experiences and racial justice education, as well as support Black YouTube creators and artists.

Supporting Black+ Googlers throughout their careers

Meaningful, lasting change needs to come from within our own walls. That means looking across the experience of underrepresented Googlers, including Black+, Latinx, and Indigenous communities, and at all of our internal processes, including recruiting, leveling, performance, promotion, talent assessment and retention practices.


We’ve laid some good groundwork here. Since June, we’ve doubled the Retention & Progression team so that each organization has a designated consultant to support underrepresented Googlers, and we plan to triple our investment in this program by 2022. Meanwhile, we continue to roll out more robust checks for fairness and equity in our Perf process, including this cycle. 


We’ve also taken steps to create a deeper sense of belonging for our Black+ community, from offering relevant and useful benefits to fostering supportive internal communities. For example, last month we introduced a student loan repayment program to address the debt that hinders economic progress for many communities of color. We also increased the percentage of Black+ mental health counselors available to Googlers in the U.S. and are partnering with healthcare providers to create new programs for concerns that disproportionately affect our Black+ community, to be in place by 2022. In EMEA, we've launched a new speaker series—RE:EMEA—to localize the conversation on racial equity and increase our understanding of the region’s unique history. And to create community globally, next year we’ll roll out a six-month onboarding program for Black+ Nooglers to help build networks during those first few months at Google.

Attracting new talent and investing in long-term growth of sites 

In June, we committed to improving representation of underrepresented groups at senior levels by 30 percent by 2025. Today, we’re adding a goal to more than double the number of Black+ Googlers at all other levels by 2025. 


We’ll also invest in the long-term growth of U.S. locations that contribute to a high quality of life for Black+ Googlers. Across our sites in Atlanta, Washington D.C., Chicago and New York we’ll aim to add an additional 10,000 Googlers by 2025, including 1,000 new roles by 2021. In global sites, including London, we will continue to focus on recruiting and hiring Black+ Googlers.

Holding ourselves accountable

We’ll hold ourselves accountable for creating an inclusive workplace. As part of our commitment to anti-racism educational programs, we will integrate diversity, equity and inclusion into all of our flagship employee and manager trainings. And moving forward, all VP+ performance reviews will include an evaluation of leadership in support of diversity, equity and inclusion. 


I’ll be sharing progress with Alphabet’s board regularly through transparency reports covering representation, hiring, retention, performance and promotion equity, and we’ll continue to publish our Diversity Annual Report to share this progress with all of you.

Thank you

These efforts represent a significant body of work to address systemic racism and build equity for Black+ Googlers and users for years to come. They would not have happened without the leadership and guidance of hundreds of Googlers, including Melonie and members of our Black Leadership Advisory Group and Black Googler Network—my deepest thanks to all of you. 


The equity we’re working towards internally will help us build better products and continue to support our users, businesses, and communities. This effort is at the heart of our mission to make information accessible to everyone. 


Thanks for the work thus far; we’ll continue to share progress updates.


- Sundar

Progress on our racial equity commitments

Editor’s note: In June, our CEO Sundar Pichai shared the company’s commitments to advance racial equity. The following note was sent to employees today, and sets out the progress we’ve made over the last 100+ days.  

Hi everyone, 


In June, we committed to continue building sustainable equity for Google’s Black+ community and making our products and programs helpful in the moments that matter most to Black users. Thanks to the work of hundreds of Googlers, I’m glad to share some of the progress we’ve made over the last 100+ days. I want to acknowledge two things up front: first, this is only a progress report—systems-level change takes time, and we’re invested for the long term. Second, while much of our initial work has been focused on the U.S., we are deeply committed to diversity, equity and inclusion globally, and will continue to work with local leaders to make sure these approaches can benefit Black+ Googlers everywhere.

