Tag Archives: google.org

Supporting nonprofits around the world this holiday season

From remote villages in India, to schools across the U.S., to refugee and migrant camps in Africa, technology can help people start a business, further their education, or access new — and sometimes vital — information.

Google.org supports hundreds of nonprofits globally who are working to open up opportunities for the most vulnerable populations. As part of this ongoing work, this holiday season we’re donating $30 million in grant funding to nonprofits to bring phones, tablets, hardware and training to communities that can benefit from them most. This holiday giving brings our total grant funding for nonprofits this year to more than $100 million.

HolidayNonProfit_1_450px.jpg
Students in Tim Jones’ classroom in East Palo Alto during class time

In the U.S., Google.org is supporting classrooms in need by funding projects that have requested Chromebooks and other technology via the educational giving platform DonorsChoose.org. For example, Mr. Jones, a teacher at Ronald McNair Academy in East Palo Alto, CA, where many students come from high-poverty communities, requested devices to help his students learn both inside and outside of the classroom. Our $5 million grant to DonorsChoose.org will provide more than 150,000 K-12 students across the United States — from Bunche Middle School in Atlanta, GA to Timberland Charter Academy in Muskegon, MI — with critical learning resources.

We're also supporting nonprofits whose programs ensure that everyone has a chance to participate equally in society — from people experiencing homelessness to individuals disconnected from pathways out of poverty. In the Bay Area, Abode Services will help more than 1,200 re-housed homeless people receive laptop computers and related training as they move into their new homes in order to provide access to employment, social services and transportation information.

HolidayNonProfit_2_800px.jpg
Young adults completing applications during LeadersUp hiring event in South LA

Across the nation, LeadersUp will increase access to opportunities for unemployed young adults to connect to careers that lead to family-sustaining wages 350 percent above the poverty line. By providing funding for thousands of devices to assist people being served by organizations like Defy Ventures and LifeMoves, we're ensuring that more people have a fair shot at opportunity.

HolidayNonProfit_3_800px.jpg
Defy Entrepreneur-in-Training Rudo C. and volunteer David R. at Business Pitch Competition in New York City
HolidayNonProfit_4_450px.jpg
Students of Mazahua  indigenous group explore learning materials on a tablet at an UNETE-supported school in San Felipe del Progreso, State of Mexico.

In Latin America, we’re supporting UNETE to bring computers, tablets and charging stations to classrooms across Mexico — giving students access to new curriculum materials, videos, and learning games. UNETE is committed to helping teachers be successful, and we’ll pair funding for this technology with training and support services. And in India, our grant to Pratham Education Foundation will help them expand their work to help kids in rural communities learn. By using tablets across a range of their programs, from preschool through middle school, Pratham will be able to bring new, engaging content to kids and instructors.

HolidayNonProfit_5_800px.jpg
Children in Uttar Pradesh, India share what they’ve been learning on a Pratham-provided tablet with their family.

For millions of people who have been displaced from their homes, the ability to start or continue an education can become a lifeline. As part of our refugee relief efforts, we’ve expanded our support of Libraries Without Borders for their “Ideas Boxes” — portable multimedia centers with Internet access and their own power source. This grant will help fund 14 additional Ideas Boxes, enabling more than 90,000 refugees to access educational resources in refugee camps in Europe and Africa.

Around the world, we're funding NetHope to distribute and deliver devices through organizations working with the most vulnerable populations, including women and girls, who often struggle most to get the resources, education and opportunities they deserve.

HolidayNonProfit_6_450px.jpg
NetHope WiFi network helps refugees connect with family and friends and seek asylum

In addition to these Google.org grants, every holiday season, we hold a "Giving Week" where our employees around the world can donate to the causes and organizations they want to support, and Google matches all donations. This year's Giving Week was our biggest yet. More than 50 offices participated, a third of the company pledged, Google matched, and the total impact will be $24 million to 750 nonprofits around the world. Causes ranged from supporting the victims and survivors of the Ghost Ship fire in Oakland, to helping vulnerable women in Mexico through VIFAC, to fighting hunger and malnutrition with Akshaya Patra in India. Other giving trends this year included causes like refugee assistance and transgender rights, and support for civil liberties and women’s health organizations.

We hope the combined $54 million in grants for technology, employee donations and Google matching will help those in need around the world this holiday season. As we look ahead to 2017, we’ll continue our work to support nonprofits and communities around the world.

