Google Will Train 100,000 Black Women By 2022

Google has announced an initiative to offer 100,000 Black women career development and digital skills training by 2022.

They will be working directly with sororities like Alpha Kappa Alpha, Delta Sigma Theta, Sigma Gamma Rho, and Zeta Phi Beta - as well as Dress For Success and The Links to bring this initiative to fruition.

Dress For Success is a global not-for-profit organization that empowers women to achieve economic independence by providing a network of support, professional attire and the development tools to help women thrive in work and in life.

As for The Links, they are a long standing not-for-profit corporation, established in 1946. They pride themselves as being one of the nation’s oldest and largest volunteer service organizations of extraordinary women who are committed to enriching, sustaining and ensuring the culture and economic survival of African Americans and other persons of African ancestry.

“Google is proud to stand with Dress for Success, the Links, and four of the National Panhellenic Sororities to help more Black women get access to the digital skills and career development needed to enter today’s most in-demand jobs,” Melonie Parker, Chief Diversity Officer for Google said.

According to its website, The Grow With Google Partnership has helped more than five million Americans grow their business since it’s launch in 2017. Their network consists of more than 7,500 partner organizations which include local libraries, schools, and nonprofits.

A 2018 report by C-Net spoke about the divide in the number of women of color in the tech industry. Specifically, it broke down the number of Black and Hispanic women in leadership positions and they were significantly lower compared to white and Asian women.

“When it comes to tech leadership positions, Hispanic women make up less than 1 percent and black women make up less than 0.5 percent. ---About 1 percent of venture capitalists are black women, and Hispanic women come in at 0 (yes, zero) percent, compared with white women at 11 percent and Asian women at 6 percent.”

Fast forward to 2020-21 and Black women are those most significantly impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. In December, Black women lost 154,000 jobs. Today, one in six Black women are unemployed. Google plans to provide resume building, interview training and fundamentals of online marketing, preparation, mentorship and networking to women in the program.

This is an extension of Google's work towards making necessary change in the wake of last year’s heightened discussion about racial inequality in America. They've previously committed $175 million to racial equity initiatives, $100 million that will go to Black venture capital firms. Another $50 million will be used for financing and grants for small businesses “focused on the Black community.