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00:00The next panel is going to be discussing digital skills in our community and how they really are
00:07the present and future. So to take the lead as the moderator is Vice President of Customer Care
00:13and Vendor Management at Google, Ms. Cassandra Johnson. She will be joined by the National
00:21President Chair, National Board of Directors, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated, Ms.
00:27Elsie Cook-Holmes, the 25th International President of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Incorporated, Valerie
00:34Hollingsworth Baker, National Education Chair, Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority Incorporated, Nicole
00:41McCall, and International Program Committee Alpha Alpha Sorority Incorporated, Andrea Daniels.
00:50And without further ado, come on, ladies. Hello, New Orleans. We're so excited to be here.
00:58So, as mentioned before, I'm with Google. And at Google, we truly believe that technology
01:05has the power to create and unlock opportunities for growth. And when those opportunities are
01:11available to everyone, then the communities across the country can reach their full potential.
01:17And with that being in mind, in 2017, we started Grow with Google. We really wanted to help Americans
01:24grow their skills, their careers, and businesses. And in February of 2020, we launched the Black
01:33Woman Lead Initiative, which is part of the Grow with Google. And we did this in partnership
01:38with the Divine Nine sororities, the Lynx, and Dress for Success. And at the end of the day,
01:45the collective goal was to provide digital skills training for 100,000 women. Well, let me say this.
01:52We did. They did not fail. To date, the partners have reached over 200,000 black women. Yes. Let me say
02:02that one more time. Over 200,000 black women, which is pretty amazing. So, ladies, with that in mind,
02:09let's just go ahead and get started and jump into it. So, the first question, we always want to go
02:14back to the beginning. So, I'm curious to know, why was it so important to be part of this initiative?
02:21And in particular, how is this initiative helping each of your chapters reach the goals of providing
02:29economic empowerment for your members? Let's start with you, Sora.
02:33All right. Good afternoon, everyone. This initiative has been great for us. First of all,
02:42I want to thank Google. Thank you for your investment in our community. So, this started
02:49under the administration of our 26th national president, Beverly E. Smith, and it just is right
02:56up the alley of the chapters of Delta Sigma Theta. Our five-point programmatic thrust includes
03:02educational development as well as economic development. And we really focus on the
03:07constructive development of our members as well as our service and development and
03:12empowerment in the community. So, this has really made a big impact from an economic
03:18standpoint to be able to provide hands-on actual skills. So, the chapters have embraced
03:25it. They've been able to work with our members across the life cycle, but especially our more
03:32seasoned members. We finally call them our Delta Deers. But they have really embraced being
03:38able to add these new skills to their wheelhouse as they look at transitioning to whether it's
03:44business ownership or other types of things and also out in the community as well to be able
03:51to do this all the way across the board. So, it has really been impactful and we're
03:56excited about continuing it as well. It's amazing.
04:00Well, I also want to thank Google for this opportunity. Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Incorporated.
04:08We are there on an educational level. We have had a ZOLE, which is a Zeta organizational
04:15leadership development training for our members for over 25 years. So, this just really fell
04:21into our laps as something that we would want to expand upon. So, with the suite of programs
04:28and initiatives that you have brought to the table for us, we were able to leverage those
04:33and we were able to train our members. And they went out and trained people in their communities.
04:40So, we have really gotten a wealth of knowledge from all of the courses that Google has offered.
04:48Our members have really embraced over our eight regions and internationally where things that they
04:55did not know or they could really improve upon through some of these courses have been done. And then,
05:00of course, now we've gone in and gotten our communities involved as well. So, they have also have seen
05:07where there is an uprising because technology is here to stay. And we really have to truly embrace it,
05:13learn what we can do, how we can make our lives better, and how we can make better for others of
05:19people's lives.
05:20Amen. Way to go. And next.
05:22Yes, yes.
05:24Good afternoon, everyone.
05:26As mentioned, I am Andrea Daniels and I am so honored to be here on behalf of our international
05:32president and CEO of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated, Dr. Glenda Glover.
05:40We felt this was so important and we also thank Google for this opportunity. We are also honored to
05:46be a part of this program initiative with the other three Divine Nine sororities. This has been a pleasure
05:54for us to participate in. Our goal was to develop and train over 20,000 women due to the global pandemic
06:02pandemic and then the resulting unemployment. We also saw that because of the global pandemic,
06:09there exists an economic gap when it comes to black women in the workforce. So, our strategy was to
06:18do training on those digital skills, career development to help those during that pandemic
06:25time. And so, we have over 1,000 local chapters that have implemented those workshops. This is also in
06:33line with one of Alpha Kappa Alpha's international targets, entrepreneurship and support of the black
06:39dollar. So, we have been impactful in our communities with those digital skills training and entrepreneurship.
