We’ve long been committed to increasing access to meaningful resources for the military community. To date, Google has trained tens of thousands of veterans with digital skills in addition to providing over $40 million in funding and donated search ads to increase this community’s economic opportunity. This commitment is further demonstrated at events like our annual Vetnet Career Week, hosted by Google’s Vetnet Employee Resource Group, offering things like resume reviews to help veterans advance their careers.

This Veterans Day, we're inspired by the stories of veterans like U.S. Navy veteran and scrap metal artist Steve Kost, who created this year's Google Doodle. And we're committed to supporting current and former service members just like Steve learn new skills, develop strong networks and build successful civilian careers.

Advancing economic opportunities in the military community

On November 13, Grow with Google and Blue Star Families are joining forces to host a free, National Veterans Small Business Week Summit on YouTube. This session will provide veteran-owned businesses with valuable, hands-on training to get started with AI, and includes a panel discussion with veteran entrepreneurs who are using AI to grow their businesses (RSVP today).

Google also recently concluded its first-ever Google Launchpad for Veterans, a complimentary 3-week training and certification program. The program welcomed 4,000 veterans and was designed to equip veterans of all experience levels with introductory cloud skills and knowledge, positioning them to drive innovation and digital transformation.

Google Public Sector launched its Talent Exchange Program in June. This program offers government employees and Googlers a unique opportunity to work directly with and learn from each other, via rotations. Service members interested in participating in this or our corporate fellowship SkillBridge, should inquire through their government agency.

Supporting organizations dedicated to the wellbeing of veterans and their families

Last month, at our San Francisco Fleet Week Social Impact Event, Google.org awarded $100,000 in grants to four nonprofits: Foundation for Women Warriors, Swords to Plowshares, Service to School and the Navy SEAL Foundation. These grants will help these organizations expand their programs and provide critical support to the military community in areas like family services, mental health, education and workforce development programs including scholarships to Google AI Essentials, Google Prompting Essentials and Google Career Certificates.

Through Google.org funding and our Google.org Fellowship program, we helped ReflexAI — a developer of AI-powered tools that build realistic, nuanced training scenarios for crisis lines, emergency response, and healthcare — build HomeTeam, an AI-powered tool that helps veterans navigate mental health conversations and access support. This month, HomeTeam launched a new feature called “Practice a Key Moment,” powered by AI models. This new feature helps veterans build skills for connecting with one another during mental health conversations, with the goal of improving long-term outcomes.

Furthermore, our continued partnership with the ETS Sponsorship Program and the Onward Ops — a Google Cloud-based platform — ensures that transitioning service members have access to a comprehensive suite of support, including job training, VA benefits assistance and mental health resources.

We're honored to support the military community and provide resources to help them make a difference in tech and beyond. As one of the global co-leads of Google's VetNet ERG, I'm incredibly grateful and honored to be a part of the more than 3,000 Googlers, who are dedicated to creating a more inclusive workplace and provide fellow veterans with tools and opportunities to thrive. This Veterans Day, we celebrate those who have served, and reaffirm our commitment to helping them thrive in all aspects of their career journey.