Supporting nonprofits around the world this holiday season

From remote villages in India, to schools across the U.S., to refugee and migrant camps in Africa, technology can help people start a business, further their education, or access new — and sometimes vital — information.

Google.org supports hundreds of nonprofits globally who are working to open up opportunities for the most vulnerable populations. As part of this ongoing work, this holiday season we’re donating $30 million in grant funding to nonprofits to bring phones, tablets, hardware and training to communities that can benefit from them most. This holiday giving brings our total grant funding for nonprofits this year to more than $100 million.

HolidayNonProfit_1_450px.jpg
Students in Tim Jones’ classroom in East Palo Alto during class time

In the U.S., Google.org is supporting classrooms in need by funding projects that have requested Chromebooks and other technology via the educational giving platform DonorsChoose.org. For example, Mr. Jones, a teacher at Ronald McNair Academy in East Palo Alto, CA, where many students come from high-poverty communities, requested devices to help his students learn both inside and outside of the classroom. Our $5 million grant to DonorsChoose.org will provide more than 150,000 K-12 students across the United States — from Bunche Middle School in Atlanta, GA to Timberland Charter Academy in Muskegon, MI — with critical learning resources.

We're also supporting nonprofits whose programs ensure that everyone has a chance to participate equally in society — from people experiencing homelessness to individuals disconnected from pathways out of poverty. In the Bay Area, Abode Services will help more than 1,200 re-housed homeless people receive laptop computers and related training as they move into their new homes in order to provide access to employment, social services and transportation information.

HolidayNonProfit_2_800px.jpg
Young adults completing applications during LeadersUp hiring event in South LA

Across the nation, LeadersUp will increase access to opportunities for unemployed young adults to connect to careers that lead to family-sustaining wages 350 percent above the poverty line. By providing funding for thousands of devices to assist people being served by organizations like Defy Ventures and LifeMoves, we're ensuring that more people have a fair shot at opportunity.

HolidayNonProfit_3_800px.jpg
Defy Entrepreneur-in-Training Rudo C. and volunteer David R. at Business Pitch Competition in New York City
HolidayNonProfit_4_450px.jpg
Students of Mazahua  indigenous group explore learning materials on a tablet at an UNETE-supported school in San Felipe del Progreso, State of Mexico.

In Latin America, we’re supporting UNETE to bring computers, tablets and charging stations to classrooms across Mexico — giving students access to new curriculum materials, videos, and learning games. UNETE is committed to helping teachers be successful, and we’ll pair funding for this technology with training and support services. And in India, our grant to Pratham Education Foundation will help them expand their work to help kids in rural communities learn. By using tablets across a range of their programs, from preschool through middle school, Pratham will be able to bring new, engaging content to kids and instructors.

HolidayNonProfit_5_800px.jpg
Children in Uttar Pradesh, India share what they’ve been learning on a Pratham-provided tablet with their family.

For millions of people who have been displaced from their homes, the ability to start or continue an education can become a lifeline. As part of our refugee relief efforts, we’ve expanded our support of Libraries Without Borders for their “Ideas Boxes” — portable multimedia centers with Internet access and their own power source. This grant will help fund 14 additional Ideas Boxes, enabling more than 90,000 refugees to access educational resources in refugee camps in Europe and Africa.

Around the world, we're funding NetHope to distribute and deliver devices through organizations working with the most vulnerable populations, including women and girls, who often struggle most to get the resources, education and opportunities they deserve.

HolidayNonProfit_6_450px.jpg
NetHope WiFi network helps refugees connect with family and friends and seek asylum

In addition to these Google.org grants, every holiday season, we hold a "Giving Week" where our employees around the world can donate to the causes and organizations they want to support, and Google matches all donations. This year's Giving Week was our biggest yet. More than 50 offices participated, a third of the company pledged, Google matched, and the total impact will be $24 million to 750 nonprofits around the world. Causes ranged from supporting the victims and survivors of the Ghost Ship fire in Oakland, to helping vulnerable women in Mexico through VIFAC, to fighting hunger and malnutrition with Akshaya Patra in India. Other giving trends this year included causes like refugee assistance and transgender rights, and support for civil liberties and women’s health organizations.

We hope the combined $54 million in grants for technology, employee donations and Google matching will help those in need around the world this holiday season. As we look ahead to 2017, we’ll continue our work to support nonprofits and communities around the world.

