Tag Archives: google.org

Apoyando una recuperación inclusiva este mes del Orgullo

Photo credit: Hanna Benavides

En junio de 1994, presencié desde una calle de Boston mi primera Marcha del Orgullo. Como el joven estudiante proveniente de Argentina que era entonces, miré a mi alrededor y traté de asimilar todo lo que pude. Yo ya sabía que era gay, pero nunca había tenido, hasta ese momento, la oportunidad de estar en un entorno donde pudiese ser yo mismo. Sin embargo, al ver tanta alegría y tanto espíritu celebratorio, sentí una sensación de libertad nueva, y me di cuenta, por fin, de que existía una comunidad donde podría ser bien recibido.

En este último año, la necesidad de pertenecer se ha vuelto más importante que nunca. La pandemia nos ha separado de nuestros seres queridos y de nuestras comunidades, y muchos hemos sufrido pérdidas importantes. Es evidente que necesitamos que la recuperación sea inclusiva y equitativa.

Por eso, ante una nueva Marcha del Orgullo, vamos a aportar US$4 millones para apoyar a las comunidades LGBTQ+ del mundo, incluyendo el primer fondo de ayuda económica de este tipo. Todo esto mientras seguimos trabajando para que nuestros productos sean cada vez más inclusivos y más útiles.

Apoyando a nuestra comunidad LGBTQ+ en la recuperación

Para ayudar en la recuperación, estamos aportando a un fondo de ayuda que asistirá a la comunidad global LGBTQ+, y vamos a proveer US$2 millones al "Fondo de Emergencia Global LGBTIQ de Covid-19" de OutRight Action International. Esto ayudará a 100 organizaciones en más de 60 países durante el próximo año, además de traer fondos a los Estados Unidos para apoyar a los trabajadores esenciales de la comunidad LGBTQ+. En un comienzo, OutRight ya ha identificado a tres beneficiarios iniciales, a los que ha asignado fondos: Transgender Law Center, en los EE.UU.; Lesbian Organization against Violence and Inequality, en las Filipinas, y Casa das Pretas-Coisa de Mulher, en Brasil. Estos fondos aportarán recursos como alimentos, albergue y capacitación laboral a quienes los necesiten. Además, aportaremos US$1 millón en Ad Grants con el fin de apoyar aún más el trabajo que hace OutRight en relación con los derechos humanos LGBTQ+ a nivel global.


Además de apoyar a las organizaciones trans a través del fondo de OutRight, también estamos donando US$1 millón en Ad Grants para apoyar al Transgender Law Center y al Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund. Estos fondos les ayudarán a compartir recursos comunitarios críticos y a continuar la lucha por los derechos de las personas trans.

Fomentando la pertenencia a través de nuestros productos

Tal como anunciamos en Google I/O el mes pasado, seguimos esforzándonos por hacer que nuestros productos sean cada vez más inclusivos y ayuden cada vez a más personas. Con respecto a Google Fotos, por ejemplo, la comunidad trans nos dijo que volver a ver ciertos recuerdos podía resultar doloroso, de modo que trabajamos con nuestros socios en GLAAD y creamos controles más detallados y granulares, para ayudar a que el acto de recordar sea también más inclusivo. En Google Mapas y en Búsqueda, por su parte, hemos agregado funciones que permiten ver si una tienda cercana tiene baños públicos neutrales en cuanto a género. Esto se suma a las funciones pre existentes, que muestran si las tiendas se identifican como "LGBTQ+-friendly" y/o como un espacio seguro para personas transgénero. Esta información es crucial para ayudar a que la comunidad encuentre lugares seguros y acogedores.

Captura de pantalla de un celular que muestra un perfil de tienda en Google Mapas que menciona un baño neutral en cuanto a género.

Durante este mes, también estamos homenajeando a las voces y a las creaciones de la comunidad LGBTQ+. En la página de inicio de Google de hoy, por ejemplo, celebramos el Orgullo con un Doodle en honor al Dr. Frank Kameny, pionero del movimiento de derechos LGBTQ+ en los EE.UU. En Google Arts & Culture, puedes aprender sobre ocho artistas LGBTQ+, ver 5,000 fotografías de la historia LGBTQ + de Leonard Fink y volver a visitar los primeros 15 años del Orgullo. Google TV, por su parte, destaca el nuevo documental del Orgullo e incluso puedes preguntarle a tu televisor Smart o a tu parlante Nest: "Hey Google, ¿qué hay de nuevo en Orgullo?" para saber más sobre la historia y los líderes de la comunidad LGBTQ+.