Increasing supplier diversity 

We rely on thousands of suppliers to help us run our business—from marketing agencies and construction to food and professional services. Today we are setting a goal to spend $100 million with Black-owned businesses, as part of our broader commitment to spend a minimum of $1 billion with diverse-owned suppliers in the U.S., every year starting in 2021. This commitment will bring more business to a diverse set of suppliers, and more importantly, create sustained economic impact for these communities.

Supporting small business, job seekers and students

Increasing the diversity of our suppliers is one example of how we are helping to create economic opportunity for Black communities. Our partnership with Opportunity Finance Network is another: over $9 million in loans and grants for Black-owned businesses have been allocated to local partners out of the $50 million we pledged in June. We’ve also selected 76 founders to receive funding from the $5 million U.S. Black Founders Fund, and we’ve established a $1 million fund in Brazil and a $2 million fund in Europeto support Black founders outside the U.S.


In education, welaunched the Grow with Google HBCU Career Readiness Program in partnership with the Thurgood Marshall College Fund to help equip Historically Black College and University students with digital skills. And, we’ll grant 50 universities an exploreCSR award for the 2020-2021 academic year to help attract and retain underrepresented students in computer science. 

Supporting racial justice organizations

In June, we committed $12 million to support racial justice organizations—almost all of which has been distributed. We’ve also embedded a team of pro-bono engineers in the Center for Policing Equity to help expand its National Justice Database. Globally, Google.org has committed $1 million to support local organizations in Brazil, Europe and sub-Saharan Africa. Today, we’re committing another $1.5 million to support racial justice organizations and empower Black communities across Europe and sub-Saharan Africa, with a particular focus on entrepreneurs and job skilling for Black youth.

Building helpful products

On the product side, we’re continuing to make our products more helpful in the moments that matter most to Black users. Recent activations include a new Black-owned business attribute on Maps, Assistant responses on Black Lives Matter, and new ways marketers can support Black-owned publishers in Display & Video 360—with more to come. We’ve also announced thefirst YouTube Originals to come from our #YouTubeBlack Voices Fund, a $100 million global commitment to acquire and produce programming focused on Black experiences and racial justice education, as well as support Black YouTube creators and artists.

Supporting Black+ Googlers throughout their careers

Meaningful, lasting change needs to come from within our own walls. That means looking across the experience of underrepresented Googlers, including Black+, Latinx, and Indigenous communities, and at all of our internal processes, including recruiting, leveling, performance, promotion, talent assessment and retention practices.


We’ve laid some good groundwork here. Since June, we’ve doubled the Retention & Progression team so that each organization has a designated consultant to support underrepresented Googlers, and we plan to triple our investment in this program by 2022. Meanwhile, we continue to roll out more robust checks for fairness and equity in our Perf process, including this cycle. 


We’ve also taken steps to create a deeper sense of belonging for our Black+ community, from offering relevant and useful benefits to fostering supportive internal communities. For example, last month we introduced a student loan repayment program to address the debt that hinders economic progress for many communities of color. We also increased the percentage of Black+ mental health counselors available to Googlers in the U.S. and are partnering with healthcare providers to create new programs for concerns that disproportionately affect our Black+ community, to be in place by 2022. In EMEA, we've launched a new speaker series—RE:EMEA—to localize the conversation on racial equity and increase our understanding of the region’s unique history. And to create community globally, next year we’ll roll out a six-month onboarding program for Black+ Nooglers to help build networks during those first few months at Google.

Attracting new talent and investing in long-term growth of sites 

In June, we committed to improving representation of underrepresented groups at senior levels by 30 percent by 2025. Today, we’re adding a goal to more than double the number of Black+ Googlers at all other levels by 2025. 


We’ll also invest in the long-term growth of U.S. locations that contribute to a high quality of life for Black+ Googlers. Across our sites in Atlanta, Washington D.C., Chicago and New York we’ll aim to add an additional 10,000 Googlers by 2025, including 1,000 new roles by 2021. In global sites, including London, we will continue to focus on recruiting and hiring Black+ Googlers.

