Now more than ever, companies are taking a stand in support of equality, justice, and fair treatment for all people. High profile corporations like Starbucks, IBM, Microsoft and a host of others have committed to leveraging their promise to diversity, especially now that the U.S. seems to be veering into a refugee crisis.
Google has shown and proven that it is a company openly committed to supporting programs and campaigns that support racial justice. In 2015, they provided over $5 million to nonprofits whose goals were to advance the fight against racial injustice. Google was also one of the largest supporters of the #LoveLetters campaign, which shined the light on the real cost of mass incarceration.
This past week, Google continued to spearhead a deep commitment to this cause by doubling the amount of funds they will grant to nonprofits and organizations continuing the fight against racial injustice. The tech giant has promised that $11.5 million in new grants will be awarded to innovators from across the country.
In a recent blog, Justin Steele, Principal at Google.org writes:
The goal of these efforts is a society where everyone, regardless of race, is ensured an equal outcome under the law. That’s why we’re also supporting Impact Justice with $1 million for their national Restorative Justice Project, an effort that aims to keep 1,900 youth, primarily youth of color, out of the juvenile justice system. And a $650K grant to JustLeadershipUSA will support their efforts to train a growing national network of formerly incarcerated leaders from across the country to lead reform efforts at the local, state and national level. We’ve also reinvested in organizations working to provide services to people who were formerly incarcerated and their communities like Defy Ventures, Center for Employment Opportunities, Silicon Valley De-Bug and Code for America.
Mass incarceration is a huge issue in the United States, and a major area of focus for our grants. The U.S. penal population has exploded, growing by 400 percent since 1984 to more than 2 million today, with Black men sentenced at over five times the rate of white men. We have the highest rate of incarceration in the world, dwarfing the rates of every developed country and even surpassing those in highly repressive regimes.
Read the Google blog in its entirety here.
Many of us have attended the some of the events Google has sponsored in various cities. Whether it was a Black Google Network event, a YouTube/Google forum, or a town hall discussion, Google is committed to being a driving force within our committees and they are backing it with their big bucks. Shout out to them.
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