Tag Archives: student programs

A pilot program to build a diverse pool of policy experts

During the 15 years I have been at Google, I have seen important improvements in the diversity of our workforce. For example, I used to be the only woman in the room, but now I am often surrounded by talented women leaders.

I work in the world of government affairs and public policy, which means engaging with governments and influencers to find constructive solutions to challenges that our industry and society face today. Having diverse representation and voices is important to us, as so much of our work requires building relationships across different groups, geographies, issues, and perspectives. But we must still do more to ensure that we are fostering a tech policy ecosystem that reflects the diversity of the world we build for.

That’s why our team started the Policy Summer Institute (PSI) with our academic partners at CIVICA, an alliance of eight leading European higher education institutions in the social sciences. The goal: to promote professional opportunities of first-generation university students in the digital policy ecosystem.

For our first year, nine scholars from Sudan to Switzerland had the opportunity to learn about how we work on tech policy by spending a week with our government affairs and public policy team in Europe. They then completed a summer internship funded by Google with one of our partner consultancies.

I am delighted that several of our scholars were offered further employment opportunities at their agencies following their internships. Others will continue to explore tech policy issues through their studies.

Shivona Fernandes-Köhler, an Msc. Politics and Policy Analysis student at Bocconi University in Milan, shared her key takeaways from the experience:

What was your motivation to apply for the program?

I have always been interested in the interrelations between the private and public sector, especially regarding innovation, and wanted to understand the impact that policy firms and big tech have on the world around us. However, without an existing network, internships in the field are often limited and challenging to gain access to. When I first saw the program, I didn’t think I had a chance, but when I saw that it focused on first-generation university students, I felt motivated to apply and showcase that diversity is in fact my strength.

Seven photographs of ten people in various locations at Google offices.

Our amazing first cohort of PSI scholars. Shivona is on the top right in a white shirt standing next to Mahreen Zaidi San Miguel, who was a coordinator of the program.

How has this experience prepared you for the next stage of your career?

In the immediate term, I'll be staying on with the policy agency I interned with as a working student while I finish my studies. Being part of the PSI showed me that it's important to get a range of experience in different sectors, and that in order to really progress my career, I'll need to build a strong network of professional contacts. Being part of this program and working with fascinating and diverse individuals has given me a new sense of confidence, one that highlights that taking a unique path is key to a successful future.

What was something you learned that was unexpected or surprising?

My summer in Berlin was filled with surprises. I was unaware of the many facets of this sector and the incredible team effort involved in making it function. From the outside, it can appear as if policy-making is not something that businesses should be involved in, but rather something that should be left to the politicians. Instead, I have realized that both the public and the private are essential to one another and that they can only function with a well-coordinated network. I was also surprised on a personal and cultural level. Despite living in Italy, and being raised in Germany, I never realized that working cultures can be so different even within a country!

Can you share an example over this summer where you brought a different perspective to the work you were doing?

People in the tech and policy world can often get stuck in their own bubbles: Everyone has their own habits, organizational methods and ways of communicating. Being at a small policy firm that had just begun working with Google, I had the opportunity to develop methods and strategies to make collaboration and communication easier and more effective. I was especially involved in delivering new event formats and monitoring media updates. As a newcomer to the sector, I was able to highlight areas of ambiguity and improve existing organizational matters, facilitating workflow and workload.

While the tech policy industry needs to do a lot more when it comes to diversity, I am proud of the results of this pilot program and look forward to continuing to work with our partners to build a robust, diverse talent pool that supports our industry’s growth.

One researcher’s take on Google’s mentorship program

As a sophomore at Howard University, Leslie Coney discovered what would soon become her “superpower” while she and a friend were washing their hands in the bathroom. Attempting to use the hand dryer, they noticed it worked without issue for Leslie, but not for her friend, who had darker skin. Leslie shared this experience with a professor, who introduced her to the field of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), the study of how humans interact with technology.

Leslie started questioning who was actually considered when designing, building and testing technologies. This kicked off her computer science (CS) research journey in Human Centered Design and Engineering, specifically exploring how Black people can influence and are impacted by technology.

