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Insights from Googlers into our products, technology, and the Google culture
GoogleServe 2012: More skills-based service
July 2, 2012
This year we celebrated our fifth GoogleServe Global Week of Service—an annual tradition in which Googlers around the world join together in community service projects. Volunteering together helps to revitalize and strengthen our connections with the cities and towns in which we live and work, and also brings us closer together as a global team.
In the past we’ve done hundreds of projects that address local community needs and engage our hearts and hands. This year, inspired by
Billion+ Change
and
Reimagining Service
as well as
industry research
, we focused on incorporating more skills-based projects. Our goal is to use our professional skills to generate more value for the communities we serve and to give Googlers an opportunity to have an even more impactful and fulfilling volunteer experience.
With that in mind, our software engineers developed code to help make math formulas accessible to blind students with
Social Coding 4 Good
; with the
Student Veterans of America
recruiters led resume and interviewing skills workshops with veterans; and with the
Branson Centre
in South Africa sales and business development professionals trained entrepreneurs in online tools to grow and optimize their small businesses.
Overall, more than 5,000 Googlers helped serve their communities across 400+ different projects as part of GoogleServe this year. Here’s a sampling of some of the other projects we participated in:
We led advertising optimization sessions for nonprofits through the
Google Grants
program everywhere from Hamburg to Hyderabad and Sydney to San Francisco.
We held computer literacy classes for community members at the
Dog River Library
in Atlanta, with the
Dublin Simon Community
and the
Crumlin College
in Dublin and with
Cambridge Community Television
in Cambridge.
We taught teenagers how to build and maintain websites with
Fidel
in Tel Aviv, and we conducted arts workshops for youth all over India—with
MAD
in Gurgaon, the
Open Door Foundation
in Bangalore and the
India Literacy Project
in Hyderabad.
We refurbished computers with
FreeGeek
in Portland, with
reBOOT Canada
in Waterloo and with
Goodwill Industries
in Austin.
We trained aspiring entrepreneurs with
Impulsa
in Mexico City and taught self defense and cooking classes for women entrepreneurs with
Kamilini
in Gurgaon, India.
With
HandsOn Bay Area
, we launched a new series of ongoing team-based projects, including software development to improve the
Mountain View Whisman School District
library information system and career development trainings with
Larkin Street Youth Services
.
We developed curriculum to teach physics through pinball at the
Pacific Pinball Museum
in Alameda, Calif. and recorded videos to help inspire girls to pursue science, technology and engineering-related careers with
Techbridge
in Oakland.
See our
Life at Google
page for photos of some of our employees and partners in action. While we do set aside a week to focus on serving the communities in which we work and live, giving back is an ongoing effort here at Google. If you'd like to join us in using your skills for social good, check out
All for Good
, for opportunities to give back in your community year-round.
Posted by Seth Marbin, on behalf of the GoogleServe and Googler Social Responsibility Teams
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