From left: Andrew Silvestri, Head of Data Center Public Policy & Community Development for Google; Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak; U.S. Rep. Susie Lee (D-Las Vegas); U.S. Sen. Jacky Rosen; Jacquelline Fuller, President of Google.org; and Mayor Pro Tem of Henderson, Dan Shaw at the July 1 groundbreaking event in Henderson, where the Google.org Impact Challenge was also announced.
RENO, Nev. — Along with a panel of local judges, tech giant Google this week announced the five winning nonprofits for Nevada's inaugural Google.org Impact Challenge.
Each of the five winning organizations, announced Nov. 19, will receive $175,000 for the following work:
As an example of how the donations may be used, workforce development organization JOIN Inc. plans to use the money to launch “Career Bound NV Success Skills,” a training program designed to ensure Nevadans have access to basic technology and employability skills training needed for successful employment.
“Through Career Bound NV, we are embracing the workplace changes resulting from technological advancements,” Denise Castle, CEO of JOIN Inc, said in a Nov. 19 statement. “We are creating opportunities to prepare all Nevadans with the required skills and behaviors employers expect, positioning them to obtain in-demand, living-wage employment that supports a quality life.”
According to the Google, the Google.org Impact Challenge supports “Grow with Google,” the tech company's initiative to create economic opportunities for people across the country.
Google announced the challenge on July 1, in tandem with the groundbreaking ceremony it hosted in Henderson to unveil its $600 million plan to construct a new data center there.
“The response from Nevada's nonprofit community was remarkable,” Andrew Silvestri, Head of Data Center Public Policy and Community Development for Google, said in a Nov. 19 statement announcing the five winners. “During this process, we were able to learn more about the wonderful organizations and how they are moving Nevada forward. We hope that our grant funding will help them to continue to do great work for the state.”
For the next stage of the Google.org Impact Challenge, the public can visit g.co/nevadachallenge to learn more about the nominees and vote for one organization to be named the ‘People's Choice' winner awarded an additional $125,000.
Voting ends Tuesday, Nov. 26, at 11:59 p.m.
Google had previously selected a panel of Nevada judges to review applications from nonprofits across the state; the panel chose the above five winners based on proposals that included “bold and creative ideas to create economic opportunity in their communities,” according to the company.
The Nevada Google.org Impact Challenge statewide judge's panel includes:
According to previous reports, the $600 million data center project in Henderson is one chunk of a massive $13 billion plan from the tech giant to build new and expanded data centers and offices across the U.S. this year, an investment CEO Sundar Pichai announced in February.
In addition to the Henderson plant, Google plans to build new data centers this year in Nevada (near Reno), Texas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Ohio, South Carolina and Virginia. Pichai estimates this will lead to 10,000 new jobs.
In its 2018 Economic Impact report, Google announced that 14,000 Nevada businesses, website publishers and nonprofits benefited from Google tools; further, the company reportedly helped provide $3.22 billion of economic activity for Nevada organizations.
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