Who Did Google Fund for Innovative Uses of Technology?

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December 4, 2012; Source: TechCrunch

Google’s new Global Impact Awards honor and provide sizable grants to nonprofits that are making innovative use of technology in tackling difficult problems. Google’s first series of awards provided seven organizations with a total of more than $23 million. On Google’s blog, Jacqueline Fuller, director of giving at Google, stated:

“Today we’re launching the Global Impact Awards to support organizations using technology and innovative approaches to tackle some of the toughest human challenges. From real-time sensors that monitor clean water to DNA barcoding that stops wildlife trafficking, our first round of awards provides $23 million to seven organizations changing the world.”

The seven nonprofits that were honored were:

charity: water received a $5 million grant for the use of real-time data and technology to “install remote sensors to monitor and record actual water flow rate, allowing more effective maintenance and provision of clean water to over a million people.” The grant will give charity: water the abilities to install sensors in 4,000 areas across Africa by 2015.
The Smithsonian Institution’s Consortium for the Barcode of Life was awarded a $3 million grant for using DNA bar-coding to monitor and prevent the illegal trade of endangered species.
DonorsChoose.org received a $5 million grant to deliver start-up supplies to public schools across America, creating 500 Advanced Placement (AP) science and math curriculums that “commit to enrollments reflecting their school’s overall diversity.”
Equal Opportunity Schools was awarded a $1.8 million grant to give 6,000 low income students the opportunity to move into advanced high school courses by using technology and data to evaluate students’ potential for challenges.
The Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media received $1.2 million that will fund new software that will analyze how females are depicted on television and in children’s media. A negative image of women in media adds to “increased likelihood for girls to have poor academic performance, body image issues, early sexual behavior, and less promising life and occupational choices.”
Give Directly was awarded a $2.4 million grant to support the organization’s advancement of mobile technology to increase giving to families in Kenya that are living in extreme poverty conditions.
The World Wildlife Fund received a $5 million grant that will enable testing of advanced “wildlife tagging technology” for the purpose of finding and preventing animal poaching in Asia and Africa.