Google To Invest $25M In Tech Skills Program For Underrepresented Communities

Google announced on Sunday it would invest $25 million in a tech skills initiative to increase opportunities in the Israeli high-tech sector for underrepresented communities, including women, Arab citizens, Ultra-Orthodox Jews, and residents from the geographic periphery.  Google will announce an initiative for the Palestinian tech sector later this week.

The announcement, revealed by Google and Alphabet CFO Ruth Porat, according to Globes, was made just ahead of the CFO’s week of meetings with Israeli and Palestinian entrepreneurs and business leaders, policymakers, and Google employees. On Sunday, she met with women and Arab entrepreneurs, engineers, and investors to hear about the challenges they have faced integrating into the local tech sector.

The initiative will offer tech skills programs for adults and teens, to help diversify Israel’s workforce. The initiative will support the government’s plan to increase the number of employees in the tech sector, from 10 percent of Israel’s overall workforce to 15 percent

Google’s latest initiative builds upon its existing programs and partnerships that equip underrepresented groups with the skills and tools needed to succeed in tech. This includes Adva, a two-year computer science training program for ultra-Orthodox seminary girls that is run in partnership with Scale-Up Velocity, as well as a program beginning this month to integrate final year Arab engineering students into the tech industry in collaboration with Tsofen.

In 2021, Google trained more than 30,000 people from diverse backgrounds in Israel in digital skills.

“At Google, we believe that to have sustainable economic growth, you must have inclusive growth. By providing members of underrepresented groups with a path into tech, we hope to help create a more diverse workforce, and increase opportunities for a broader group of people. We look forward to deepening our commitment to Israel as we work to support the government’s ongoing efforts in this area,” Porat said.

“My first meeting as Ambassador was with Arab business leaders in Israel to talk about increasing access to greater economic opportunities, and Google’s announcement today is a strong practical step toward that goal,” said U.S. Ambassador to Israel Thomas Nides.

“Diversity is a source of strength for the Startup Nation, and that’s why I enthusiastically support this initiative that invests in underrepresented communities,” said the ambassador.