Google.org, the philanthropic arm of the internet giant, has announced plans to dedicate $2.35 million in grants to community organizations combatting racial injustice in the U.S., according to USA Today.
The announcement came Tuesday during a screening of 3 ½ Minutes, 10 Bullets at San Francisco’s Castro Theatre, the report says. The film examines the shooting death of Jordan Davis, 17, who was unarmed when he was shot and killed in 2012 by a White man, Michael Dunn, outside of a gas station in Jacksonville, Fla. for playing music too loud in a vehicle.
The grant program is part of a “larger giving effort over the course of the next year.” Via USA Today:
The technology giant’s philanthropic arm chose organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area taking on systemic racism in America’s criminal justice, prison and educational systems, says Justin Steele, who leads Google.org’s Bay Area giving efforts.
Steele says the grants are just the first for Google.org as it seeks to address the Bay Area’s growing economic gap that has only widened during the technology boom.
“We hope to build on this work and contribute to this movement for racial justice,” Steele said in an interview.
Google.org’s decision comes after the Mountain View, California tech giant announced plans this spring to recruit more women and people of color into one of the best paid growth industries in the nation.
Under the ambitious $150 million recruitment plan, half of the money is for outside organizations and communities to train and hire people of color, while the other half will be used on internal diversity efforts.
The changes did not come without pressure. For over a year, civil rights leaders called on Google and other tech companies to diversify their ranks at a time of high unemployment in communities of color.
article by Lynette Holloway via newsone.com