06:47Thank you. And let's hear one more from you. Yes, indeed. So, good afternoon, everyone. And thank you so
06:56much, Cassandra. I echo my fellow Greek sisters here in saying thank you so much to Google for this
07:02initiative. You know, for the question, you know, why don't we want to participate? It's black women lead and
07:08black women are leaders in every sense of the word. It's in our DNA. So, certainly we wanted to be a part of
07:14that. But it couldn't have come at a better time. And so, when we think about the pandemic, as you
07:19mentioned, our members, like I'm sure your members were all very anxious to say, how can we get out
07:24there? How can we stay active? How can we ensure that we're still rendering the service and that
07:29hands-on, you know, up front, you know, in your face, touch people, you know, help lead them forward
07:35through a time like this. And so, what was wonderful about this program during this time is that it provided
07:40us with a safe way to be able to continue to be productive and active by delivering these virtual
07:46workshops in our community. It also gave us the opportunity to maybe reach some people we
07:50wouldn't have had the opportunity to reach during the pandemic. And so, our members were very excited
07:56for this initiative. My International Grand Basilisk, Rashida Liberty, she is very, very, very enthusiastic
08:03about making sure that we not only train our members to be able to step forward and to present
08:08themselves as entrepreneurs, as leaders in the workplace. So, she was excited about this,
08:14and through me being the National Education Chair, very happy to have coordinated these programs,
08:19and I'm excited to share the appropriate time, some wonderful success stories, and we're glad to be
08:24on board for the next two years to do even more. I heard that. Way to go. So, just like all of these
08:31amazing ladies have shared, this has been an amazing partnership just because of the sheer passion and
08:37tenacity that all of its members bring and continue to live through. Now, as they stated, the partnership
08:43has been amazing. Like I said, over 200,000 black women impacted to this to this day, and that's just so
08:49amazing. So, ladies, can you give us a particular story on what that impact has meant for your particular
08:56organizations? Andrea, let's start with you. First, I would like to share a story that a young lady who
09:03attended one of our workshops, she submitted to us. I attended the resume workshop your sorority put on
09:10for us. I really needed this workshop because I was just laid off from work because of the pandemic,
09:18and I have to support my two kids as a single mother. I had been working at that job for nine years,
09:26and I never needed a resume. I did not know Google had templates for resumes before.
09:34Going to this workshop, I got a job at Home Depot, and now I'm in line for a promotion as an admin
09:43assistant. I really, really thank the women of AKA for everything. Without that workshop, I would have not
09:52known where to begin. And I say that this program has been so impactful in our communities. The digital
09:59skills training that we conducted, some women changed careers because of the information that they
10:06received. And as I just mentioned, the career development workshops, we had some people that had
10:12been laid off and now going back into the workforce had to update resumes, interviewing skills, things of that
10:19nature. So this program has truly been successful and impactful in the communities.
10:27Let's hear another story.
10:29So I have a similar story, and it's also with the resume building workshop.
10:33You know, during the pandemic, a lot of women had to learn how to reinvent themselves,
10:38and African-American women are nothing if not resourceful. So one of our attendees at a resume
10:44building workshop, she lost her business during the pandemic and was also a single parent,
10:49attended the resume building workshop. And I want to shout out our trainer. I think her name was
10:53Taylor. I may be messing that up. I think her name was Taylor, but the same. But she's amazing.
10:58And one of the things that they taught everyone that attended the workshop was how little time an
11:04employer uses to scan your resume and determine if that's the resume that they want to then pull and
11:10give, you know, some greater view too. And I think it's like less than 10 seconds. And so that's something
11:15that, you know, we really don't know. Sometimes we're reverse and overwordy and what we're putting
11:20in our resume and it's not seen, even though you have the skill set. And so this particular person who
11:25attended the workshop and used that template was able to revamp her resume so that it could get the
11:30intention of an employer. She put resumes out everywhere and didn't get a call back, and it made
11:36all the difference for her. Everyone deserves the dignity of being able to be gainfully employed and to
11:42take care of their families. There's nothing like that feeling and the despair of knowing you've lost
11:47the job during the pandemic. And this simple change of allowing her resume to get noticed
11:53made all the difference. And so she proactively wrote to us and said that she was so glad she was
11:57there. And I just want to say this in our undergraduates loved it because they're trying to reach
12:02get into the workplace. And so those workshops for them and helping them understand how to get
12:07noticed so that they can step up to the table. If you're not at the table, you're not in the game,
12:11so they can step up to the table and get that right job. It's just incredible. Thank you,
12:14thank you, thank you, Grow with Google. So special. Let's hear another story.
