In the spring of 2020, Google’s Black Leadership Advisory Group consolidated feedback from Googlers across the company on how Google could better show up for Black communities internally and externally. These learnings directly informed the racial equity commitments announced by Google CEO Sundar Pichai in June 2020, and are driving structural changes across Google. Here’s how:

Our work to center racial equity across every part of the hiring process:

• We’ve expanded our key growth sites by 3,393 employees in 2021, with 40% of these new employees coming from Black, Latino, or Indigenous groups, and we’re on track to expand by 10,000 employees by the end of 2025.

• We’ve trained 10,000 Googlers in the “culture-add” mindset (instead of “culture-fit”), and we’re working to extend these trainings to all employees.

• We launched new onboarding and mentorship programs for Black Googlers in the U.S., and we’re working to extend globally.

• We’ve met our goal of improving leadership representation of underrepresented groups by 30%, and we’re on track to double the number of Black Googlers at all other levels by 2025.

How we’re holding leaders accountable and driving internal allyship:

• We made diversity, equity, and inclusion a part of annual performance reviews for all vice president+ levels, and refined fairness and equity checks in our performance review process for all Googlers.

• We’re engaging 4,000+ leaders and managers in the work of allyship through our #ItsUpToMe campaign.

• In 2022, we’re pioneering a new, comprehensive, multi-series training for Googlers of all levels around the world. The training helps Googlers explore issues such as the history of global racism and racial consciousness through a living, breathing platform that will evolve over time.

New programs to support Googlers of color and improve retention:

• In 2020, we doubled, and in 2022 we tripled our investment in Stay and Thrive, a retention program that provides direct support and advocacy for employees from underrepresented groups, focusing on job satisfaction and career growth.

• We launched a student loan repayment program to help offset the disproportionate effects of student loan debt, with over $9 million in repayment matches to date.

• We’ve bolstered mental health resources with new, dedicated programs and an expanded network of counselors.

More than 80% of Black- and Latino-owned small businesses reported that they use digital tools as a key part of their operations. We’re working to support these businesses and help them grow through accessible skills training and resources targeted to their needs.

Skills-building programs, mentorship, and resources:

• Google for Startups Accelerators, like Black Founders and Women Founders, provide access to Google’s people, networks, and advanced technology to help founders solve technical challenges specific to their businesses.

• Programs like Black Founders Exchange, hosted by American Underground and Google for Startups, and Google for Startups Founders Academy are helping to build systems of mentorship and networking for underrepresented founders.

• The Grow with Google business portal is a hub of actively updated resources on digital skills for business owners, including tailored resources for Black-owned, Latino-owned, women–owned, and veteran-owned businesses.

• The Grow with Google Digital Coaches program provides free digital skills training and hands-on coaching to diverse small businesses. Digital Coaches are local experts who use their firsthand experience as entrepreneurs to help small business owners in their communities use digital tools to thrive. More than 160,000 small business owners have been trained by a local Digital Coach, thanks to support from partners like the U.S. Black Chambers Inc. (USBC), U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (USHCC), National Congress of American Indians (NCAI), and many others.

Capital to support small businesses and help them grow:

• Since 2019, Google for Startups has provided $20 million in cash awards and support for promising entrepreneurs through its Black Founders Fund and Latino Founders Fund. These investments have created a halo effect by helping founders raise over $140 million in venture capital. Additionally, Google for Startups introduced new programs such as VHLX, to help founders access capital to scale their businesses and to support organizations working to grow a robust community of Latino founders.

• Google’s commitment of $191 million enabled the Opportunity Finance Network (OFN) to establish the Grow with Google Small Business Fund, OFN’s Tech Grant Program supported by Google.org, as well as OFN's Grant Program. The funds allowed OFN to deliver low-interest loans and grants to over 60 Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs), which in turn provided loans to more than 130,000 underrepresented businesses in the U.S.

Although only 12% of the U.S. population, Black citizens make up nearly 40% of people who are incarcerated in the U.S. We have supported those who are working to reduce disparate racial outcomes by expanding quality data and legal representation and advocacy. Here are some examples of our recent work:

• In 2017, 10 Google.org Fellows helped the Center for Policing Equity to create the National Justice Database, the nation’s first database measuring statistics on police behavior. In 2020, 14 Google.org Fellows expanded on that work by helping to create a new, interactive dashboard, the Justice Navigator.

• In 2020, we built on our $32 million and 15,000 pro bono hours toward criminal justice reform to give 12 million in Google.org grants and 10,000 pro bono hours through the Google.org Fellowship to organizations working to advance racial justice.

• In 2020, we renewed our grant support for the Equal Justice Initiative, an organization we’ve supported since 2015 in its mission to end mass incarceration.

In 2020, we launched the #YouTubeBlack Voices Fund, a global multi year commitment dedicated to spotlighting and growing Black creators and music on our platform, by giving them access to resources to help them thrive on YouTube. In our first two years, we welcomed 320 grantees hailing from the U.S, Kenya, the United Kingdom, Brazil, Australia, South Africa, and Nigeria.

In the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, white mobs in Tulsa, Oklahoma, attacked Black residents, destroying homes, schools, and one of the most prominent Black-owned business districts in the U.S. at the time, Greenwood. One hundred years later, we’re working to raise awareness of the horrific event and celebrate the healing and resilience of Tulsa’s Black community, with programs highlighting its history and supporting the legacy of Black entrepreneurship.

• We’ve partnered with the National Urban League to provide local Black-owned businesses with complimentary Google Nest Storefront Kits, subscriptions to Nest Aware, and Grow with Google digital coaching. This project aims to create economic opportunity for Black entrepreneurs and supports a safer, more efficient business environment. So far, this program has helped over 1,200 Black-owned businesses in nine metropolitan regions across the U.S.

• Google Arts & Culture partnered with the Greenwood Art Project to feature a one-of-a-kind collection of documentary photos and short films collected and curated by visual anthropologist Marlon Hall (he/him). The project aims to raise awareness of the destruction suffered by Tulsa’s thriving Black community and also celebrate its resilience, healing, and recovery.