Google.org Commits $50 Million for Education Nonprofits
Google.org, the philanthropic arm of Google that supports education technology initiatives, has committed $50 million over the next two years to support nonprofits that are using technology to help tackle problems impacting education globally.
Google.org has, over the last five years, spent $110 million supporting various efforts to use technology to close gaps in education access and bring technology to education. This latest effort represents the largest commitment in Google.org's history. Grants are focused on three areas:
- Access to "quality learning materials" for more students;
- Teacher professional development; and
- "Reaching students in conflict zones."
According to Google, nine grantees have been selected so far, and more will be chosen by the end of this year. Grantees include:
- Foundation for Learning Equality, which offers an open source platform that allows offline access to online materials for those who lack consistent internet access;
- Million Sparks Foundation, which offer a platform called ChalkLit that provides standards-aligned content designed to help teachers; and
- War Child Holland, which provides a year's worth of curriculum aligned to national standards for students in war/conflict zones. (A complete list of grant recipients can be found on Google.org.)
Google.org Education Lead Brigitte Hoyer Gosselink wrote in a blog post today: "Through Google.org, we've given more than $110 million over the past five years to help close gaps in education — whether globally through early and ongoing support for innovators like Khan Academy or focused specifically on how we can support future technologists through our support for CS education organizations. Today, we're expanding on those commitments with our largest dedicated portfolio of $50 million over the next two years to support nonprofits who are building tech-based learning solutions that tackle these challenges. To start, we're funding nine organizations around the world that we will also support with Googler volunteers in areas like user experience design, translation, offline functionality and data analytics. By the end of 2017, our goal is to give grants to education nonprofits in 20 countries. And later this year, we'll be looking for the next round of innovators to join them."
Additional details about the program and the grant recipients can be found on Google's blog.