Holding ourselves accountable

We’ll hold ourselves accountable for creating an inclusive workplace. As part of our commitment to anti-racism educational programs, we will integrate diversity, equity and inclusion into all of our flagship employee and manager trainings. And moving forward, all VP+ performance reviews will include an evaluation of leadership in support of diversity, equity and inclusion. 


I’ll be sharing progress with Alphabet’s board regularly through transparency reports covering representation, hiring, retention, performance and promotion equity, and we’ll continue to publish our Diversity Annual Report to share this progress with all of you.

Thank you

These efforts represent a significant body of work to address systemic racism and build equity for Black+ Googlers and users for years to come. They would not have happened without the leadership and guidance of hundreds of Googlers, including Melonie and members of our Black Leadership Advisory Group and Black Googler Network—my deepest thanks to all of you. 


The equity we’re working towards internally will help us build better products and continue to support our users, businesses, and communities. This effort is at the heart of our mission to make information accessible to everyone. 


Thanks for the work thus far; we’ll continue to share progress updates.


- Sundar

Building on our workplace commitments

Editor’s Note: The following email was sent to the company today from Eileen Naughton, VP of People Operations. 

Hi Googlers,

Over the past several years, we have been taking a harder line on inappropriate conduct, and have worked to provide better support to the people who report it. Protecting our workplace and culture means getting both of these things right, and in recent years we’ve worked hard to set and uphold higher standards for the whole company. Thank you for your clear feedback as we’ve advanced this work.

The changes we’ve made to build a more equitable and respectful workplace include overhauling the way we handle and investigate employee concerns, introducing new care programs for employees who report concerns, and making arbitration optional for Google employees.

In late 2018, Alphabet’s Board responded to employee concerns by overseeing a comprehensive review of policies and practices related to sexual harassment, sexual misconduct, and retaliation. An independent committee of the Board also reviewed claims raised by shareholders in early 2019 about past workplace misconduct issues. Today we’re committing to five guiding principles and a list of detailed changes to our workplace policies and practices agreed to by the committee. These principles and improvements incorporate input from both employees and shareholders. 

Below are some of the key changes we’re making.

  • We’re setting up a new DEI Advisory Council to advise on and oversee these efforts, with experts Judge Nancy Gertner (retired), Grace Speights, and Fred Alvarez joining Sundar, Chief Diversity Officer Melonie Parker, SVP of Global Affairs Kent Walker, and SVP of Core Jen Fitzpatrick. They will report to the Leadership Development and Compensation Committee of the Board (LDCC) on a quarterly basis on the company’s progress against these commitments.

  • We’re building on our current practice of prohibiting severance for anyone terminated for any form of misconduct, and expanding the prohibition to anyone who is the subject of a pending investigation for sexual misconduct or retaliation. Managers will also receive guidance instructing them on how misconduct should impact an employee's performance evaluation, compensation decisions, and promotion outcomes. 

  • If there are allegations against any executives, a specialist team will be assigned and the results of any case will be reported to the Board’s Audit Committee.

  • We’ll ensure that $310 million in funding goes toward diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and programs focused on increasing access to computer science education and careers; continuing to build a more representative workforce; fostering a respectful, equitable and inclusive workplace culture; and helping businesses from underrepresented groups to succeed in the digital economy and tech industry.

Other Bets are required to adhere to our new principles too. Changes they are making now include making arbitration optional for all employees, temporary staff, vendors, and independent contractors for individual harassment, discrimination, and retaliation disputes with Alphabet; as well as following the new Alphabet model for executive investigations. Every Alphabet company (including Google and all Other Bets) will be required to undertake an annual review of their own individual policies and practices to ensure they are consistent with Alphabet’s guiding principles in this area.

Together, Sundar, the DEI Advisory Council, and the Board will uphold Alphabet’s unwavering commitment to prohibit and respond effectively to complaints of sexual harassment, discrimination, and retaliation and promote diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace.