Impact and adventure: revisiting France’s Google Impact Challenge

Last year Google.org launched its first French Google Impact Challenge, a national competition for nonprofit organisations that use digital technologies to scale their work in the country.

We received hundreds of ideas from non-profits across France and were blown away by the creativity, passion, and innovation we saw in the submissions. After public voting, ten French organisations stood out and were awarded at an emotional ceremony at the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Each received funding (500,000 euros for each of the four big winners, 200,000 euros for each finalist) and a tailor-made mentoring program, supported by Googler volunteers, with the support of the Social Factory and Invest &+.

A year later, we’re looking back at the progress of ten organisations with impressive goals and even more impressive results. We wondered: have they managed to change scale? Have their projects have come to fruition? What additional impact have they had?
Making Sense
MakeSense: meeting with volunteers and social entrepreneurs

We were not disappointed. Each organisation reported that their projects have taken off in three key areas with Google’s support: adding new staff members, benefiting from mentoring to build technical tools and building credibility to secure new funding or partners.

Progress report...

  • 1001 Fontaines, an entrepreneur-driven network of water purification stations in rural areas to give people access to clean water, has opened 10 new water treatment plants, giving access to safe drinking water to an additional 20,000 people

  • Libraries Without Borders has grown from 15 to 60 employees and will deploy 70 mobile media libraries in the field before the end of the year, compared to just four one year ago. This project will give access to the Internet, books and educational resources to populations around the globe in the greatest need.

  • Jaccede, whose mission was to crowdsource accessibility ratings of public spaces for people with physical disabilities has designed, developed and launched a new simplified platform that lists more than 13,000 additional places.

  • Ticket for Change was able to hire one person to disseminate its new online support program for entrepreneurship, and gained credibility with funders and partners.
    The donation agency, which allows Internet users to offer essential products to the most deprived persons during their online shopping, has established partnerships with major players in e-commerce.

  • La Banque Alimentaire du Rhône, whose mission was to enable retailers to donate unsold food to nonprofits, has convinced 50 traders to join its ProxiDon platform, of which 255 baskets have been offered since last June. That’s nearly 10,000 meals distributed to people in precarious situations.

  • MakeSense, which connects social entrepreneurs and volunteers, has seen its team grow from 35 to 65 employees and is in the process of raising funds in the United States.

  • My Human Kit has grown from a team of volunteers to four full-time employees working to connect people with disabilities with low-cost, open-source prosthetics. Their growing community continues to offer solutions to people with disabilities who want to create their own technical assistance.

  • Voxe.org’s mission to re-engage young people in politics now has two employees and launched the successful WhatTheVoxe newsletter.

  • Y Generation Education, through Jackie, Y Generation’s sponsor at Google, the team met Renan, a data science expert, who joined the organisation in June as head of technology. They have concentrated their efforts on Brazil, where recruitment and training issues for "invisible" young people are key, and have adapted their platform by making it even more entertaining.

Tickets for Change
Ticket for Change: at a training session to help people change move from ideas to action

The adventure continues...

During the exchanges we had with the associations throughout the year, we saw how important it was for them to have consistent support that allows them to grow, to consolidate their strategic plans and to continue to improve their technical tools.

With continued work ahead of them, Google.org answered the call. Each winning organisation will receive a supplementary grant of $ 50,000 and continue in the mentoring program. This allocation will allow, for example, the Banque Alimentaire du Rhône to finance an electric vehicle to collect donations and bring them to associations; For My Human Kit, it will secure an additional employee for the year to come.

The Google Impact challenges have been run elsewhere in Europe too, including in Germany and the UK. These awards recognise entrepreneurial organisations who think on an ambitious scale and have a healthy disregard for the impossible and we look forward to seeing what they do next.

Impact and adventure: revisiting France’s Google Impact Challenge

Last year Google.org launched its first French Google Impact Challenge, a national competition for nonprofit organisations that use digital technologies to scale their work in the country.

We received hundreds of ideas from non-profits across France and were blown away by the creativity, passion, and innovation we saw in the submissions. After public voting, ten French organisations stood out and were awarded at an emotional ceremony at the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Each received funding (500,000 euros for each of the four big winners, 200,000 euros for each finalist) and a tailor-made mentoring program, supported by Googler volunteers, with the support of the Social Factory and Invest &+.