Today, Leslie is a PhD student at the University of Washington with a focus on Black maternal health. She’s also a recent graduate of Google’s CS Research Mentorship Program (CSRMP). Through mentorship and peer-to-peer networking, CSRMP supports undergraduate and graduate students from historically marginalized groups pursuing computing research. The program aims to increase the diversity of PhD graduates in computing-related fields and ensure the broader community of CS researchers includes the experiences, perspectives and concerns of people worldwide. Since 2018, CSRMP has hosted more than 730 students across more than 230 institutions. And our next class of nearly 300 students starts in just a few weeks.

Reflecting on her CSRMP experience, Leslie shared more about its impact on her career and her advice for future participants.

How did you get into the research field?

I focused on building community, seeking guidance from my professors and taking advantage of as many resources as possible both on and off-campus. For example, I received funding through Google’s Conference Scholarships program to attend conferences like Tapia and Grace Hopper Celebration, where I connected with other Black women researchers.

How did CSRMP prepare you for the next step in your research career?

My mentor helped me think critically about my research interests and what makes a program and advisor a good fit for me. He encouraged me to ask the tough questions when figuring out where I could be most successful in graduate school. He also helped me better understand what rigorous research looks like in academia and what to expect as a PhD student.

Were there any challenges you had to overcome during your time in CSRMP?

I wasn’t the most comfortable in my pod at first, given that I was the only Black woman in the group. My experience at a Historically Black University influenced me to focus my research efforts on the Black community — which was something I was proud of but nervous to share with folks who aren’t Black. There is an unnecessary pressure placed on researchers from marginalized groups to validate why centering marginalized experiences is sufficient and valuable. However, my CSRMP mentor and podmates reaffirmed this decision and supported my pursuit. Also, there are very nuanced experiences in academia that are specific to Black women, and while my mentor couldn't fully prepare me for them, he still encouraged me to seek relationships that could close that gap.

You just published your first piece! Tell us about it.

Yes, I did! My article, “Why you being WEIRD to me?: reflections of a black researcher on WEIRD-ness in HCI,” started out as a final assignment last fall. I was tasked with writing about common threads throughout readings on diversity, or the lack thereof, in HCI. Afterward, a peer and fellow Black woman researcher invited me to write something for the next edition of the Association for Computing Machinery XRDS series. Writing the paper was so much fun — I got to exercise my critical thinking muscles, incorporate cultural references and prioritize accessibility so people outside academia could engage, too.

What advice do you have for students who are underrepresented in CS research and getting started in this field?

More likely than not, you gravitate toward your lived experiences. So be confident in your identities and take advantage of programs like CSRMP to help you back up those lived experiences with practical knowledge. Next, treat the graduate school application process like dating — once you’re accepted, the ball is in your court to decide whether or not that program is a good fit for you. You have to be sure that you will feel safe and supported being yourself and conducting your research. Lastly, pace yourself and have fun! A PhD is a long commitment, so be sure to find a balance between work and play.

Congratulations to all the students who graduated from CSRMP in the first half of 2022. We look forward to supporting future students like Leslie, who are taking charge in computing research. Applications are now open for the January 2023 mentorship cycle — spread the word and apply by October 26, 2022.

Announcing the 2022 PhD Fellows

In 2009, Google created the PhD Fellowship Program to recognize and support graduate students who are doing exceptional research in Computer Science and related fields, and who are poised to shape the future of technology. Since our first awardee cohort 13 years ago, these PhD Fellowships have helped support 654 graduate students from around the world across Africa, Australia & New Zealand, East Asia, Europe, India, North America and Southeast Asia.

Over the past 14 award cycles, our PhD Fellows have made some incredible contributions to their fields, and today we're checking in with three of our past alumni.

  • Flora Tasse — Head of CV/AR Research at Streem specializing in AI applied to Computer Graphics and Vision problems faced in AR/VR
  • Minsuk Kahng — Assistant Professor of Computer Science at Oregon State University whose research focuses on designing and developing novel visual analytics tools for people to interpret and interact with machine learning systems that use massive datasets
  • Nicolas Papernot — Assistant Professor of Computer Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Toronto whose research interests span the security and privacy of machine learning

What was your motivation to apply to the program?

