Google announces major investments towards racial equity
Google’s CEO Sundar Pichai released a new blog post, with the company’s commitment to racial equity. The CEO’s note to the company involves a large investment to tackle racial injustices. In his blog post, the CEO outlined a 5 step plan that includes a “set of concrete commitments to move forward.”
improve black representation at senior levels with a goal of improving leadership representation of underrepresented groups by 30% by the year 2025.
Address representation challenges and focus on “hiring, retention and promotion at all levels”
Create a stronger sense of inclusion with more inclusive practices and policies
Establish anti-Racism educational programs
Focus on supporting the mental and physical health as well as overall well being of the black community
“First, we’re working to improve Black+ representation at senior levels and committing to a goal to improve leadership representation of underrepresented groups by 30 percent by 2025”
The company is also working on adding a black owned business option to Google profiles. It is an opt in feature that will roll out within next few weeks. The company also plans on helping create economic opportunity. This involves over “$175 million economic opportunity package support Black business owners, startup founders, job seekers and developers, in addition to YouTube’s $100 million fund to amplify Black creators and artists.”
This includes :
$50 million in financing and grants for small businesses, focused on the Black community
$100 million in funding participation in Black-led capital firms, startups and organizations supporting Black entrepreneurs
$10 million+ to help improve the Black community’s access to education, equipment and economic opportunities in our developer ecosystem
$15 million in training, through partners like the National Urban League, to help Black jobseekers grow their skills.
This includes increasing investments in Atlanta, Washington DC, Chicago and London.
“We’re also committing nearly $3 million to help close the racial equity gaps in computer science education and increase Black+ representation in STEM fields.”