Muchas actividades del Orgullo también son virtuales este año y hay muchas formas divertidas de participar con la comunidad y de celebrar en nuestras plataformas. Se pueden ver, por ejemplo, varias transmisiones en vivo del Orgullo, incluyendo un evento de varias horas en YouTube Originals el viernes 25 de junio en apoyo a The Trevor Project. En caso de que necesites papel picado virtual, cuando busques palabras como "orgullo" o "marcha del orgullo" en Google, encontrarás una celebración a todo color.

A 25 años de mi primer Marcha del Orgullo, mi deseo es que las comunidades del mundo puedan volver a reunirse y que pronto podamos celebrar juntos. Para mí, la Marcha del Orgullo siempre ha tenido que ver con pertenecer y es una gran ocasión para celebrar el progreso que hemos logrado como comunidad LGBTQ+: desde Stonewall en 1969, al matrimonio igualitario en los EE.UU., a la sanción de muchas políticas favorables en Argentina, mi país de origen.

Tracking data to advance health equity


Last year, I saw COVID-19 impact the lives of some of the strongest people I know because of their race, class and zip code — especially in my hard-hit hometown of Detroit. But I wasn’t the only one who witnessed this. We’ve all heard how the pandemic has affected vulnerable communities across the country due to structural and long-standing health inequities. Even so, there was no central resource to help consolidate, visualize and understand the data on a national scale. 


Over the past year a team of Google.org Fellows and I worked with the Satcher Health Leadership Institute at Morehouse School of Medicine and a multi-disciplinary Health Equity Taskforce to understand COVID-19 health inequities. Today, we released The Health Equity Tracker (HET), a publicly available data platform that visually displays and contextualizes the health disparities facing communities of color throughout the U.S.


With $1.5 million of Google.org grant funding and over 15,000 pro bono hours donated from 18 Google.org Fellows, the HET parses through a mountain of public health data to record COVID-19 cases, deaths and hospitalizations nationwide across race and ethnicity, sex and age, as well as state and county. The tracker also measures social and systemic factors — like poverty and lack of health insurance — that exacerbate these inequities and have resulted in higher COVID-19 death rates for people of color, especially Black and Latinx communities.  

The HET allows users to compare public health data on a local and national level.

The HET allows users to compare public health data on a local and national level. 

Collecting this data showed us where there are gaps in our knowledge. Public health data can be inconsistent, collected in silos or missing completely. Knowing where these blindspots are is valuable. When we’re aware of unknown or missing data, we’re able to take action toward improving data collection and reporting standards.


The tracker currently focuses on data analysis for COVID-19, but in the future we expect to be able to track additional conditions, like mental and behavioral health. And we’ll include analysis of health inequities for people with disabilities, the LGBTQ+ community and those facing socio economic challenges. 


For me, the process of creating this during a time of devastation has helped me translate mourning into meaning. Future generations deserve more complete, accurate, and representative data that can advance health equity in times of crisis and beyond. 


Watch Satcher Health Leadership Institute’s YouTube series to learn more about health equity tracker and the Google.org fellows who worked on it. 

More support for the COVID-19 crisis in Latin America

The COVID-19 pandemic has hit Latin America especially hard. Even as vaccines begin to slowly become available around the region, infection and death rates remain alarmingly high and several countries are grappling with a severe humanitarian crisis.

As the situation has taken a turn for the worse, we at Google have asked ourselves what more we can do as a company to help COVID-19 relief efforts throughout Latin America. Whether it’s ensuring that people get the reliable information they need to keep their families healthy and safe, or providing financial support for the hardest-hit communities, we know there is always more we can do.

Today we're announcing that Google is providing $33 million in new funding for Latin America, including $3 million in grants from Google.org, our philanthropic arm. The first is a $1.5 million grant for UNICEF, to support the urgent needs in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru  for more than 580,000 people through health, nutrition and water, hygiene and sanitation programs. The second is a $1 million grant for Amigos do Bem in Brazil to help get food supplies and clean drinking water to more than 8,500 families in need. In addition, we're distributing $500,000 among other nonprofits across Latin America to get aid to communities in need. 