Flora: I started my PhD with the mission to seize every opportunity to surround myself with the best in the field and broaden my horizons. I was on the lookout for Fellowships that could provide that, and help me make an impact in my area of research. When I heard about the Google PhD Fellowship, I was impressed with all the support that went well beyond the financial. I was initially hesitant to apply because it is such a prestigious program. Thankfully, I did submit my application and it is one the best things I have ever done for my career.

Minsuk: Receiving a Google PhD Fellowship is a great honor for computer science PhD students. I deeply appreciated that Google recognized my research. I was particularly interested in applying for Google’s Fellowship program because Google researchers have been actively conducting research on human-centered approaches to Artificial Intelligence (AI), which is something I’m passionate about. The program provided me with an exciting opportunity to interact with them.

Nicolas: At the time, there were very few people working on my research topic (adversarial examples) so I wanted to apply to the Google Fellowship to find mentors and colleagues to discuss my ideas with. The Fellowship was a great accelerator for my research because it allowed me to meet with a number of people who ended up shaping my understanding of machine learning. This increased the pace of my research and led me to discover new areas of research that I am passionate about.

What impact did the Google PhD Fellowship have on your career trajectory and on technology?

Flora: The Google PhD Fellowship was a turning point in my career. It not only validated the research work I was doing, but also gave me visibility and support that opened so many doors. Through this experience, I formed valuable collaborations and expanded my professional network which proved fruitful in building my career. Thanks to my internship at Google Zurich, I gained valuable insights into innovation and the productization of research. I currently apply my research skills at Streem, where we are making the phone's camera intelligent. Acquired by Streem, my start-up Selerio was building AI agents that could understand images/videos and augment them with relevant interactive objects. This technology made a tangible difference in remote collaboration between experts and consumers to solve product issues which was particularly impactful at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Minsuk: The Fellowship has allowed me to have a wonderful career. Thanks to invaluable advice from my mentors at Google, I completed my PhD with a Dissertation Award from Georgia Tech. I have recently decided to join Google’s People + AI Research (PAIR) team after working as faculty for three years. I have been developing data visualization tools for people to interpret AI systems. Along with my colleagues at Google I’ve created and open-sourced GAN Lab, an interactive tool for people to learn the inner-workings of deep learning models. It significantly broadens people's education access to AI, as learners can use it just with their browsers without the need for specialized backend. I look forward to pursuing research that can help people everywhere.

Nicolas: The Google PhD Fellowship gave me a lot of freedom to pursue my own research ideas, spend time developing the CleverHans library, and collaborate with researchers at different universities and in other research communities. The opportunities I've had to work on differential privacy and machine learning with leading researchers at Google Brain were transformative to my career, and fundamental to bootstrapping my academic career at the University of Toronto and Vector Institute. During the program, I was able to implement privacy-preserving algorithms that are now used by product teams with lots of users. This was a great opportunity to have an immediate impact on technology. More generally, my research is by design seeking to understand the limitations of machine learning so that society can better trust it.

What advice do you have for current and future Google PhD Fellows?

Flora: Take advantage of the opportunities it provides, apply to Google internships, go to more conferences, collaborate and meet PhD Fellows in other fields. By becoming a Google PhD Fellow, you are joining a community of incredibly talented researchers and gaining influential mentors. As for the PhD, you will still go through the ups and downs of doctoral research. But it will be much easier as a Fellow. Stay the course. If you are an undergraduate considering a PhD pathway, invest energy and time in figuring out if there is a problem or a field that you care enough about to dedicate many years of your life to it.

Minsuk: My advice is to look for opportunities to cross the boundaries between disciplines. My work was made possible by collaborating with people across multiple research areas, such as information visualization, machine learning, human-computer interaction and databases. While research from different fields might seem unrelated at first, combinations of ideas can create unique research opportunities. Before starting my PhD, I conducted research on making recommendation algorithms more accurate, but found myself being much more motivated by different flavors of research. This experience led me to find my research direction and vigorously pursue it in my PhD.

