Your community. Your ideas to make it even better. Together, we can make the Bay Area an even better place.
We know that people closest to the challenges are often those closest to the solution. The Google.org Impact Challenge Bay Area is an open invitation to local nonprofits to submit their ideas for positive social change in the Bay Area. 35 selected organizations will share a pool of $10M in funding and receive support from Google to make their ideas reality. We’re excited by the ideas nonprofits from across the Bay Area are working on—and we’re looking forward to supporting them and making the Bay Area a place where everyone can thrive.
The Bay Area Finalists
The votes are in! The top five projects chosen by our judges and the Bay Area public will each receive a $1 million grant. The remaining five will each receive a $500,000 grant.
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College Track
Creating a STEM education and career success program for first-generation students from low-income communities
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Homebase
Streamlining systems of care and regional partnerships for data-driven impact
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Young Women's Freedom Center
Ending incarceration for young women in Santa Clara County
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One Degree
Building the first common application for public benefits and services
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Compass Family Services
Providing roving, on-demand mental health services for homeless families
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Somos Mayfair
Developing a community-driven model to re-define land use and development in San Jose
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Code Nation
Providing coding education and career prep for low-income high school students
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The Kelsey
Advancing disability-forward housing solutions that increase inclusion and opportunity in the Bay Area
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UpTogether
Trusting and Investing in 15,000 Bay Area residents
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Brilliant Corners
Creating a flexible housing subsidy pool to house 1,000+ of SF’s unhoused residents
What is the Google.org Impact Challenge Bay Area?
The Google.org Impact Challenge Bay Area is an open invitation to organizations across the Bay Area to submit their ideas to address some of the most challenging societal issues facing our community today. The 5 boldest and brightest ideas will be selected to receive $1 million in funding and support from Google.
How it works
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Application submission
Organizations across the Bay Area submit their proposals.
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Finalist announcement
The 10 boldest and brightest ideas are selected after an in-depth analysis of the applications.
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Public vote
Among these 10 finalists, the public votes for their favorite project to win the $1M People’s Choice award.
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Judge vote
Our panel of judges will select 4 other top submissions from the 10 finalists to receive $1M each in funding.
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Public announcement
All winners will be announced following the public vote. We will also announce an additional 25 organizations to receive $100K each in funding.
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Winner support
The winners of the 2021 Google.org Impact Challenge Bay Area will receive grant funding and support from Google for up to two years to turn their idea into reality.
25 Bay Area Finalists
The following 25 nonprofits will each receive a $100,000 grant and support from Google to continue their inspiring work to make the Bay Area even better.
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All Home
Developing regional solutions to disrupt poverty and homelessness across five Bay Area counties
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Braven Inc.
Helping low-income and underrepresented students secure high-quality first jobs out of college
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Dev/Mission
Expanding STEAM education services delivered on-site at nine SF affordable housing sites
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Keep Oakland Housed
Helping housing insecure individuals in Oakland to avoid homelessness through eviction defense, cash assistance and holistic social services.
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Mission Bit
Growing the number of schools served by free coding classes to underrepresented students of color and female students; addition of virtual reality and bilingual curriculum.
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Friendship House
Building “The Village” as a nexus of cultural and spiritual services for American Indians in San Francisco
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Inner City Advisors
Expanding capacity to build a case for the value of investing in people
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Miracle Messages
Helping homeless individuals to re-connect with loved ones as a way of rebuilding social supports and, for some, getting off the streets
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Open Door Legal
Expanding universal access to civil legal representation in order to reduce homelessness in Bayview
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Project Equity
Mainstreaming employee-owned businesses
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San Jose-Evergreen Community College District Foundation
Bridging personal finance curriculum, coaching and counseling for personalized support, along with data tracking of service, with retention results for vulnerable students.
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Second Harvest of Silicon Valley
Expanding systems to rescue growing supply of short-dated and surplus food for free distribution to food-insecure people
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The Big Lift
Integrating case management and counseling in San Mateo County early literacy initiative
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Silicon Valley Education Foundation
Creating and delivering a more broadly integrated system of student and teacher learning in CS opportunities.
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Somos Familia
Improving the health and happiness of LGBTQ+ people by empowering Latinx families to be fierce allies and advocates through a web-based, interactive educational and advocacy curriculum.
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Prison University Project
Establishing the Prison University Project as the country’s first independent, accredited liberal arts college based inside a prison
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St. Vincent de Paul Society
Providing resources directly to those in need to become or remain self sufficient through 100% volunteer efforts.
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StreetCode Academy
Culturally relevant tech education for underrepresented communities of color, focused on the whole family.
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Students Rising Above
Providing college and career counseling to low-income Bay Area high school students via a tech platform
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Sunnyvale Community Services
Combining discretionary cash, food assistance, financial education and connection to supportive services to help low-income working families in Silicon Valley with school-age children to stay housed.
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The Center for Youth Wellness
Modeling comprehensive, integrated behavioral health services to Bayview Children and Families
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Kingmakers of Oakland
The Kings Corner model will be the first of it’s kind to build Black male leaders, supporting high school and college students with a holistic online mentoring and coaching platform.
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The San Jose Public Library Foundation
Adapting the “housing first” approach to expanding digital equity by bringing free devices, hotspots, and digital literacy education directly to the most affected communities through mobile Rovers.
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WeHOPE
Expanding mobile services to homeless individuals and families across the Bay Area
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Young Community Developers, Inc.
Improving math and science proficiency among San Francisco’s African American and Latinx students
Our commitment to the Bay Area
At Google.org, we bring the best of Google to help solve some of humanity’s greatest challenges and provide opportunity for everyone. For us, that means supporting communities around the world, and being a good neighbor in the place where Google started - the San Francisco Bay Area.
We work closely with Bay Area nonprofits, supporting those on the frontlines addressing the area’s most pressing needs. Since 2014, we’ve consistently been recognized as the Bay Area’s top technology company donor, giving over $420M in grants to Bay Area nonprofits alone.
From our recent commitment of $1B to fund more affordable housing in the Bay Area, to $18M in grants given to nonprofits focused on the issues of homelessness and displacement, to providing local nonprofits with free access to event space and coworking areas -- we’re committed to supporting big ideas for an even better Bay Area.
Solving the biggest challenges in the Bay Area will take collaboration across many organizations, and we look forward to working alongside others to make the Bay Area a place where everyone can thrive.
Meet the judges
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Stephen Curry
NBA Player, Golden State Warriors
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Ayesha Curry
Chef, Entrepreneur, & Bestselling Author
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Sundar Pichai
CEO, Google & Alphabet
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Daniel Patterson
CEO & Founder, Alta Group
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Nicole Taylor
President & CEO, Silicon Valley Community Foundation
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Cathy Cha
President, Evelyn & Walter Haas, Jr. Fund
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Ronnie Lott
NFL Hall of Fame
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Kate Kendell
LGBTQ / Civil Rights Activist & Consultant
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Heejae Lim
Founder & CEO, TalkingPoints
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Benjamin Bratt
Actor & Producer