Today's announcement also includes increased Ad Grants support for public health information campaigns in Latin America. We’re making available an additional $30 million in Ad Grants to the Pan American Health Organization through the WHO, local health authorities and nonprofits to help spread accurate and useful information on vaccines and how to stay safe.

This support builds on over $6 million in Google.org grants for education, economic recovery and relief efforts across Latin America since the pandemic began, including a recent $1 million grant for Gerando Falcões in Brazil to provide families in need with food supplies. More than 1,000 Googlers have also contributed over $380,000 in donations and company match to support the Gerando Falcões initiative. 

We know that one of the biggest ways we can help is through our core information products like Search, Maps and YouTube. Our COVID-19 information panels on Search and YouTube are available throughout Latin America in Spanish and Portuguese, providing reliable and timely content for our users. We also recently announced vaccination sites in Search and Maps in Brazil, Chile and Mexico, and we're working to do the same in other countries in the region as well.

On YouTube, we're taking steps to raise up authoritative information and reduce coronavirus misinformation, while also teaming up with creators and health experts to clarify facts and dispel myths about COVID-19. And throughout the pandemic Google for Education has provided online education solutions to some 37 million monthly active teachers and students in Latin America.

Google will continue to work with local governments, partners and communities to give everyone the tools they need to stay healthy and safe, and fight for a better tomorrow. We’re inspired by these organizations on the front lines, and are grateful for the opportunity to contribute to their efforts.

Why creating inclusive classrooms matters

Editor’s note: In honor of Teacher Appreciation Week, Google.org is working with DonorsChoose to continue their support for more inclusive classrooms through the #ISeeMe campaign. Mr. Andy Yung, a classroom teacher from New York City, shares the power of affirming identities in his classroom.

I grew up in Flushing, New York — the same community in Queens where I now teach. I’m honored and grateful to teach students who remind me of my younger self and to interact with their parents who remind me of my own. Because of our shared lived experiences, I identify with my students and their families in a way that is not easily learned. 


As a student, I often felt most connected to the teachers who looked like me and understood my background. But many students never have that experience: less than 10% of New York City’s teachers are men of color, and Asian men represent just 1.5% of New York City’s teachers. Trends are similar nationwide, with less than 2% of US teachers identifying as Asian. 


When my students see characters who look like us in the books we read, their faces light up because the experiences portrayed reflect their own. But creating these opportunities isn’t easy: in 2015, just 3.3% of children's books published included Asians, and there is no standard curriculum that teaches Asian American history.


That’s why I’m excited to see Google.org team up with DonorsChoose to match donations for inclusive classroom projects through the #ISeeMe campaign — and there’s even an additional donation match for projects from male educators of color like me. #ISeeMe has already helped more than 25,000 educators — including me — fund inclusive classroom projects. 

The funding helped me fill my classroom library with books that serve as both windows and mirrors: windows to observe other people and cultures, and mirrors that reflect and validate our own experiences. When my students see themselves in our reading materials, they know that they belong, what they can aspire to be, and they see that they can use their voices to share their own powerful stories.

  • Mr. Yung standing behind two of his students

    Mr. Yung pictured with students

  • Mr. Yung and his students in his classroom

    Mr. Yung and students in the classroom

  • Students preparing food to share with classmates

    Mr. Yung's students make their favorite dishes from home

  • Mr. Yung standing behind a bookshelf

    Mr. Yung and his classroom library

Thanks to the campaign, I also fulfilled an idea to help students connect to other cultures and express themselves through food — an important aspect of their identities. I received funding for a cooking cart, and now I regularly invite families into our classroom to make and share their favorite foods from home. 


Classrooms need to be places where every student feels supported and encouraged to share their personal experiences, especially as students return to school this year. The #ISeeMe campaign has made it that place for my students, and I am excited to see more educators and students receive this same opportunity. Starting today, Google.org is matching donations up to $500,000 — dollar for dollar — for projects created by teachers of color as well as projects from all teachers requesting culturally responsive and antiracist resources (such as books, posters and more) for their classrooms. Additionally, every dollar donated to projects created by male educators of color — a group historically underrepresented in the field — will receive a two-dollar match from Google.org. Learn more about #ISeeMe, setting up a campaign or supporting a classroom on the DonorsChoose website.

