Google Engages African American Communities Nationally

On the east coast, Google partnered with Black Girls Rock! to bring the Made with Code movement to Newark, NJ for the Girls Rock Tech! Summit.  The event took place Saturday morning, April 9, a day after the Black Girls Rock! awards show. 120 teenagers participated in a coding workshop and series of panel discussions focused on technology. Google’s Made with Code also awarded a young Black Girls Rock! student a coding scholarship for $10,000 at the event with $20,000 more in scholarships to follow.

The program included surprise celebrity guest actress Tatyana Ali. Google’s Valeisha Butterfield Jones served as the MC. The goal of the program was to inspire young Black girls to follow their dreams and consider coding as a career path.

Youtube brought the west coast the first-ever Black Creators Event with one hundred Black Youtube creators from across the country. The program provided a platform for creators to connect with each other and to learn from seasoned vets. In attendance were beauty maven Lisa Price, Black Lives Matter activist DeRay McKesson, powerhouse TV/film director Mara Brock Akil, comedian Wanda Sykes and more.

In Washington D.C., Google hosted a dinner for formerly incarcerated Americans and their families. The attendees walked away inspired to use technology to tell the stories of their families still in prisons. Additionally, the formerly incarcerated individuals in attendance were non-violent offenders and yet, shared stories of experiencing prison sentences of 10 to 25 years, ripping them away from their children and families who needed them most. In the event participated many leaders and celebrities including MC Hammer.