Nicolas: I recommend that you do not optimize for short term rewards (like publishing papers) but instead focus on solving the problems that you find the most interesting. Research is often a random process and it is hard to predict what work will have an impact, so optimizing for short term rewards can quickly remove the “fun” out of doing research. While an undergraduate student, you have many opportunities to learn about topics that are diverse and possibly far away from the topic you will eventually choose to work on if you start a PhD. This breadth of knowledge will not only make you a more interesting person but help you in your research, because the most interesting research questions are often the ones that require an interdisciplinary approach to find an answer.

Announcing the 2022 Google PhD Fellows

Since 2009, the Google PhD Fellows have represented some of the best and brightest computer science researchers from around the globe, and we’re honored to support them as they make their mark on the world. Congratulations to all of this year’s awardees! See the complete list of Google PhD Fellowship recipients for 2022.

How one summer program led Randy to work at Google

Welcome to the latest edition of “My Path to Google,” where we talk to Googlers, interns, apprentices and alumni about how they got to Google, what their roles are like and even some tips on how to prepare for interviews.

Today’s post is all about Randy Raymond, a software engineer on the Google Docs team. Randy’s path to Google started with our Computer Science Summer Institute (CSSI) — which is now accepting applications until April 29, 2022 at 11:59PM ET.

What’s your role at Google?

I’m a software engineer on the Google Docs team, where I spend most of my days improving the ability to convert different document formats into Google Docs (and vice versa). I also build new Google Doc features — I just finished up a project to “pin” the top row of a table so it repeats on every page. I've used this feature in my own documents and it's really rewarding to know I had a hand in developing it. Outside of that, I write design docs, lines of code and tests to make sure that my code is working properly.

How did you first get interested in software engineering?

Growing up, my brother and I discovered a computer program that let us create our own video games. My brother managed the plot, and I was in charge of programming. It fascinated me that lines of text could bring a game to life. In my 11-year old mind, it was nothing short of magic. Before I knew it, I was picking up books at my local library to learn different programming languages. I started participating in online communities, publishing tutorials on how to code and bringing people together to build interesting games. It wasn’t just the technology that inspired me, but the people I shared it with.

What was your path to your current role?

In my senior year of high school, I applied and got accepted to Google’s CSSI program. During those three weeks, we got a deep dive into introductory web development, learned the programming language Python, worked on our resumes and teamed up to create our own websites. CSSI gave me confidence, a professional network and lifelong friends.

Afterwards, I applied for the Google STEP (Student Training in Engineering Program) internship in Mountain View, California for first and second-year undergraduate students. As my first professional gig, that experience was definitely challenging — but thankfully, I had supportive teammates who helped me become a much better engineer. After a few other Google internships in Boston and Montreal, I started working for the Google Docs team full time.

Randy in a cap and gown at his college graduation.

What was it like interviewing for a full-time position at Google as an intern?

My only official interview was for the STEP internship. After that, my "interviews" were how well I did on each of my internship projects. I’ll never forget towards the end of my first internship, I accidentally deleted my entire project! Thankfully, I had backed it up so I could still submit it in time.

Are you still involved in CSSI?

Actually, it’s sort of a full-circle story. During the pandemic, I relocated to Miami and started working with the CSSI team to try and start a new CSSI cohort there. And we just found out it’s officially happening! South Florida is my home and I've always dreamed of a chance to bring more tech opportunities there. CSSI has the potential to change the lives of aspiring computer science students in the area — it certainly changed mine.

Any tips for future Googlers?

It's OK to ask questions. Googlers are more than willing to help and there is no such thing as a bad question. And if you don’t feel comfortable speaking up in a meeting at first, jot down a list of your questions and sit down with a trusted teammate to go through them.

Google Summer of Code 2022: Contributor applications now open

Contributor applications for Google Summer of Code (GSoC) 2022 are now open!

Google Summer of Code is a global, online program focused on bringing new contributors into open source software development. GSoC contributors work with an open source organization on a 12+ week programming project under the guidance of mentors. 

