The Google Community Leaders Program is a year long program that works with students from universities across the city to improve the web literacy of New Orleans.The CLP is dedicated to providing small business owners and community organizations online tools training. CLP is looking for motivated sophomores, juniors, and seniors who are leaders in their communities, have a clear vision for social impact using community knowledge and technology, and desire to make a network of strong relationships in New Orleans’ neighborhoods. Google’s Community Leaders will work for one year to empower businesses, build community, and bridge the web literacy gap that exists in New Orleans.
I thought the best way for you to get a clear idea of what the program is all about would be to ask one of the current google community leaders. Here’s what Mary Bryan, a current member of the Google CLP program had to say:
“I am definitely not a super tech-savvy person. However, I have grown up with access to computers and the internet and take for granted my knowledge of social media, finding resources online, and other basic skills. Working with the Google Community Leaders Program has shown me that there is a huge ‘digital divide’ that divides age and class in terms of access to this basic information. Our nonprofit team has worked with both nonprofit organizations run by older individuals who have not grown up with the innate understanding of the internet that our team has, as well as with New Orleans youth programs, where many children have not had access to these sorts of technologies. I have loved working with a wide variety of people one-on-one to understand their problems and develop solutions. It’s been a great application of what I’ve learned about design thinking through the SISE minor, and how important it is to start with the needs of the individuals you’re trying to help.
“The Google CLP program as a whole has also been great for connecting me to people from other NOLA universities, as well as some really helpful professional development exercises led by a Google staff member. If you’re interested in working for Google, or in Google’s mission in general, it’s a great place to start.”
Apply here by this SATURDAY (February 28th)!