Recent years have involved a lot of introspection and work to make sure we’re providing a safe and inclusive workplace for every employee. That doesn’t stop here and you’ll receive reports on our progress as we move forward. I’m grateful to everyone, especially our employees and shareholders, for providing us with feedback, and for making sure that the way we tackle these vital issues is better today than it was in the past.

Eileen

How we’re supporting the news with our marketing

As every marketing team knows, staying on top of the news is critical to developing campaigns that are thoughtful, relevant and helpful to people’s lives. Not only do we depend on news publishers to inform our marketing, but we also have a deep respect for the important work journalists do to keep everyone informed and safe.

But in the wake of the coronavirus, many publishers have been facing challenges funding the journalism we all rely on. While Google has long spent its marketing dollars with news organizations, a few months ago, we set out to think about how we could do even more to help the news industry through this challenging time. 

Building on ongoing efforts across our company, we've made four commitments to better support high-quality journalism with our marketing. Here's more about the steps we’ve taken and what we've learned.

1. Invest more with news organizations

News publishers provide an effective platform for advertisers to engage audiences. We also think it’s important to support journalism financially with our marketing.


For the first time, we’re holding ourselves to a marketing spend goal with the news category. Back in March, we committed to invest over $100 million with news organizations around the world by the end of the year. We’re well on our way to hitting this goal.

2. Revisit brand safety settings

Like many marketers, we added “coronavirus” to our negative keyword list when COVID-19 first hit as a brand safety precaution. These lists are intended to prevent ads from showing up next to unsuitable content.


As COVID-19 became a mainstream topic that dominated the news cycle, we realized that we were being too conservative in our approach. We decided to remove “coronavirus” from our negative keyword list, which led to a 25 percent increase in the placement of our ads on news content, more effective campaigns, and more of our marketing dollars going to high-quality news publishers. To help other marketers support news organizations too, our colleagues working on Google Ads and Display & Video 360 added alerts within the product, prompting brands using “coronavirus” negative keywords to consider removing these phrases, so their campaigns could similarly reach news sites.


This inspired us to do a broader audit of our brand safety strategies to make sure we weren’t inadvertently preventing our marketing campaigns from appearing on news content, and we continue to review our settings in the face of important news cycles. For example, while we’ve never excluded “Black Lives Matter,” we recently reassessed our settings to make sure our ads are set up to run alongside reporting on the racial justice movement. We encourage other marketers to do the same.

3. Support Black- and Latino-owned publishers

In June, we announced a set of commitments to improve racial equity inside and outside of Google. As a marketing team, one of many questions we asked ourselves was, how can we put more of our campaign dollars towards Black- and Latino-owned publishers in a meaningful way? 


So as part of our ongoing conversations with Black- and Latino-owned newspapers, we’ve been working to identify a more systematic way to spend our marketing dollars with them. These conversations raised a common challenge that many of these publishers face: their businesses are not set up to take advantage of digital advertising at scale. 


We’re taking three immediate steps to help address this. First, we’re working with the National Newspaper Publishers Association, representing Black-owned newspapers, and the National Association of Hispanic Publications to spend more with their member publications in the U.S. Second, we’re creating a Google News Initiative program with these same organizations and others to help Black- and Latino-owned publishers advance their digital maturity and build digital advertising capabilities, so they can attract more advertisers and grow revenue. Finally, Display & Video 360 is highlighting publications owned by multicultural groups within the product to help marketers who similarly want to spend more with these businesses.

4. Elevate local news

From stay-at-home orders to natural disasters, every day people turn to local news to stay informed and safe. In partnership with the Local Media Association and Local Media Consortium, we launched a marketing campaign in June to “Support Local News.” This program delivered funding to thousands of local news outlets in the U.S. and Canada, including Black- and Latino-owned publishers, and reached tens of millions of people with our call to action to subscribe, donate and advertise. 

Better support for news publishers will remain a priority across all of our marketing campaigns for Google's products. While there is more work to be done, we hope these steps inspire marketers to think differently about their campaigns and support news organizations in similar ways.