InnovateUS Receives $2M in Funding and Pro Bono Support From Google.org to Provide Training on Digital Technologies to U.S. Public Sector Employees

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Oct 17, 2023, 09:00 ET

Over the next three years, more than 15 states will be able to provide more educational and upskilling opportunities to their workers to support professional development

WASHINGTON, Oct. 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- InnovateUS, an online learning initiative that delivers at-your-own pace and live skills training to public sector professionals in areas such as data, digital, and community engagement, announced today that it has secured $2 million in funding from Google.org and access to Google Career Certificates to support its mission to upskill and educate public sector professionals free-of-charge over the next three years. This initiative will offer online courses and workshops for workers to gain a wide range of data, digital, and artificial intelligence skills.

InnovateUS will use the funding to offer training to 50,000 state workers across more than 15 states over three years. Google.org will provide a pro-bono support team of Google employees to help InnovateUS with the user experience and design of the learning platform.

"As technology is increasingly incorporated into citizen services and governance, we must invest in public sector professionals, helping them to learn how to use the latest tools to serve residents better," said Beth Simone Noveck, Director of the Burnes Center for Social Change and the GovLab, which supports InnovateUS. "We created InnovateUS because it is critical that such learning be free and easily accessible to the public sector. Expanding these resources with this support from Google.org will help expedite the responsible use of AI and other technologies to improve people's lives."

Managed by public sector leaders and delivering learning opportunities, including weekly workshops and online courses at no cost to public sector professionals, InnovateUS encourages ongoing career and professional development for public workers, and empowers the nation's largest workforce with learning designed to improve trust in governance. Current and upcoming courses include Innovation Skills and Public Problem Solving, Human-Centered Design, Fast Field Scanning: Finding What Works, and Responsible AI for Public Professionals.

"We are proud of the work Google.org does with the public sector, especially its support for InnovateUS in its efforts to equip public sector professionals with the skills and knowledge they need to drive innovation in government," said Karen Dahut, CEO of Google Public Sector. "We believe that by investing in the training of our public workers, we are investing in the future of our country."

As part of this initiative, InnovateUS plans to award 2,000 Google Career Certificates at no cost across these states. The Google Career Certificates equip people with job-ready skills in the fields of cybersecurity, data analytics, IT support, and more—with no experience or degree required. Certificate graduates are connected to the program's employer consortium of more than 150 companies—including Google—that are committed to considering public servants for relevant roles. To date, more than 200,000 people have completed the program in the U.S., and 75% of them report a positive career impact, such as a new job, promotion, or raise within six months of completion. In addition, InnovateUS will also provide access to weekly live workshops for 5,000 public workers and asynchronous training to another 1,500 workers.

About InnovateUS
A project of the GovLab and the Burnes Center for Social Change at Northeastern University, InnovateUS is run by public servants for public servants. InnovateUS offers free at-your-own pace courses as well as weekly workshops on innovation skills for the public sector, with an emphasis on evidence-based and equitable approaches. Please visit https://innovate-us.org/ for more information.

About Google.org
Google.org, Google's philanthropy, brings the best of Google to help solve some of humanity's biggest challenges combining funding, product donations and technical expertise to support underserved communities and provide opportunity for everyone. We engage nonprofits, social enterprises and civic entities who make a significant impact on the communities they serve, and whose work has the potential to produce scalable, meaningful change.

SOURCE Google Cloud