Hear educators’ stories this Teacher Appreciation Week

Editor’s note: In honor of Teacher Appreciation Week,  2020 National Teacher of the Year Tabatha Rosproy is sharing her story, as well as some of the ways Google is supporting teachers this year.  


Every year, Teacher Appreciation Week falls near the end of the school year, which is an emotional time for many teachers. Saying goodbye to our students is always tough, and after a year of educating during a pandemic, those emotions are more prominent than ever.


As National Teacher of the Year, I’ve had the honor of hearing hundreds of teachers’ stories over the past 12 months. I can say with confidence that this year, educators have truly given everything they have. There are the things people see, like teaching lessons, holding meetings and keeping kids on track academically. But there is also work most people don’t see, like the 14-hour days, or the extra mile we go to comfort children who are not our own. Those invisible moments are a critical piece of every teacher’s story. 


So this week, I hope that you’ll join us in listening to teachers’ stories to uncover some of these invisible moments — and celebrating the teachers who have shaped your own story.


Sharing teachers’ stories with StoryCorps

In addition to today’s Doodle, which includes five teacher stories from the StoryCorps archives, Google and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) are teaming up to support StoryCorps’ new Thank an Educator campaign. Anyone can use StoryCorps’ self-directed recording tools to record their stories, so you can grab a friend or family member and start reflecting upon the ways in which your favorite teacher changed your life. In the midst of one of the most challenging school years to date, the campaign hopes to spark a moment of gratitude for teachers everywhere. Be sure to check out their website to hear my recording and those from other 2021 State Teachers of the Year.


Homepage image of the US Teacher Appreciation Week Google Doodle, which is an interactive experience featuring 5 animated stories of gratitude for educators. This illustrated image depicts a student handing an apple to a teacher. Within the apple is a rotating carousel of images pertaining to the 5 stories in the Doodle experience.

Expanding access to inclusive stories with The Conscious Kid


Books and reading materials are crucial, practical tools that enable teachers to bring more of the world to their kids and help them develop kindness and empathy for the people around them. Google and The Conscious Kid are building upon their work together to provide educators with recommended titles and evaluation criteria for bringing new materials into their classrooms. 


In honor of Teacher Appreciation Week, their free inclusive reading guide — with book recommendations spanning Pre-K through 12th grade — has been updated to include more than 50 new titles. And as part of their broader efforts to honor Asian Pacific American Heritage Month (APAHM), Google and The Conscious Kid are sending a free set of curated books by Asian authors featuring AAPI protagonists to classrooms across the country, starting with eligible teachers at Title I schools. Teachers can request these titles for their classrooms, and anyone can contribute to the fund, here. 


In addition, The Conscious Kid has collaborated with Wong Fu Productions to bring four of the books to life in a series of read-alongs on Asian American heritage and culture. Rolling out with Harry Shum Jr. reading Grandpa Grumps by Katrina Moore, the videos will be released weekly onThe Conscious Kid’s YouTube channel and in theYouTube Kids app’s learning category throughout the month of May.


Graphic reading "Asian American Storytime" featuring logos from YouTube Kids and the Conscious Kid

Supporting more inclusive classrooms with DonorsChoose 


Since 2005, Google.org has committed more than $88 million directly to teacher-focused organizations and initiatives. Starting Wednesday, Google.org will match donations up to $500,000 — dollar for dollar — for projects created by teachers of color as well as projects from all teachers requesting culturally responsive and antiracist resources (such as books, posters, and more) for their classrooms as part of their continued support of the DonorsChoose #ISeeMe campaign. And every dollar donated to projects created by male educators of color — a group historically underrepresented in the field — will receive a two-dollar match from Google.org. Learn more about #ISeeMe, setting up a campaign or supporting a classroom on the DonorsChoose website.


Introducing the new 2021 National Teacher of the Year


The new 2021 National Teacher of the Year will be announced soon, and I’ll be joining them for a conversation through Google’s Education OnAir series on Friday, May 7.  Be sure to tune in to hear their incredible stories — I can’t wait for you to meet them!


As an early childhood educator, it’s especially important to me that every one of my students knows from a young age that they belong and sees themselves reflected in the stories we tell in our classrooms. Thank you to every educator putting in the work to ensure every student feels included and valued.


Finally, as you’re thinking about ways you can appreciate the educators in your life beyond Teacher Appreciation Week, remember that one of the best ways to support teachers is to listen to their stories, elevate their voices and advocate for their jobs and their livelihood. Together we can continue to do the work of supporting our children who will author our future.


