Google pledges $50M in grants for historically black colleges to 'change the face' of tech

Yahoo Finance’s Akiko Fujita, Zack Guzman, and Reggie Wade speak with Melonie Parker, Google Chief Diversity Officer, about how the company is investing in tech industry talent.

Video transcript

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ZACK GUZMAN: Welcome back to Yahoo Finance Live here on the eve of the first ever federally recognized Juneteenth holiday. Google out with a big announcement around it, announcing $50 million in grants for historically Black colleges and universities. And for more on that, I want to bring on Google's Chief Diversity Officer, Melonie Parker, joins us now, alongside Yahoo Finance's, Reggie Wade. And Melonie, I mean, obviously, it is a big push.

This is not just $50 million. I know, in the grand scheme, grand scope of things, you might say, how big is that relative to Google's diversity efforts here? But it's the largest, if I understand it correctly, largest ever contribution from Google for HBCU's. Talking about why this decision was reached and what you're looking to do with it here?

MELONIE PARKER: Hi. Of course, we're super excited about it. It's historic because we've given an unrestricted grant of $50 million to the 10 historically Black colleges and universities that are in our Google's HBCU President's Council. So, we announced a Pathways to Tech Initiative in February, which really deepens the commitment that we've had over the last decade to these important institutions. And the historic nature is the grant is unrestricted.

So, it really values and supports the presidents of these institutions to make the investment to support the school and the students in the way that they deem most appropriate. And so, we're super excited to really undergird this grant and to stand alongside these schools to continue to make the strides we need to in tech.

REGGIE WADE: Miss Parker, Reggie Wade here. It's not only colleges that Google is investing in. It's also K through 12 education. We see that Google will invest in STEM education. Why do you think the time is now to really push this in our K-12 schools?

MELONIE PARKER: Well, the time is now. I'll tell you, Reggie, I'm one of those students. So, I'm a first generation college proud HBCU alum from Hampton University. Grew up in North Carolina, and we want to make sure that students have access to computing.

And that across all communities, and some of our HBCU's are in rural communities, very much like the one I grew up in, and it's important to make sure that we're pouring and investing into the future of tomorrow, and that we're expanding access to tech. And to do that, we have to equip-- you know, our HBCU's are national treasures, and we have to equip them to make the investments that they need.

We are also deepening our commitment to racial equity. We've prioritized Black community and really building sustainable equity, both internally and externally. We've committed over $320 million across organizations that support racial justice, in addition to the grant that we just announced to our HBCU's.

REGGIE WADE: There's also a big community-- a big commitment by Google. $100 million to fund participation in Black-led capital firms, startups, and entrepreneurs. What have you been hearing from the community within some of the entrepreneurs that you've crossed paths with?

MELONIE PARKER: They are very excited. I mean, we just announced the founders that will be receiving grants out of our Europe fund as well. And what we're hearing from our entrepreneurs are the difference that it's made and the way that they're able to support their businesses. Through Grow with Google, we also have additional initiatives, such as digital coaches that provide entrepreneurial support.

We have lots of resources that folks can take advantage of to really close the economic wealth and to provide that sustainable equity that we know is important, particularly in COVID. Look at what happened to small business. And so, this is important at this time for sustainability [INAUDIBLE].

AKIKO FUJITA: Melonie, we're having this discussion against the backdrop of increasing competition for talent, especially with tech companies. And I wonder when you talk about this investment with HBCU's, does Google see sort of a pipeline down the line? In other words, being able to invest early on to be able to recruit down the line?

MELONIE PARKER: It's so important. We absolutely do. I mean, the investments that we're making now, that impacts, like, look a decade out. Look at who's taking computing and computer science in high school now. They'll go on to college. We hope they'll all come to Google and have internships with us, and then we'll hire them through our program. So, it really is that full lifecycle that starts now.

And we need to impact, like, what math are you taking in the eighth grade to make sure that you have just the right coursework to go into computing. But then you also need the access. So, we're changing the face of what a software engineer looks like and who's in tech, so that people who look like me understand the viable careers that are available to them.

REGGIE WADE: Miss Parker, another huge part of this is helping Black job seekers grow their skills. What is the biggest challenge do you think Black job seekers have right now in this market?

MELONIE PARKER: I think the biggest challenge that job seekers have is just understanding all of the pathways that are available. And so, a really important job on behalf of Google and other companies of really making sure that our job seekers understand the paths that are available. And so, at Google, we have definitely pathways in computing, but we also hire across other disciplines as well.

And I think that Black job seekers just need to understand what that access is and how do you make that leap. And so, those are the things that we're actively seeking to do every day in the community touches that we're making. You know, one of the things we've recently done is rolled out an initiative called Black Women Lead.

We're in partnership with the Divine Nine, Dress For Success, and The Links Incorporated. We're touching 100,000 Black women and empowering them with digital skills to make sure that they're ready for careers in tech as well.

ZACK GUZMAN: Well, Melonie Parker, appreciate you taking the time. Google Chief Diversity Officer joining us today, alongside Yahoo Finance's, Reggie Wade. Thanks again and be well.