Google grants $23M to nonprofits in new award program
The funds go to will go to philanthropic organizations tackling big global programs using novel applications of technology.
Google today announced a new charitable grant program designed to help solve big problems using technology.
Today the company announced its first round of Global Impact Awards, granting $23 million to seven organizations it says are changing the world.
"Technology has dramatically improved our lives -- from the speed at which we get things done to how we connect with others," said Jacqueline Fuller, director of giving at Google, in a blog post. "Yet innovations in medicine, business and communications have far outpaced tech-enabled advances in the nonprofit sector."
The awards attempt to change that. The beneficiaries are:
- charity: water. The organization that promotes access to clean water got $5 million to install remote sensors at 4,000 water points across Africa, monitoring and recording water flows to improve access for more than 1 million people.
- Consortium for the Barcode of Life. The organization received $3 million to create an easier way to identify and protect endangered wildlife as traders attempt to smuggle it into other countries.
- DonorsChoose.org. Received $5 million to create 500 new AP science and math courses.
- Equal Opportunity Schools: Received $1.8 million to identify 6,000 high-performing low-income students and move them into advanced courses.
- Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media. Received $1.2 million to develop automated technology for analyzing the portrayal of girls and women in children's media.
- GiveDirectly: Received $2.4 million to build its organization, which enables direct cash transfers to the poor via their cellphones.
- World Wildlife Fund: Received $5 million to develop new technology to prevent poaching.
Google this year made $100 million in total grants to nonprofits, donating $1 billion in technology and 50,000 hours of employee volunteering, the company said.