Escucha las historias de los educadores en esta Semana de Apreciación del Profesor

Nota: En honor a la Semana de Apreciación al Profesor,  la Profesora Nacional del Año 2020 Tabatha Rosproy nos comparte su historia, así como algunas de las formas en que las que estamos apoyando a los maestros este año.  


Cada año, la Semana de Apreciación al Profesor llega en un momento emotivo para muchos maestros, alrededor del final del ciclo escolar. Decir adiós a nuestros estudiantes siempre es difícil, y después de un año de educar durante una pandemia, esas emociones se vuelven más intensas que nunca.


Como Profesor Nacional del Año, he tenido el honor de escuchar cientos de historias de maestros durante los últimos 12 meses. Puedo decir con confianza que este año, los educadores realmente han dado todo lo que tienen. Hay cosas que la gente ve: cómo se dan las clases, se hacen reuniones y cómo mantienen a los niños en su recorrido académico. Pero también hay un trabajo que la mayoría de la gente no ve: las jornadas de trabajo de 14 horas o los esfuerzos extras que realizamos para consolar a los niños que no son nuestros. Esos momentos invisibles son una pieza fundamental de la historia de todo maestro. 


Así que esta semana, espero que se unan a nosotros para escuchar las historias de los maestros, descubran algunos de estos momentos invisibles y celebren a los maestros que han dado forma a su propia historia.


Compartiendo historias de profesores con StoryCorps


Además del Doodle de hoy, que incluye cinco historias de maestros de los archivos de StoryCorps, Google y el Consejo de Jefes Estatales de Educación (CCSSO) se están uniendo para apoyar la nueva campaña de StoryCorps:Agradece a un Educador. Cualquiera puede usar las herramientas de grabación autodirigidas de StoryCorps para grabar sus historias. Así que llama a un amigo o familiar y comienza a reflexionar sobre las formas en las que tu profesor favorito cambió tu vida. En uno de los años escolares más desafiantes hasta la fecha, la campaña espera generar un momento de agradecimiento para los maestros de todo el mundo. Asegúrate de visitar el sitio web para escuchar mi grabación y las de otros ganadores del título de Profesor del Año.


Imagen de la página de inicio del Doodle de Google de la Semana de Apreciación de los profesores en EE. UU., que contiene una experiencia interactiva con 5 historias animadas de agradecimiento para los educadores. Esta imagen ilustrada muestra a un estudiante entregando una manzana a un maestro. Dentro de la manzana hay un carrusel giratorio con imágenes de las 5 historias de la experiencia Doodle.

Ampliar el acceso a historias inclusivas con The Conscious Kid


Los libros y materiales de lectura son herramientas prácticas y cruciales que permiten a los maestros llevar más del mundo a sus alumnos ayudándoles a desarrollar amabilidad y empatía por las personas que los rodean. Google y The Conscious Kid están trabajando conjuntamente para proporcionar a los educadores obras recomendadas y criterios de evaluación para llevar nuevos materiales a sus aulas. 


En honor a la Semana de Apreciación del Profesor, su guía de lectura inclusiva y gratuita con recomendaciones de libros que abarcan desde el jardín de niños hasta el grado 12, se ha actualizado para incluir más de 50 obras nuevas. También como parte de sus esfuerzos más amplios para honrar el Mes de la Herencia Estadounidense de Asia Pacífico (APAHM), Google y The Conscious Kid están enviando un conjunto gratuito de libros curados por autores asiáticos con protagonistas de AAPI a las aulas de todo el país, comenzando con los profesores elegibles en el Título I escuelas. Puedes solicitar estas obras para tu salón de clases, o contribuir al fondo, aquí. 


Además, The Conscious Kid ha colaborado con Wong Fu Productions para dar vida a cuatro de los libros con lecturas en voz alta sobre la herencia y la cultura asiático-americana. Se estrenará con Harry Shum Jr. leyendo Grandpa Grumps de Katrina Moore, los videos se publicarán semanalmente elEl canal de YouTube de Conscious Kid y en la app de YouTube Kids bajo la categoría de aprendizaje durante el mes de mayo.