A year later, we’re looking back at the progress of ten organisations with impressive goals and even more impressive results. We wondered: have they managed to change scale? Have their projects have come to fruition? What additional impact have they had?
Making Sense
MakeSense: meeting with volunteers and social entrepreneurs

We were not disappointed. Each organisation reported that their projects have taken off in three key areas with Google’s support: adding new staff members, benefiting from mentoring to build technical tools and building credibility to secure new funding or partners.

Progress report...

  • 1001 Fontaines, an entrepreneur-driven network of water purification stations in rural areas to give people access to clean water, has opened 10 new water treatment plants, giving access to safe drinking water to an additional 20,000 people

  • Libraries Without Borders has grown from 15 to 60 employees and will deploy 70 mobile media libraries in the field before the end of the year, compared to just four one year ago. This project will give access to the Internet, books and educational resources to populations around the globe in the greatest need.

  • Jaccede, whose mission was to crowdsource accessibility ratings of public spaces for people with physical disabilities has designed, developed and launched a new simplified platform that lists more than 13,000 additional places.

  • Ticket for Change was able to hire one person to disseminate its new online support program for entrepreneurship, and gained credibility with funders and partners.
    The donation agency, which allows Internet users to offer essential products to the most deprived persons during their online shopping, has established partnerships with major players in e-commerce.

  • La Banque Alimentaire du Rhône, whose mission was to enable retailers to donate unsold food to nonprofits, has convinced 50 traders to join its ProxiDon platform, of which 255 baskets have been offered since last June. That’s nearly 10,000 meals distributed to people in precarious situations.

  • MakeSense, which connects social entrepreneurs and volunteers, has seen its team grow from 35 to 65 employees and is in the process of raising funds in the United States.

  • My Human Kit has grown from a team of volunteers to four full-time employees working to connect people with disabilities with low-cost, open-source prosthetics. Their growing community continues to offer solutions to people with disabilities who want to create their own technical assistance.

  • Voxe.org’s mission to re-engage young people in politics now has two employees and launched the successful WhatTheVoxe newsletter.

  • Y Generation Education, through Jackie, Y Generation’s sponsor at Google, the team met Renan, a data science expert, who joined the organisation in June as head of technology. They have concentrated their efforts on Brazil, where recruitment and training issues for "invisible" young people are key, and have adapted their platform by making it even more entertaining.

Tickets for Change
Ticket for Change: at a training session to help people change move from ideas to action

The adventure continues...

During the exchanges we had with the associations throughout the year, we saw how important it was for them to have consistent support that allows them to grow, to consolidate their strategic plans and to continue to improve their technical tools.

With continued work ahead of them, Google.org answered the call. Each winning organisation will receive a supplementary grant of $ 50,000 and continue in the mentoring program. This allocation will allow, for example, the Banque Alimentaire du Rhône to finance an electric vehicle to collect donations and bring them to associations; For My Human Kit, it will secure an additional employee for the year to come.

The Google Impact challenges have been run elsewhere in Europe too, including in Germany and the UK. These awards recognise entrepreneurial organisations who think on an ambitious scale and have a healthy disregard for the impossible and we look forward to seeing what they do next.

Impact and adventure: revisiting France’s Google Impact Challenge

Last year Google.org launched its first French Google Impact Challenge, a national competition for nonprofit organisations that use digital technologies to scale their work in the country.

We received hundreds of ideas from non-profits across France and were blown away by the creativity, passion, and innovation we saw in the submissions. After public voting, ten French organisations stood out and were awarded at an emotional ceremony at the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Each received funding (500,000 euros for each of the four big winners, 200,000 euros for each finalist) and a tailor-made mentoring program, supported by Googler volunteers, with the support of the Social Factory and Invest &+.

A year later, we’re looking back at the progress of ten organisations with impressive goals and even more impressive results. We wondered: have they managed to change scale? Have their projects have come to fruition? What additional impact have they had?
Making Sense
MakeSense: meeting with volunteers and social entrepreneurs

We were not disappointed. Each organisation reported that their projects have taken off in three key areas with Google’s support: adding new staff members, benefiting from mentoring to build technical tools and building credibility to secure new funding or partners.

Progress report...

  • 1001 Fontaines, an entrepreneur-driven network of water purification stations in rural areas to give people access to clean water, has opened 10 new water treatment plants, giving access to safe drinking water to an additional 20,000 people

  • Libraries Without Borders has grown from 15 to 60 employees and will deploy 70 mobile media libraries in the field before the end of the year, compared to just four one year ago. This project will give access to the Internet, books and educational resources to populations around the globe in the greatest need.