Since 2005, GSoC has welcomed new developers into the open source community every year. The GSoC program has brought over 18,000 contributors from 112 countries together, with over 17,000 mentors from 746 open source organizations.

For 2022, GSoC made significant changes to expand the reach and flexibility of the program. The following are the key changes:
  • All newcomers and beginners to open source 18 years and older may now apply to GSoC
  • GSoC now supports both medium sized projects (~175 hours) and large projects (~350 hours)
  • Projects can be spread out over 10–22 weeks
We invite students, graduates, and folks at various stages of their career to check out Google Summer of Code. Now that applications are open, please keep a few helpful tips in mind:
  • Narrow down your list to 2-4 organizations and review their ideas list
  • Reach out to the organizations via their contact methods listed on the GSoC site
  • Engage with your organization early and often
Contributors may register and submit project proposals on the GSoC site from now until Tuesday, April 19th at 18:00 UTC.

Best of luck to all our applicants!

Romina Vicente, Program Manager – Google Open Source

Google Summer of Code 2022 mentoring orgs revealed!


After reviewing over 350 mentoring organization applications, we are excited to announce that 203 open source projects have been selected for Google Summer of Code (GSoC) 2022. This year we are welcoming 32 new organizations to mentor GSoC contributors.

Visit our new program site to view the complete list of GSoC 2022 accepted mentoring organizations. You can drill down into the details for each organization on their program page, including reading more about the project ideas they are looking for GSoC contributors to work on this year.

Are you a developer new to open source interested in participating in GSoC?
If you are a new or beginner open source contributor over 18 years old, we welcome you to apply for GSoC 2022! Contributor applications will open on Monday, April 4, 2022 at 18:00 UTC with Tuesday, April 19, 2022 18:00 UTC being the deadline to submit your application (which includes your project proposal).

The most successful applications come from students who start preparing now. We can’t say this enough—if you want to significantly increase your chances of being selected as a 2022 GSoC Contributor, we recommend you to prepare early. Below are some tips for prospective contributors to accomplish before the application period begins in early April:

  • Watch our short videos: What is GSoC? and Being a GSoC Contributor
  • Check out the Contributor/ Student Guide and Advice for Applying to GSoC doc.
  • Review the list of accepted organizations and find two to four that interest you and read through their Project Ideas lists.
  • When you see an idea that piques your interest, reach out to the organization via their preferred communication methods (listed on their org page on the GSoC program site).
  • Talk with the mentors and community to determine if this project idea is something you would enjoy working on during the program. Find a project that motivates you, otherwise it may be a challenging summer for you and your mentor.
  • Use the information you received during your communications with the mentors and other org community members to write up your proposal.
You can find more information about the program on our website which includes a full timeline of important dates. We also highly recommend reading the FAQ and Program Rules and watching some of our other videos with more details about GSoC for contributors and mentors.

A hearty welcome—and thank you—to all of our mentor organizations! We look forward to working with all of you during Google Summer of Code 2022.

By Stephanie Taylor – Google Open Source

Google Summer of Code 2022 mentoring orgs revealed!


After reviewing over 350 mentoring organization applications, we are excited to announce that 203 open source projects have been selected for Google Summer of Code (GSoC) 2022. This year we are welcoming 32 new organizations to mentor GSoC contributors.

Visit our new program site to view the complete list of GSoC 2022 accepted mentoring organizations. You can drill down into the details for each organization on their program page, including reading more about the project ideas they are looking for GSoC contributors to work on this year.

Are you a developer new to open source interested in participating in GSoC?
If you are a new or beginner open source contributor over 18 years old, we welcome you to apply for GSoC 2022! Contributor applications will open on Monday, April 4, 2022 at 18:00 UTC with Tuesday, April 19, 2022 18:00 UTC being the deadline to submit your application (which includes your project proposal).