La hora del cuento con asiáticos americanos

Apoyando aulas más inclusivas con DonorsChoose 


Desde 2005, Google.org ha otorgado más de $88 millones de dólares a organizaciones e iniciativas centradas en los maestros. A partir del miércoles, la organización igualará las donaciones de hasta $ 500,000 - dólar por dólar - para proyectos creados por maestros de color, así como proyectos de todos los maestros que soliciten recursos de consideración y diversidad cultural y antidiscriminatorios (ej: libros, posters y más) para sus aulas como parte de su continuo apoyo a la campaña DonorsChoose #ISeeMe. Cada dólar donado a proyectos creados por educadores hombres de color (un grupo históricamente subrepresentado en el campo), recibirá una contribución de dos dólares de Google.org. Obtén más información sobre #ISeeMe, cómo configurar una campaña o apoyar un aula en el sitio web de DonorsChoose.


Presentamos al nuevo Profesor Nacional del Año


 El nuevo Profesor Nacional del año 2021 se anunciará pronto, y me uniré a ellos para una conversación a través de la transmisión de la serie de Google for Education On Air el viernes 7 de mayo. Asegúrate de sintonizarnos para escuchar sus increíbles historias - ¡No puedo esperar a que los conozcas!


Como educadora de primera infancia, es especialmente importante para mí que cada uno de mis estudiantes sepa desde una edad temprana que pertenece y se vea reflejado en las historias que contamos en nuestras aulas. Gracias a todos los educadores que se esfuerzan por garantizar que todos los estudiantes se sientan incluidos y valorados.


Finalmente, mientras piensas en las formas en las que podemos apreciar a nuestros educadores más allá de la Semana de Apreciación al Maestro, recuerda que una de las mejores formas de apoyar a los maestros es escuchar sus historias, ampliar sus voces y defender su trabajo y su bienestar. Juntos podemos continuar haciendo el trabajo de apoyar a nuestros niños que serán los autores de nuestro futuro.


A Matter of Impact: April updates from Google.org

Last week we celebrated Earth Day — the second one that’s taken place during the pandemic. It’s becoming clear that these two challenges aren’t mutually exclusive. We know, for example, that climate change impacts the same determinants of health that worsen the effects of COVID-19. And, as reports have noted, we can’t afford to relax when it comes to the uneven progress we’re making toward a greener future. 


At Google, we’re taking stock of where we’ve been and how we can continue building a more sustainable future. We’ve been deeply committed to sustainability ever since our founding two decades ago: we were the first major company to become carbon neutral and the first to match our electricity use with 100 percent renewable energy. 


While we lead with our own actions, we can only fully realize the potential of a green and sustainable world through strong partnerships with businesses, governments, and nonprofits. At Google.org, we’re particularly excited about the potential for technology-based solutions from nonprofits and social innovators. Time and again we hear from social entrepreneurs who have game-changing ideas but need a little boost to bring them to life. 


Through programs like our AI for Social Good Initiative and our most recent Google.org Impact Challenge on Climate, we are helping find, fund, and build these ideas. Already they’re having significant impact on critical issues from air quality to emissions analysis. In this month’s digest, you can read more about some of these ideas and the mark they’re making on the world. 

In case you missed it 

Earlier this month, Google sharedour latest series of commitments to support vaccine equity efforts across the globe. As part of this, Google.org is supporting Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance, in their latest fundraising push with initial funding to help fully vaccinate 250,000 people in low and middle income countries, technical assistance to improve their vaccine delivery systems and accelerate global distribution and Ad Grants to amplify fundraising efforts. We’ve since kicked off an internal giving campaign to increase our impact, bringing the total vaccinations funded to 880,000 to date, which includes matching funds from Gavi. And in the U.S., we’ve provided $2.5 million in overall grants to Partners in Health, Stop the Spread and Team Rubicon who are working directly with 500 community-based organizations to boost vaccine confidence and increase access to vaccines in Black, Latino and rural communities.


Gavin McCormick, Executive Director of WattTime

Gavin McCormick, Executive Director of WattTime

Hear from one of our grantees: WattTime  

Gavin McCormick is the Executive Director of WattTime, a nonprofit that offers technology solutions that make it easy for anyone to achieve emissions reductions. WattTime is an AI Impact Challenge grantee and received both funding and a cohort of Google.org Fellows to help support their work, particularly a project that helps individuals and corporations understand how to use energy when it’s most sustainable and allows regulators to understand the state of global emissions. 


