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00:00The next panel is going to be discussing digital skills in our community and how they
00:13really are the present and future.
00:15So to take the lead as the moderator is Vice President of Customer Care and Vendor Management
00:21at Google, Ms. Cassandra Johnson.
00:26She will be joined by the National President Chair, National Board of Directors, Delta Sigma
00:32Theta Sorority Incorporated, Ms. Elsie Cook-Holmes, the 25th International President of Zeta Phi
00:39Beta Sorority Incorporated, Valerie Hollingsworth Baker, National Education Chair, Sigma Gamma
00:46Rho Sorority Incorporated, Nicole McCall, and International Program Committee Alpha Kappa
00:54Sorority Incorporated, Andrea Daniels.
00:57And without further ado, come on, ladies.
00:59Hello, New Orleans.
01:02We're so excited to be here.
01:06So as mentioned before, I'm with Google, and at Google, we truly believe that technology
01:12has the power to create and unlock opportunities for growth.
01:16And when those opportunities are available to everyone, then the communities across the country
01:22can reach their full potential.
01:24And with that being in mind, in 2017, we started Grow with Google.
01:29We really wanted to help Americans grow their skills, their careers, and businesses.
01:36Then in February of 2020, we launched the Black Women Lead Initiative, which is part of the
01:42Grow with Google.
01:43And we did this in partnership with the divine nine sororities, the Lynx, and Dress for Success.
01:51And at the end of the day, the collective goal was to provide digital skills training for
01:56100,000 women.
01:59Well let me say this, they did not fail.
02:02To date, the partners have reached over 200,000 black women.
02:08Yes, let me say that one more time, over 200,000 black women, which is pretty amazing.
02:15So ladies, with that in mind, let's just go ahead and get started and jump into it.
02:19So the first question, we always want to go back to the beginning.
02:23So I'm curious to know, why was it so important to be part of this initiative?
02:29And in particular, how is this initiative helping each of your chapters reach the goals of providing
02:36economic empowerment for your members?
02:39Let's start with you, Sora.
02:41All right.
02:43Good afternoon, everyone.
02:45This initiative has been great for us.
02:49First of all, I want to thank Google.
02:51Thank you for your investment in our community.
02:55So this started under the administration of our 26th national president, Beverly E. Smith.
03:02And it just is right up the alley of the chapters of Delta Sigma Theta.
03:06Our five-point programmatic thrust includes educational development, as well as economic development.
03:13And we really focus on the constructive development of our members, as well as our service and development
03:19and empowerment in the community.
03:22So this has really made a big impact from an economic standpoint to be able to provide hands-on
03:29actual skills.
03:31So the chapters have embraced it.
03:32They've been able to work with our members across the lifecycle, but especially our more
03:39seasoned members.
03:40We finally call them our Delta Deers.
03:43But they have really embraced being able to add these new skills to their wheelhouse as they look
03:49at transitioning to whether it's business ownership or other types of things.
03:54And also out in the community, as well, to be able to do this all the way across the board.
04:01So it has really been impactful, and we're excited about continuing it, as well.
04:06That's amazing.
04:09Well, I also want to thank Google for this opportunity, Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Incorporated.
04:15We are there on an educational level.
04:18We have had a ZOLE, which is a Zeta organizational leadership development training for our members
04:26for over 25 years.
04:27So this just really fell into our laps as something that we would want to expand upon.
04:32So with the suite of programs and initiatives that you have brought to the table for us, we
04:38were able to leverage those, and we were able to train our members.
04:43And they went out and trained people in their communities.
04:47So we have really gotten a wealth of knowledge from all of the courses that Google has offered.
04:55Our members have really embraced over our eight regions and internationally where things that
05:01they did not know or they could really improve upon through some of these courses have been done.
05:07And then, of course, now we've gone in and gotten our communities involved as well.
05:12So they have also have seen where there is an uprising because technology is here to stay.
05:18And we really have to truly embrace it, learn what we can do, how we can make our lives better,
05:24and how we can make it better for others of people's lives.
05:28Way to go.
05:29And next.
05:30Yes, yes.
05:31Thank you so much.
05:32Good afternoon, everyone.
05:33As mentioned, I am Andrea Daniels, and I am so honored to be here on behalf of our international
05:39president and CEO of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated, Dr. Glenda Glover.
05:47We felt this was so important, and we also thank Google for this opportunity.
05:51We are also honored to be a part of this program initiative with the other three Divine Nine
05:57sororities.
05:59This has been a pleasure for us to participate in.
06:03Our goal was to develop and train over 20,000 women due to the global pandemic and then the
06:10resulting unemployment.
06:12We also saw that because of the global pandemic, there exists an economic gap when it comes to
06:19black women in the workforce.