  • Jaccede, whose mission was to crowdsource accessibility ratings of public spaces for people with physical disabilities has designed, developed and launched a new simplified platform that lists more than 13,000 additional places.

  • Ticket for Change was able to hire one person to disseminate its new online support program for entrepreneurship, and gained credibility with funders and partners.
    The donation agency, which allows Internet users to offer essential products to the most deprived persons during their online shopping, has established partnerships with major players in e-commerce.

  • La Banque Alimentaire du Rhône, whose mission was to enable retailers to donate unsold food to nonprofits, has convinced 50 traders to join its ProxiDon platform, of which 255 baskets have been offered since last June. That’s nearly 10,000 meals distributed to people in precarious situations.

  • MakeSense, which connects social entrepreneurs and volunteers, has seen its team grow from 35 to 65 employees and is in the process of raising funds in the United States.

  • My Human Kit has grown from a team of volunteers to four full-time employees working to connect people with disabilities with low-cost, open-source prosthetics. Their growing community continues to offer solutions to people with disabilities who want to create their own technical assistance.

  • Voxe.org’s mission to re-engage young people in politics now has two employees and launched the successful WhatTheVoxe newsletter.

  • Y Generation Education, through Jackie, Y Generation’s sponsor at Google, the team met Renan, a data science expert, who joined the organisation in June as head of technology. They have concentrated their efforts on Brazil, where recruitment and training issues for "invisible" young people are key, and have adapted their platform by making it even more entertaining.

Tickets for Change
Ticket for Change: at a training session to help people change move from ideas to action

The adventure continues...

During the exchanges we had with the associations throughout the year, we saw how important it was for them to have consistent support that allows them to grow, to consolidate their strategic plans and to continue to improve their technical tools.

With continued work ahead of them, Google.org answered the call. Each winning organisation will receive a supplementary grant of $ 50,000 and continue in the mentoring program. This allocation will allow, for example, the Banque Alimentaire du Rhône to finance an electric vehicle to collect donations and bring them to associations; For My Human Kit, it will secure an additional employee for the year to come.

The Google Impact challenges have been run elsewhere in Europe too, including in Germany and the UK. These awards recognise entrepreneurial organisations who think on an ambitious scale and have a healthy disregard for the impossible and we look forward to seeing what they do next.

Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month

As the daughter of a Mexican immigrant, sharing Latino culture with my wider community is a daily part of life. From practicing Mexican folk dances with classmates to introducing neighbors to our favorite traditional foods, my family is always grateful to share our experiences as Latinos in the U.S. That's why I've been excited to help with Google's celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month — a time to reflect on and celebrate the contributions Latinos make to our company and our country.

Latino Heritage and Cultures collection

To kick off Hispanic Heritage Month, Google Arts & Culture published a dedicated collection of artifacts, archives and stories of Latino Heritage and Cultures from across the Americas. You can explore influences of Latino art and expression from ancient civilizations like the Aztec and the Inca from today’s modern street art in Puerto Rico, Argentina, and the United States. In total, the collection includes 55 institutions from 11 countries, 14K artifacts and artworks, 117 expertly curated exhibits, and 180+ virtual tours of heritage and cultural sites. See some highlights in our video:

Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month on Google Arts & Culture

Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month on Google Arts & Culture

HOLA celebrations at Google

We also celebrated Hispanic Heritage Month across Google’s campuses, where members and allies of HOLA, the Hispanic Googler Network, promoted Latino culture, leadership and civic engagement. On September 16, 50 Googlers from across the globe gathered in Washington, D.C., for a three-day Leadership Summit. There, we met with organizations like Voto Latino, brainstorming ideas on how to get out the vote; advised local organizations like the Latin American Youth Career Center and the Hispanic Heritage Foundation using digital tools in the classroom; and mentored students from the Georgetown Scholarship Program pursuing careers in technology.

HOLA members continued the HHM festivities in their home offices. Googlers in Mountain View hosted the rock band Maná, who spoke about their interest in social good and music. And just earlier this week, we welcomed Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez, who discussed the importance of access to Latino mentors, the value of immigrants in the American workforce, and the necessity of technology for 21st century careers. You can meet some of our HOLA members on our Instagram account.

Members of HOLA host Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez.jpg

Members of HOLA host Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month

Support for Latino students and families

At Google, we understand that diverse and inclusive environments are essential to building products and solutions that work for everyone. That’s why we invest in increasing educational opportunities for students of all backgrounds to pursue futures in technology. This month Google.org is committing $1 million to local Silicon Valley organizations to help close these gaps in educational success for Latino students and families.

