Today, along with a panel of local judges, Google announced the five winning nonprofits for the Georgia Google.org Impact Challenge. Each of these organizations will receive $175,000 to bring their bold ideas to create economic opportunity in their communities to life, as state and local economies work toward recovery amid the COVID-19 pandemic. 

For the next phase of the Challenge, Georgians are invited to visit g.co/georgiachallenge for more information on each of the five winners and to vote for one nonprofit to be crowned the ‘People’s Choice’ winner. The winning organization will be awarded an additional $125,000. In total, Google.org will contribute $1 million to Georgia nonprofit organizations as part of the program. 

"The Google.org Impact Challenge is a great example of how Google continues to invest in Atlanta in innovative ways," said Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms. "These grants will go a long way in supporting the enterprising nonprofit organizations who are helping to create economic opportunity in communities in Atlanta and across the state.

“In the face of COVID, it’s vital that we continue to support organizations across the state that are creating pathways for economic opportunity in their communities,” said Lilyn Hester, Google’s Head of External Affairs and Government Relations, Southeast US. “We had hundreds of strong applications from nonprofits across Georgia and are incredibly proud to support the work of the five selected winners.”

The five winners are:

• Center for Civic Innovation (Atlanta): With the funding, the Center for Civic Innovation plans to launch a network and support system for 100 diverse female entrepreneurs in Atlanta who are addressing the city’s greatest social and economic challenges.

• First Step Staffing (Atlanta): Funding will help connect thousands of men and women experiencing homeless, Veterans, and returning citizens with sustainable employment that will support them on their path to self-sufficiency.

• Georgia Coalition Against Domestic Violence (Decatur): The $175,000 from Google.org will help support “Don’t Knock the Hustle,” an entrepreneurship and economic empowerment program that harnesses skills from domestic violence survivors to achieve financial independence.

• Georgia Organics (Atlanta): The grant from Google.org will help them create economic opportunities in deeply impoverished communities across rural Georgia and meet skyrocketing consumer demand by capitalizing on agricultural talents, skills and resources through expanded organic production of Georgia’s essential crops.

• Georgia VECTR Center (Warner Robins): Google.org funding will be used for industrial systems equipment that will allow the Georgia Veterans Education Career Transition Resource (VECTR) Center to establish and sustain training for transitioning military and veterans into  high-demand advanced manufacturing and industrial equipment maintenance careers.

The Georgia Google.org Impact Challenge statewide judge’s panel includes: 

• Chris Clark, President and Chief Executive Officer, Georgia Chamber of Commerce

• Kathryn Dennis, President, Community Foundation of Central Georgia

• Erika James, Dean, The Wharton School (formerly Dean of Goizueta Business School at Emory University)

• Jovita Moore, Anchor, WSB-TV

• Jordan Rose, Co-Founder and Co-Director, Atlanta Science Festival 

Google first announced the Google.org Impact Challenge in October 2019 during a groundbreaking event for the tech company’s new offices in Midtown Atlanta. Google has called Georgia home for nearly two decades, and in their 2018 Economic Impact Report, Google announced that 39,000 businesses in the state generated $7.15 billion in economic activity by using Google’s search and advertising tools.