We all know knowledge is power, and the more you know, the more you grow. Those same sentiments remain true for everyone, no matter the industry you’re apart of.
During the Wealth & Power experience at the 2022 ESSENCE Festival of Culture, it was evident just how the comprehension of digital skills were able to transform the lives of move makers, who are now passing down the torch to the women that follow suit.
In 2020 Google launched their Grow with Google | Black Women Lead initiative in partnership with Dress For Success, The Links & Divine 9 sorority organizations, in efforts to provide digital skill training to Black Women across the globe. They initially set out to educate & train 100,000 Black women and have since exceeded that goal, helping over 200,000 worldwide as of 2022.
The panel moderated by Cassandra Johnson consisted of four Divine 9 board members: Elsie Cooke-Holmes, Valerie Hollingsworth Baker, Nichole McCall, Andria Daniels who all shared their success stories of this initiative in their perspective chapters. The workshops and hands-on training allowed those 200,000+ Black women to transform their careers and ultimately lives simply by now being informed on the advancements of the digital world.
“ This program has been so impactful in our communities. The digital skills training that we conducted some women changed careers because of the information that they have received. To the career development workshops, we had some people that had been laid off and now going back into the workforce, interviewing skills, things of that nature. So this program has truly been successful and impactful into the communities.” said Andria Daniels, Alpha Kappa Alpha Committee Member.
To continue this mission Google recently announced their commitment to $175 million to Black Businesses in efforts to diversify leadership.