At Google, we strive to build programs for each of our markets that enable our users to further their businesses with the help of technology and the online medium. Everywhere Google operates, we are thinking about how to best support diversity and inclusion in a way that is both locally relevant and globally impactful. We’re very excited to announce the launch of the
Women Entrepreneurs on the Web (WEOW) program in India, as a targeted business diversity program for women entrepreneurs.
When we came up with this idea, we started by speaking to a large number of women entrepreneurs across various demographics and with organisations that work with women entrepreneurs. We soon realised that they were true entrepreneurs and clearly not afraid to try new things, yet many were unaware of various products that can be used to leverage the full potential of the internet including some Google products and services, such as
Google+,
AdWords and
Apps for Enterprise. In fact, many of them didn’t even have an online presence. This led us to crystallising the idea into a program to increase the reach of technology with this community. The large number of women entrepreneurs in India made it a natural decision for us to pilot this initiative here.
The
Women Entrepreneurs on the Web Program aims to help women-owned businesses grow their online presence. The program will provide women entrepreneurs support on using various web-based technologies in their day to day business while increasing their outreach to their customer base. The program is a 5 circle approach designed specially to cater to women entrepreneurs with varied degrees of online presence and expertise. The program starts with building an online presence and moves towards collaborating effectively, connecting with customers, promoting their organisations to then tracking and optimising their online presence. We believe that entrepreneurs will be at varied stages and can enter this program through any of these circles.
As part of our launch event at Google Hyderabad, Yolanda Mangolini, Head of Diversity and Inclusion at Google, spent time with 30 women entrepreneurs from from various national organisations like FIWE, COWE, TIE. During this meet, she highlighted the initiatives taken by Google for empowering women and how Google aspires to build an organisation that reflects the globally diverse audience.
Diversity has a long history at Google, starting with our founders and original employees who knew it was the right way to build the company. This program is a great addition to our other successful programs in India targeted for women, like the
Google Anita Borg India Memorial Scholarships,
Grace Hopper Celebrations and several outreach programs run by the Women@Google employee group.
For updates on WEOW India, go to our
website (
www.womenentrepreneursontheweb.com), check out our
Youtube channel or add our
Google+ Page to your circles.
Posted by Keerthana Mohan, Diversity and Inclusion Manager, APAC & Pooja Srinivas, Co-lead for Women@Google India