06:22So our strategy was to do training on those digital skills, career development, to help
06:30those during that pandemic time.
06:33And so we have over 1,000 local chapters that have implemented those workshops.
06:40This is also in line with one of Alpha Kappa Alpha's international targets, entrepreneurship
06:45and support of the black dollar.
06:48So we have been impactful in our communities with those digital skills training and entrepreneurship.
06:57And let's hear one more from you.
06:58Yes, indeed.
07:00So good afternoon, everyone, and thank you so much, Cassandra.
07:04I echo my fellow Greek sisters here in saying thank you so much to Google for this initiative.
07:10You know, for the question, you know, why do we want to participate?
07:14Because black women lead and black women are leaders in every sense of the word.
07:18It's in our DNA.
07:20So certainly we wanted to be a part of that.
07:22But it couldn't have come at a better time.
07:24And so when we think about the pandemic, as you mentioned, our members, like I'm sure your
07:28members were all very anxious to say, how can we get out there?
07:32How can we stay active?
07:33How can we ensure that we're still rendering the service and that hands on, you know, up
07:38front, you know, in your face touch people, you know, help lead them forward through a time
07:43like this.
07:43And so what was wonderful about this program during this time is that it provided us with
07:48a safe way to be able to continue to be productive and active by delivering these virtual workshops
07:54in our community.
07:55It also gave us the opportunity to maybe reach some people we wouldn't have had the opportunity
07:59to reach during the pandemic.
08:01And so our members were very excited for this initiative.
08:04My International Grand Basilisk, Rashida Liberty, she is very, very, very enthusiastic about making
08:11sure that we not only train our members to be able to step forward and to present themselves
08:16as entrepreneurs, as leaders in the workplace.
08:18So she was excited about this and through me being the national education chair, very happy
08:24to have coordinated these programs and I'm excited to share at the appropriate time some wonderful
08:29success stories and we're glad to be on board for the next two years to do even more.
08:34I heard that way to go.
08:36So just like all of these amazing ladies have shared, this has been an amazing partnership just
08:42because of the sheer passion and tenacity that all of its members bring and continue to live through.
08:47Now, as they stated, the partnership has been amazing.
08:51Like I said, over 200,000 black women impacted to this, to this day and that's just so amazing.
08:57So ladies, can you give us a particular story on what that impact has meant for your particular
09:03organizations?
09:04Andrea, let's start with you.
09:06First, I would like to share a story that a young lady who attended one of our workshops,
09:12she submitted to us.
09:14I attended the resume workshop your sorority put on for us.
09:19I really needed this workshop because I was just laid off from work because of the pandemic and I
09:26have to support my two kids as a single mother.
09:30I had been working at that job for nine years and I never needed a resume.
09:35I did not know Google had templates for resumes before going to this workshop.
09:42I got a job at Home Depot and now I'm in line for a promotion as an admin assistant.
09:50I really, really thank the women of AKA for everything.
09:56Without that workshop, I would have not known where to begin.
10:00And I say that this program has been so impactful in our communities.
10:06The digital skills training that we conducted, some women changed careers because of the information
10:13that they received and as I just mentioned, the career development workshops, we had some people
10:19that had been laid off and now going back into the workforce had to update resumes,
10:25interviewing skills, things of that nature. So this program has truly been successful
10:30and impactful in the communities.
10:34Let's hear another story.
10:36So I have a similar story and it's also with the resume building workshop.
10:40You know, during the pandemic, a lot of women had to learn how to reinvent themselves
10:45and African-American women are nothing if not resourceful.
10:48So one of our attendees at a resume building workshop, she lost her business during the pandemic
10:54and was also a single parent and attended the resume building workshop.
10:58And I want to shout out our trainer. I think her name was Taylor.
11:02I may be messing that up. I think her name was Taylor, but I was saying, but she's amazing.
11:06And one of the things that they taught everyone that attended the workshop
11:09was how little time an employer uses to scan your resume and determine if that's the resume
11:15that they want to then pull and give, you know, some greater view to. And I think it's like less
11:20than 10 seconds. And so that's something that, you know, we really don't know. Sometimes we're
11:24verbose and overwordy and what we're putting in our resume and it's not seen even though you have
11:29the skill set. And so this particular person who attended the workshop and used that template was able
11:35to revamp her resume so that it could get the intention of an employer. She put resumes out everywhere
11:41and didn't get a call back and it made all the difference for her.
11:44Everyone deserves the dignity of being able to be gainfully employed and to take care of their
11:50families. There's nothing like that feeling and the despair of knowing you've lost the job during
11:55the pandemic and this simple change of allowing her resume to get noticed made all the difference.
12:01And so she proactively wrote to us and said that she was so glad she was there. And I just want
12:05to say this and our undergraduates loved it because they're trying to reach get into the workplace.