Across the U.S., Latino students aren’t being adequately prepared for college experiences or college level math. In our own backyard, Mountain View-Los Altos Union High School District, 73 percent of Hispanic high school juniors do not meet math standards — compared to 34 percent overall. So we’re providing Silicon Valley Education Foundation (SVEF) $750,000 to support its work narrowing the achievement gap through its student-focused programs, school district policy support, and collaborations with business communities to bring innovation into the classroom. Googlers are already active volunteers with SVEF’s summer intervention program, Elevate Math.

Google.org has also committed $250,000 to the Hispanic Foundation of Silicon Valley (HFSV), which aims to increase high school and college graduation rates for Latino students. Over the course of the next two years, HFSV will conduct Spanish-speaking Parent Education Academies that will reach parents of low-income, Latino students who are at-risk of falling off track. These workshops will ensure Latino parents are knowledgeable about the local education system and how best to support their children to achieve academic results and fulfilling careers.

As Hispanic Heritage Month 2016 comes to a close, we look forward to continuing our support of the Latino community — at Google and beyond!

Helping for the long term in Flint, Michigan

Access to clean drinking water is a concern all over the world, but in the United States it’s often a foregone conclusion. That is not the case recently for the residents of Flint, Michigan, many of whom we now know have been exposed to lead in their tap water. It’s a crisis, one to which the American people readily responded by donating water and resources to help alleviate the immediate pain. But the problem won’t go away quickly, and understanding its extent is both challenging and an absolute necessity. Today, Google.org is providing $250,000 to partners in the Flint community to help, with a special focus on a technical solution for understanding and resolving the crisis for the long term.

First, we’re making a $150,000 grant to the University of Michigan-Flint to enable the University of Michigan-Flint to develop a comprehensive data platform that will assist government and community leaders in making more informed decisions about the crisis and providing critical information to citizens. The funds will support student researchers at the University of Michigan, Flint and Ann Arbor campuses, to do this work under the leadership of Professors Mark Allison (Flint) and Jake Abernathy (Ann Arbor) to answer key questions about the crisis and response, such as the probability of lead levels before they are tested. The team plans to develop a platform and app that visualizes the data and also provides the ability for citizens to seek out and request key services, such as reporting concerns about water and requesting testing kits. Google volunteers will provide guidance and mentoring on the technology and product design.

We’re also making a $100,000 donation to the Community Foundation of Greater Flint for the Flint Child Health & Development Fund. The Flint Child Health & Development Fund was founded to ensure the long-term health of Flint families, especially newborns to children 6 years old—the group most vulnerable to developmental issues from lead. The Fund is a supplemental resource to state and federal funding and gives grants for childcare-related initiatives such as early childhood education, student support services, continuous access to a pediatric medical home, access to infant and child behavioral health services, and research.

With Google offices in Ann Arbor and Birmingham, Flint and its residents are also our neighbors. In the immediate aftermath of the crisis, a group of 20 Google volunteers went to Flint and volunteered at the Food Bank of Eastern Michigan, where they helped with distributing bottled water and food in the greater Flint area. Around $35,000 has been donated through employees and Google's gift match program to the United Way of Genesee County and the Flint Water Fund to aid in the crisis, and our employee groups, like the Black Googler Network, continue to explore more ways to help.

As a native Michigander, I'm proud that we can help our neighbors in Flint. We hope we can support a resolution to this crisis and assist the residents of Flint in getting the resources they need and deserve, both for the short and long term.

Posted by Mike Miller, Head of Google Michigan

Creating a world that works for everyone with Google Impact Challenge: Disabilities

More than a billion people have a disability. And regardless of the country or community they live in, the gaps in opportunity for people with disabilities are striking: One in three people with a disability lives in poverty. In places like the United States, 50 to 70 percent of people with disabilities are unemployed; in developing countries that number increases to 80 to 90 percent. And only 10 percent of people with disabilities in developing countries have access to the assistive devices they need.