The most successful applications come from students who start preparing now. We can’t say this enough—if you want to significantly increase your chances of being selected as a 2022 GSoC Contributor, we recommend you to prepare early. Below are some tips for prospective contributors to accomplish before the application period begins in early April:

  • Watch our short videos: What is GSoC? and Being a GSoC Contributor
  • Check out the Contributor/ Student Guide and Advice for Applying to GSoC doc.
  • Review the list of accepted organizations and find two to four that interest you and read through their Project Ideas lists.
  • When you see an idea that piques your interest, reach out to the organization via their preferred communication methods (listed on their org page on the GSoC program site).
  • Talk with the mentors and community to determine if this project idea is something you would enjoy working on during the program. Find a project that motivates you, otherwise it may be a challenging summer for you and your mentor.
  • Use the information you received during your communications with the mentors and other org community members to write up your proposal.
You can find more information about the program on our website which includes a full timeline of important dates. We also highly recommend reading the FAQ and Program Rules and watching some of our other videos with more details about GSoC for contributors and mentors.

A hearty welcome—and thank you—to all of our mentor organizations! We look forward to working with all of you during Google Summer of Code 2022.

By Stephanie Taylor – Google Open Source

Rajavi Mishra on becoming a computer science researcher

Rajavi Mishra first knew she wanted to become a computer science (CS) researcher when she was a high school junior in Delhi, India. After studying electricity in her physics class, she was hooked on learning even more about the field. Rajavi spent her summer interning with a lab supervisor to design experiments that studied the mechanical life deterioration of electrical contractors, and then expanded that work into a research paper that was published during her senior year of high school.

Today, Rajavi is a senior studying CS at the University of California, Berkeley, and is one of the most recent graduates of Google’s CS Research Mentorship Program (CSRMP). Growing up in India, Rajavi felt like her dream of completing a computer science internship as a high school student and pursuing a career in computer science would be daunting and difficult to achieve. But, thanks in part to the relationships she built during CSRMP, she’s enjoyed every bit of it.

Started in 2018, CSRMP provides mentorship, networking and career exploration to undergraduate and graduate students from historically marginalized groups (HMGs) who are interested in pursuing computing research. The program’s fifth class of students — which included Rajavi — graduated in December 2021, adding 201 students from 109 institutions across the United States and Canada to an alumni community of more than 500 CS researchers. Here’s what Rajavi had to say about her CSRMP and computing research experience:

How has CSRMP impacted your research journey?

I gained insight into a breadth of research domains during speaker series and hands-on workshops. One of our small-group pod sessions had panels with researchers from various Human and Computer Interaction (HCI) sub-domains, which helped me get a taste of different skills, roles and projects in the space.Our pod sessions were real-world learning-focused, and explored different research tools and methodologies in HCI, interesting case studies of projects, and what life as a researcher at Google is like.

What was the highlight of CSRMP?

One-on-one sessions with my mentor were the highlight of my experience. Through discussions with my mentor, I was able to gain solid feedback on my work — from grad school applications and industry research experiences to my current research project at Berkeley. I have a much better understanding of computer science industry research positions and future opportunities for the role.

What were some challenges you had to overcome during the program?

The biggest challenge was letting go of my internal inhibitions and taking the initiative to connect with peers and mentors. To make the most of the program, I had to communicate expectations with my mentor and not feel ashamed for not knowing something. In the end, being a curious learner helped me broaden my horizons and network.

What are you looking forward to most in the year ahead?

As part of my EECS honors thesis, I have been working with Professor Chasins to study how people interact with digital assistants, which we hypothesize do not sufficiently fulfill all possible user queries. While the current research focuses on what people ask their assistants, we wanted to explore how people want to be able to express themselves to their voice assistants. With this in mind, we designed a seven-day in-situ diary study where we asked people with no voice assistant experience to record requests they would ask their assistants. I am using open-coding and language processing techniques to analyze study data, categorize diverse user needs and build an ecologically valid benchmark suite of queries that current voice assistants fail to fulfill. As I wrap up my senior honors thesis, I’m excited to see how my skills have grown since I published my first paper as a high school senior. I'm also thrilled about graduating next semester and joining graduate school as a master’s student to further explore the research area of HCI.

What advice do you have for students like you who are curious about becoming a researcher in computing?