12:10And so those workshops for them and helping them understand how to get notice so that they can
12:15step up to the table. If you're not at the table, you're not in the game. So they can step up to the
12:19table and get that right job. It's just incredible. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Grow with Google.
12:24So special. Let's hear another story.
12:27Well, I would like to say that I have some facts on just some of the things generally,
12:32because with Zeta, we have trained 20,322 members across the region. And our members, they looked at
12:41things that were really helpful to them, like negotiations of contracts that they went to and
12:47had confidence in and had much success in. We've even trained families and church leaders in just on
12:53the grow with Google calendars and documents for storage where they are now more successful in planning
12:58their church events and sent so so many positive comments back to us about that. We we did a lot
13:05of collaborations not only with churches and and school systems, but we also did that across the
13:11world with some of our international chapters that have help. But what was more what was really
13:16important was more of our seniors that we taught with on the scamming of training online. And they were
13:23able to now recognize when you got those robo calls or when you got those text messages and emails and
13:29how you have to really focus on what these people were saying and to protect yourself from what could
13:35happen by exposing your bank accounts here and all of your information. So we got many, many reports back
13:41of how much that helped. So I want to thank you all for that because that training was excellent for our
13:47members and the community where they were in. Thank you. So powerful and thank you. Sora Elsie, what about you?
13:54I want to mention a couple of stories. And as we've all talked, it has been so impactful, especially during the time
14:01that it came in the pandemic. But there was one young lady who received her dream job a couple of weeks
14:11after this. She participated in the training, the resume building. She was able to make it immediately
14:18actionable by going out and being able to receive her dream job as an arts teacher and a visual arts teacher
14:28in four high tech arts classrooms. So she was really able to make immediate use of it and she feels she'll
14:36also be able to make use of some of the skills as she continues being able to leverage those as she
14:43continues in her new position as well. So she was quite, quite excited. I do want to also quickly mention
14:51one of our chapters who went above and beyond and had a number of workshops and received the high impact
14:59and partner badge from Google. They were very, very excited about that. And again, they focus really,
15:07really heavily more on our seniors. So within this sorority as well as more broadly in the community
15:15to be able to navigate this new world. We always talk about we are never going back to 2019. The pandemic
15:23has changed us forever. We know we will continue to raise from a technology perspective and we know that
15:30these, again, actionable skills are critical for our community to be able to move forward with that.
15:38So I have other stories I could share if I had more time. Thank you so much. And I know, you know,
15:44a lot of times we all come to these events and we hope that people can drop some gems,
15:49but I think today these ladies really share with grace and humility, hope. And I think that's so
15:54aspirational. So once again, and on behalf of Google, thank you so much for your partnership.
16:00But without further ado, there's some special videos, a special few words from some congressional
16:08leaders. So let's take a look. Hello, everyone. I'm Congresswoman Brenda Lawrence. I'm Congresswoman
16:17Karen Bess. It's Congresswoman Akeema Williams. Congresswoman Brown here. I'm Congresswoman Bonnie
16:22Watson Coleman. Congresswoman Robin Kelly. Hello, I'm Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee. Congresswoman Lucy McBath.
16:28I'm Congresswoman Frederica S. Wilson. I am honored to congratulate the women of the links. Sigma Gamma Rho.
16:36Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority. Zeta Phi Beta Delta Sigma Theta. And dress for success. I wanted to take a moment to thank you.
16:44These six black woman-led organizations. I'm impressed and inspired by your work with Google
16:52that led to over 200,000 black women trained in digital skills this past year. Digital skills are
16:59essential for countless jobs in today's economy. Thanks to your effort, these black women will now be
17:05armed with the tools they need to advocate for themselves, apply for new opportunities, and find
17:10fulfilling careers to see the impact and dedication of these organizations to empower black women.
17:19You are giving them a lifeline. You're giving them a future, an opportunity. You're giving them an
17:24economic chance. When I see black women achieving this kind of success, I see the future I never could have
17:32dreamed of. So thank you for your commitment to helping everyone thrive. Thank you for your work to
17:39ensure that black women shine. Congratulations for your well-deserved success. When you empower a woman,
17:47you empower the entire world.
17:52Well, well, well. That's awesome. So I want to thank once again our esteemed panelists. You're amazing and
18:00you represent each of your esteemed organization with class and with grace. So thank you all. And for those in
18:06the audience, thank you so much for taking the time to partake and listen to this amazing stories. Now,
18:12if you're a member of a sorority, don't forget tomorrow to come by the Grow with Google booth
18:17for the sorority takeover. But if you have time now, I'm heading over there now. So let's just connect
18:24and chat. But once again, thank you, thank you, and thank you.
18:36you
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