Last spring, Google.org kicked off the Google Impact Challenge: Disabilities, an open call to global nonprofits who are building transformative technologies for the billion people around the world with disabilities. We’ve been amazed by the ideas we’ve received, coming from 1,000+ organizations spanning 88 countries. We’ve shared a handful of the organizations we’re supporting already—and today we’re excited to share the full list of 30 winners.
Infographic listing all grantees
The organizations we’re supporting all have big ideas for how technology can help create new solutions, and each of their ideas has the potential to scale. Each organization has also committed to open sourcing their technology—which helps encourage and speed up innovation in a sector that has historically been siloed. Meet some of our incredible grantees below, and learn more about all 30 organizations working to improve mobility, communication, and independence for people living with disabilities at g.co/disabilities.

The Center for Discovery, $1.125 million Google.org grant
Power wheelchairs help provide greater independence to people with mobility limitations—allowing them to get around without a caregiver, or travel longer distances. But power chairs are expensive and often not covered by insurance, leaving many people limited to manual wheelchairs.

With their Google.org grant, the Center for Discovery will continue developing an open source power add-on device, the indieGo, which quickly converts any manual wheelchair into a power chair. The power add-on will provide the mobility and freedom of a power chair for around one-seventh the average cost, and will allow people who mainly use a manual wheelchair to have the option of using power when they need it. The device design will be open sourced to increase its reach—potentially improving mobility for hundreds of thousands of people.
A young man using the indieGo to greet friends.

Perkins School for the Blind, $750,000 Google.org grant
Turn-by-turn GPS navigation allows people with visual impairments to get around, but once they get in vicinity of their destination, they often struggle to find specific locations like bus stops or building entrances that GPS isn’t precise enough to identify. (This is often called the “last 50 feet problem.”) Lacking the detailed information they need to find specific new places, people tend to limit themselves to familiar routes, leading to a less independent lifestyle.

With the support of Google.org, Perkins School for the Blind is building tools to crowdsource data from people with sight to help people navigate the last 50 feet. Using an app, people will log navigation clues in a standard format, which will be used to create directions that lead vision-impaired people precisely to their intended destination. Perkins School for the Blind is collaborating with transit authorities who will provide access to transportation data and support Perkin’s mission of making public transportation accessible to everyone.
Joann Becker walking near bus stop
Perkins School for the Blind employee, Joann Becker, travels by bus. It can be hard for people with visual impairments to locate the exact location of bus stops and other landmarks.

Miraclefeet, $1 million Google.org grant
An estimated 1 million children currently live with untreated clubfoot, a lifelong disability that often leads to isolation, limited access to education, and poverty. Clubfoot can be treated without surgery, but treatment practices are not widely used in many countries around the world.

Miraclefeet partners with local healthcare providers to increase access to proper treatment for children born with clubfoot. They will use Google.org support to offer support to families via SMS, monitor patient progress through updated software, and provide extensive online training to local clinicians. To date, Miraclefeet has helped facilitate treatment for more than 13,000 children in 13 different countries; this effort will help them significantly scale up their work to reach thousands more.
Miraclefeet helps partners use a simple, affordable brace as part of the clubfoot treatment. Here, a doctor in India shows a mother how to use the miraclefeet brace.

Ezer Mizion and Click2Speak, $400,000 Google.org grant
People with high cognitive function but impaired motor skills often have a hard time communicating—both speaking or using standard keyboards to type. Augmentative and alternative communication devices (AAC) help people more easily communicate, but are often unaffordable and restricted to specific platforms or inputs. Without an AAC, people may have difficulty maintaining personal relationships and professional productivity.

Ezer Mizion is working with Click2Speak to build an affordable, flexible, and customizable on-screen keyboard that allows people to type without use of their hands. With the grant from Google.org, Ezer Mizion and Click2Speak will gather more user feedback to improve the technology, including support for additional languages, operating systems, and different devices like switches, joysticks, or eye-tracking devices.
A young girl learns to use the Click2Speak on-screen keyboard with a joystick controller.

From employment to education, communication to mobility, each of our grantees is pushing innovation for people with disabilities forward. In addition to these grants, we’re always working to make our own technology more accessible, and yesterday we shared some of the latest on this front, including voice typing in Google Docs and a new tool that helps Android developers build more accessible apps. With all these efforts, our aim to create a world that works for everyone.

Posted by Brigitte Hoyer Gosselink, Google Impact Challenge: Disabilities Project Lead for Google.org https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-J50ZW-AEU9c/VwyJfVtGC0I/AAAAAAAASJs/geghloVcOQwGeoxmy2bURYFoZipAMIe0gCLcB/s1600/miraclefeet.jpg Brigitte Hoyer Gosselink Google Impact Challenge: Disabilities Project Lead Google.org