A mentor who can help you identify, shape and strengthen your interests in computer science is pivotal. Learning from my mentors has been invaluable to my progress as a learner, researcher, problem solver and human being.

Congratulations to all of the students who graduated from the CS Research Mentorship Program in the second half of 2021! If you’re interested in joining students like Rajavi Mishra to explore what the world of CS research has to offer, then be sure to apply for the September 2022 mentorship cycle in July when applications open.

Read Article

Mentorship inspires Deyrel Diaz and future researchers

Find out how Google’s CS Research Mentorship Program helped Clemson University PhD student Deyrel Diaz build a network for success.

Read Article

Investing in Detroit with Ford and Michigan Central

At Google, we believe everyone should have the opportunity to learn the skills needed for today’s most in-demand jobs. Across the country, we are investing in workforce readiness and mentorship programming, and are growing our efforts by partnering with others in the private and public sectors.

Consistent with this, today in Detroit we announced that we will be joining Ford Motor Company as a founding member of Michigan Central. Michigan Central is a new innovation hub where companies, government and community stakeholders will focus on the future of mobility — both in terms of economic opportunity and transportation solutions — in Detroit and beyond. Michigan Central will deploy new urban transportation solutions, workforce development and other tools to tackle the world’s mobility challenges to create opportunities for everyone. This new partnership will bring together the automotive and tech industries to equip job seekers with new skills, mentor high schoolers learning to code and provide critical tools for Michigan Central projects and research.

1. Expanded opportunities to learn digital skills

Since 2017, Grow with Google has trained more than seven million Americans in digital skills. We have trained more than 200,000 Michigan residents, working in partnership with approximately 260 organizations across the state. Beginning today, we will team up with local nonprofits to provide free access to our Google Career Certificates, which help people enter high-growth career fields including data analytics, IT support, project management and user experience design. No prior experience or degree is required, and jobseekers get access to resume templates, coaching and career placement support, mock interview practice and more. 82% of graduates have reported a positive career impact within six months, such as a raise, a promotion or a new job.

There are more than one million U.S. roles open in the Certificate fields. To provide additional job opportunities for our Certificate graduates, we created a network of more than 150 companies, including, Verizon, Deloitte and of course, Google, that are committed to considering Certificate graduates for jobs. Ford will now partner with us to consider new graduates for relevant roles, and will offer current employees the opportunity to participate in the Certificate program.

A woman sits at a laptop while a man in a Grow with Google shirt stands up and talks to her

A Grow with Google training in Michigan.

2. More access to computer science skills for high schoolers

Providing better access to computer science for students, particularly to those from racial and ethnic groups that remain underrepresented in STEM, has been an important part of our work in Michigan. We've previously worked with organizations like the Kapor Center's SMASH Program, Wayne State University and the Detroit Public Schools to provide computer science education and resources to historically underrepresented students in the region.

Now Code Next, our immersive computer science education program for high schoolers ,will provide coaching at a new Code Next Lab in Michigan Central for local Detroit students, so that they can learn and develop the skills needed to pursue further education and careers in technology fields. Code Next focuses on serving Black, Latino, Native American, Native Hawaiian, and Alaska Native students, and nationally, approximately 88% of Code Next graduates have gone on to pursue STEM majors at the higher education level. This Code Next Lab is Google’s first in the Midwest, and will join our other locations in New York and Oakland in offering computer science education programming. The Lab will provide live coaches, state-of-the-art technical equipment and content ranging from Javascript programming to UX design.

3. Powering technology with Google Cloud

In order for the United States to build the next great technologies, people need access to the latest data and digital tools. That’s why we are bringing Google Cloud technology, including our Cloud infrastructure, artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities and data and analytics tools, to Michigan Central to be used on projects and research for future mobility solutions.

The world is in the midst of a digital revolution – cities, mobility, digital tools and the skills people need for their jobs are all changing. It goes without saying that truly effective solutions can come about only through collective efforts, and we are confident our partnership with Michigan Central will enable us to make a difference in the lives of Michigan residents and communities around the world as they navigate these changes.