“Data insights powered by AI help drive innovative solutions — from streaming services’ content suggestions to navigation on maps. But they’re still not often applied to some of the biggest challenges of our time like the climate crisis. My organization harnesses AI to empower people and companies alike to choose cleaner energy and slash emissions. Like enabling smart devices such as thermostats and electric vehicles to use electricity when power is clean and avoid using electricity when it’s dirty. Now with support from Google.org, we’re working with members of Climate TRACE — a global coalition we co-founded in 2019 of nonprofits, tech companies and climate leaders — to apply satellite imagery and other remote sensing technology to estimate nearly all types of human-caused greenhouse gas emissions in close to real time. We can’t solve the climate crisis if we don’t have an up-to-date understanding of where the emissions are coming from.” 

Alok Talekar, a Google.org Fellow with WattTime

Alok Talekar, a Google.org Fellow with WattTime

A few words with a Google.org Fellow: Alok Talekar

Alok Talekar is a software engineer at Google who participated in a Google.org Fellowship with WattTime. 


“I am a software engineer at Google and work on AI for social good with a focus on the agricultural sector in India. The Climate TRACE Google.org Fellowship with WattTime gave me the opportunity to change my career trajectory and work on climate crisis solutions full time. The mission that Gavin McCormick and team are pursuing is ambitious, and technology can help make it a reality. Over the course of the Fellowship, the team was able to use machine learning to process satellite imagery data of power plants around the world and determine when a particular plant was operational based on the imagery provided. I then helped the team to model and validate the bounds of accuracy of this approach in order to predict the cumulative annual emissions of a given power plant. I was proud to be able to contribute to the project in its early days and to be part of the core team that helped build this massive coalition for monitoring global emissions.”


Supporting India during the current COVID crisis

Right now India is going through our most difficult moment in the pandemic thus far. Daily COVID-19 cases continue to set record highs, with hospitals filled to capacity and in need of urgent supplies to cope with the increasing number of patients. 


Our Google community and their families are feeling the devastating impact, too. We’re asking ourselves what more we can do as a company to ensure people get the information and support they need to keep their families and communities healthy and safe.


Today we’re announcing 135 Crore INR ($18 million USD) in new funding for India. This includes two grants from Google.org, Google’s philanthropic arm, totalling 20 Crore INR ($2.6 million USD). The first is to GiveIndia to provide cash assistance to families hit hardest by the crisis to help with their everyday expenses. The second will go to UNICEFto help get urgent medical supplies, including oxygen and testing equipment, to where it’s needed most in India. It also includes donations from our ongoing employee giving campaign — so far more than 900 Googlers have contributed 3.7 Crore INR ($500,000 USD) for organizations supporting high-risk and marginalized communities. 


This funding also includes increased Ad Grant support for public health information campaigns. Since last year, we’ve helped MyGov and the World Health Organization reach audiences with messages focused on how to stay safe and facts about vaccines. We’re increasing our support today with an additional 112 Crore INR ($15 million) in Ad Grants to local health authorities and nonprofits for more language coverage options.

Three phones displaying COVID-19 information in Search in three different languages

COVID-19 vaccine information on Search is available in English and eight Indian languages

We know the biggest way we can help is through our core information products like Search and Maps, YouTube and Ads. Our COVID features on Search are available in India, in English and eight Indian languages, and we continue to improve localization and highlight authoritative information. That includes information on where to get testing and vaccines; so far, Maps and Search surface thousands of vaccine sites, and we are working to add tens of thousands more. We’re also collaborating closely with the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, and with organizations like the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, to support vaccine awareness initiatives. 


On YouTube, we are supporting the government in their vaccine communication strategy, as well as working to raise up authoritative information and reduce misinformation. We recently ran a workshop for 200+ health officials to learn how they can use YouTube to reach audiences across Indian languages with vaccine information. And we’ve added support for public donations for several nongovernmental organizations on Google Pay.


I am hopeful that the situation will turn around for our country soon, but as we have learned over the course of this pandemic, hope is not enough. At Google we’ll continue to work with local governments, partners and communities to give people the tools to stay healthy and safe. We’ll get through this tough time together.

Supporting India during the current COVID crisis

Right now India is going through our most difficult moment in the pandemic thus far. Daily COVID-19 cases continue to set record highs, with hospitals filled to capacity and in need of urgent supplies to cope with the increasing number of patients. 


