Key Highlights

Challenges

The Google Career Certificates program partners with nonprofit workforce development organizations to train people for well-paid, in-demand careers in tech fields like information technology (IT) and data analytics, including pairing skills development with wraparound supports like living stipends, coaching, and job search assistance.

While this training has helped more than 1 million people since its launch in 2018, traditional philanthropic grants alone are insufficient to deliver opportunities at the scale needed in the market.

Google.org embarked on a user-centric design process to find a financing solution grounded in the principles needed to shape the program’s design, impact, and long-term financial sustainability.

Opportunities

Prior to launching the $100 million Google Career Certificates Fund (GCCF) in October 2022, Google.org worked with Social Finance to design the program. GCCF was capitalized with a mix of grant dollars from Google.org and debt capital from Google Treasury, with a goal of helping to drive over $1 billion of wage gains for 20,000 Americans. GCCF has also developed an AI solution to match learners with jobs.

Learners receive zero-interest loans at reasonable rates to finance tuition and living expenses, with the learners’ repayments linked to their post-training earnings. Loan repayments from graduates are reinvested to support future learners.

Training providers receive up-front payments from GCCF to provide wraparound supportive services for job searches, resume writing, and interviews. To align incentives, some of the training providers’ direct fees are withheld until the students are successfully placed in jobs above a minimum income threshold.

Key Takeaways

• To date, 89% of GCCF-funded learners have completed the program. Thousands of these students have completed training and been successfully placed as data analysts, IT support specialists, technical support representatives, customer service representatives, business analysts, and other in-demand occupations.
• GCCF borrowers have repaid $1.4 million of their loans, on track with the Fund’s target.
• GCCF has invested in partnerships with mission-aligned AI platform AdeptID and job search platform CareerCircle to provide tools that help further connect GCCF-funded learners with jobs.
• Google has hired a third party to evaluate the GCCF and develop materials that can be shared with others.