How our DEI progress is taking shape around the world

Last month, I met recipients of the Google for Startups Black Founders Fund in Europe. We launched this fund to address a global issue: Black founders disproportionately lack access to the networks and capital needed to grow their businesses.

Since receiving support from Google, including mentoring and non-restrictive funding, recipients of the Black Founders Fund in Europe have expanded their businesses, adding about 700 jobs to their local economies. And in Africa, where women are key to the continent’s economic transformation, half of the founders selected for the 2022 group are women.

While in Europe, I also attended the YouTube Black Gala, where I met YouTube Black Voices Fund creators who are shaping our culture to better reflect our diverse and creative world. Through the fund, these rising Black stars are equipped with resources and experiences to expand their reach not only in Britain, where 96% of people come to YouTube every month, but around the world. This year’s class of creators includes people from ​Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa.

There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to building equity across different cultures and societies, so we’ll keep focusing on making a global impact through local programs. In Australia for example, we just announced our third Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP), and our first ever Stretch RAP, to support strong and inclusive digital futures, with a focus on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Read on for more about how my colleagues are deepening our DEI and Belonging efforts to address critical issues and meet people where they are.

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