Our Google community and their families are feeling the devastating impact, too. We’re asking ourselves what more we can do as a company to ensure people get the information and support they need to keep their families and communities healthy and safe.


Today we’re announcing 135 Crore INR ($18 million USD) in new funding for India. This includes two grants from Google.org, Google’s philanthropic arm, totalling 20 Crore INR ($2.6 million USD). The first is to GiveIndia to provide cash assistance to families hit hardest by the crisis to help with their everyday expenses. The second will go to UNICEF to help get urgent medical supplies, including oxygen and testing equipment, to where it’s needed most in India. It also includes donations from our ongoing employee giving campaign — so far more than 900 Googlers have contributed 3.7 Crore INR ($500,000 USD) for organizations supporting high-risk and marginalized communities. 


This funding also includes increased Ad Grant support for public health information campaigns. Since last year, we’ve helped MyGov and the World Health Organization reach audiences with messages focused on how to stay safe and facts about vaccines. We’re increasing our support today with an additional 112 Crore INR ($15 million) in Ad Grants to local health authorities and nonprofits for more language coverage options.



COVID-19 vaccine information on Search is available in English and eight Indian languages


We know the biggest way we can help is through our core information products like Search and Maps, YouTube and Ads. Our COVID features on Search are available in India, in English and eight Indian languages, and we continue to improve localization and highlight authoritative information. That includes information on where to get testing and vaccines; so far, Maps and Search surface thousands of vaccine sites, and we are working to add tens of thousands more. We’re also collaborating closely with the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, and with organizations like the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, to support vaccine awareness initiatives. 


On YouTube, we are supporting the government in their vaccine communication strategy, as well as working to raise up authoritative information and reduce misinformation. We recently ran a workshop for 200+ health officials to learn how they can use YouTube to reach audiences across Indian languages with vaccine information. And we’ve added support for public donations for several non-governmental organizations on Google Pay.


I am hopeful that the situation will turn around for our country soon, but as we have learned over the course of this pandemic, hope is not enough. At Google we’ll continue to work with local governments, partners and communities to give people the tools to stay healthy and safe. We’ll get through this tough time together. 


Posted by Sanjay Gupta, Country Head & Vice President, India

How fact checkers and Google.org are fighting misinformation

Misinformation can have dramatic consequences on people’s lives — from finding reliable information on everything from elections to vaccinations — and the pandemic has only exacerbated the problem as accurate information can save lives. To help fight the rise in minsformation, Full Fact, a nonprofit that provides tools and resources to fact checkers, turned to Google.org for help. Today, ahead of International Fact Checking Day, we’re sharing the impact of this work.

Every day, millions of claims, like where to vote and COVID-19 vaccination rates, are made across a multitude of platforms and media. It was becoming increasingly difficult for fact checkers to identify the most important claims to investigate.

We’re not just fighting an epidemic; we’re fighting an infodemic. Fake news spreads faster and more easily than this virus and is just as dangerous. Tedros Adhanom
Director General of the World Health Organization

Last year, Google.org provided Full Fact with $2 million and seven Googlers from the Google.org Fellowship, a pro-bono program that matches teams of Googlers with nonprofits for up to six months to work full-time on technical projects. The Fellows helped Full Fact build AI tools to help fact checkers detect claims made by key politicians, then group them by topic and match them with similar claims from across press, social networks and even radio using speech to text technology. Over the past year, Full Fact boosted the amount of claims they could process by 1000x, detecting and clustering over 100,000 claims per day — that’s more than 36.5 million total claims per year!

The AI-powered tools empower fact checkers to be more efficient, so that they can spend more time actually checking and debunking facts rather than identifying which facts to check. Using a machine learning BERT-based model, the technology now works across four languages (English, French, Portuguese and Spanish). And Full Fact’s work has expanded to South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya with their partner Africa Check and Argentina with Chequeado. In total in 2020, Full Fact’s fact checks appeared 237 million times across the internet. 


Graphic showing the following impact statistics: 1000x increase in detected claims, fact checks appeared 237 million times in search results, the technology works across 4 languages, and 50K claims were detected per day in the UK election.


If you’re interested in learning more about how you can use Google to fact check and spot misinformation, check out some of our tips and tricks. Right now more than ever we need to empower citizens to find reliable authoritative information, and we're excited about the impact that Full Fact and its partners have had in making the internet a safer place for everyone.