12:20Well, I would like to say that I have some facts on just some of the things generally,
12:25because with Zeta, we have trained 20,322 members across the region. And our members, they looked at
12:34things that were really helpful to them, like negotiations of contracts that they went to and
12:40had confidence in and had much success in. We've even trained families and church leaders in just
12:45on the grow with Google calendars and documents for storage, where they are now more successful in
12:51planning their church events and sent so many positive comments back to us about that. We did a
12:58lot of collaborations, not only with churches and school systems, but we also did that across the
13:04world with some of our international chapters that have help. But what was more, what was really
13:09important was more of our seniors that we taught with on the scamming of training online. And they
13:15were able to now recognize when you got those robo calls or when you got those text messages and emails
13:22and how you have to really focus on what these people were saying and to protect yourselves from what
13:27could happen by exposing your bank accounts and all of your information. So we got many, many reports
13:34back of how much that helped. So I want to thank you all for that because that training was excellent
13:39for our members and the community where they were in. Thank you. So powerful and thank you.
13:44Sora, Elsie, what about you? I want to mention a couple of stories. And as we've all talked,
13:50it has been so impactful, especially during the time that it came in the pandemic. But there was one
13:58young lady who received her dream job a couple of weeks after this. She participated in the training,
14:06the resume building. She was able to make it immediately actionable by going out and being able to
14:14receive her dream job as an arts teacher and a visual arts teacher in four high tech arts classrooms.
14:25So she was really able to make immediate use of it. And she feels she'll also be able to make use of
14:32some of the skills as she continues being able to leverage those as she continues in her new position as
14:39well. So she was quite, quite excited. I do want to also quickly mention one of our chapters who went
14:46above and beyond and had a number of workshops and received the high impact partner badge from Google.
14:55They were very, very excited about that. And again, they focus really, really heavily more on our seniors.
15:02So within this sorority, as well as more broadly in the community to be able to navigate this new world.
15:11We always talk about we are never going back to 2019. The pandemic has changed us forever.
15:17We know we will continue to raise from a technology perspective. And we know that these, again,
15:24actionable skills are critical for our community to be able to move forward with that. So I have other
15:32stories I could share if I had more time. Thank you so much. And I know, you know, a lot of times we all
15:38come to these events and we hope that people can drop some gems. But I think today these ladies really
15:44share with grace and humility hope. And I think that's so aspirational. So once again, on behalf of
15:50Google, thank you so much for your partnership. But without further ado, there's some special videos,
15:58a special few words from some congressional leaders. So let's take a look.
16:06Hello, everyone. I'm Congresswoman Brenda Lawrence. I'm Congresswoman Karen Bass. It's Congresswoman
16:11Akeema Williams. Congresswoman Brown here. I'm Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman. Congresswoman
16:17Robin Kelly. Hello, I'm Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee. Congresswoman Lucy McBath. I'm Congresswoman
16:22Congresswoman Rebecca S. Wilson. I am honored to congratulate the women of the Lynx. Sigma Gamma
16:29Rome. Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority. Zeta Phi Beta. Delta Sigma Theta. And Dress for Success. I wanted
16:35to take a moment to thank you. These six black woman-led organizations. I'm impressed and inspired by your
16:43work with Google that led to over 200,000 black women trained in digital skills this past year. Digital
16:51skills are essential for countless jobs in today's economy. Thanks to your effort, these black women
16:57will now be armed with the tools they need to advocate for themselves, apply for new opportunities,
17:03and find fulfilling careers. To see the impact and dedication of these organizations to empower
17:11black women. You are giving them a lifeline. You're giving them a future, an opportunity. You're giving them
17:17an economic chance. When I see black women achieving this kind of success, I see the future I never could
17:25have dreamed of. So thank you for your commitment to helping everyone thrive. Thank you for your work
17:31to ensure that black women shine. Congratulations for your well-deserved success. When you empower a woman,
17:39you empower the entire world.
17:45Well, well, well. That's awesome. So I want to thank once again our esteemed panelists. You're amazing and
17:53you represent each of your esteemed organization with class and with grace. So thank you all. And for those
17:59in the audience, thank you so much for taking the time to partake and listen to this amazing stories. Now,
18:05if you're a member of a sorority, don't forget tomorrow to come by the Grow with Google booth for the
18:11sorority takeover. But if you have time now, I'm heading over there now. So let's just connect and chat.
18:17But once again, thank you, thank you, and thank you.
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