As a result of the tense national conversation surrounding race and politics, Google is doubling its efforts to support organizations committed to fighting racial inequality this year.
The company is giving $11.5 million in grants to groups using data to highlight problems and find solutions for racial disparities in the criminal justice system, USA Today reports. This amount is double what Google has given to similar causes in the past.
One of the groups that will receive funds is the Center for Policing Equity, a research center that partners with police departments and communities around the country to track statistics such as the use of force and police stops. Google engineers will also volunteer their time to help improve the organization’s database, according to USA Today.
“There is significant ambiguity regarding the extent of racial bias in policing and criminal sentencing,” Justin Steele, principal with Google.org, the tech company’s philanthropic arm, told the paper. “We must find ways to improve the accessibility and usefulness of information.”
Steele also said that Google engineers found themselves frustrated with the lack of national data on police behavior and criminal sentencing, so that was a big focus of the grants. Other groups receiving funds include several organizations working on criminal justice reform projects and Measures for Justice, which will create a website to give Californians information about how their justice system treats people based on demographics.
Like other tech companies, Google also hopes to address the lack of diversity in its own workforce. African Americans make up 2% of Google’s employees while Latinos make up only 3%.
