PAC awarded grant for Grow With Google HSI Career Readiness Program

Palo Alto College announced its participation in the Grow with Google HSI Career Readiness Program. The initiative will help Latino students at over 20 Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs) prepare for the workforce through digital skills training and career workshops. As part of this initiative, the College will receive a micro-grant of $25,000.

“Palo Alto College has been a pillar of the south side community with a mission to inspire, empower, and educate our community for leadership and success,” said Dr. Robert Garza, President of Palo Alto College. “Partnering with Grow With Google is another innovative collaboration that allows us to continue providing students with development opportunities, professional brand training, and digital skills needed to excel in the future workforce.”

Through a $2 million investment in the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU), the program will train 200,000 Latino students by 2025.

In partnership with HACU, the Grow with Google HSI Career Readiness Program will provide HSI career centers with funding and a semester-long in-person and online digital skills program. HACU has a track record of increasing access to education in the Latino community, and two-thirds of Latino college students in the U.S. attend one of its member institutions. The initiative will combine career workshops, career counseling, and programming on design thinking, project management, and professional brand building. The participating schools will also create additional material tailored to student needs.

Palo Alto College is among over 20 HSIs from around the country to join the program this spring. Three other colleges in the Alamo Colleges District were also selected – Northeast Lakeview College, San Antonio College, and St. Phillip’s College from the Alamo Colleges District.     

Learn more about Google’s commitment to the Latino community here.

About HACU

The Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities, founded in 1986, represents more than 500 colleges and universities in the United States, Latin America, Spain and school districts throughout the U.S. HACU is the only national association representing existing and emerging Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs). The Association’s headquarters in San Antonio, Texas, with regional offices in Washington, D.C and Sacramento, California.

About Grow with Google

Grow with Google was started in 2017 to help Americans grow their skills, careers, and businesses. It provides free training, tools, and expertise to help small business owners, veterans and military families, jobseekers and students, educators, startups, and developers. Since Grow with Google’s inception, it has helped more than seven million Americans develop new skills. Grow with Google has a network of more than 8,000 partner organizations like libraries, schools, small business development centers, chambers of commerce, workforce development boards and nonprofits to help people coast-to-coast.

About Palo Alto College

Palo Alto College (PAC), one of five colleges in the Alamo Colleges District, has been a pillar of the south side community for more than 35 years and remains dedicated to providing a high-quality education for the community. PAC is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges and a recipient of the 2015 Texas Award for Performance Excellence, a finalist for the 2016 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, and a Rising Star winner of the 2019 Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence. PAC is also the proud recipient of the largest one-time donation in the College’s history from author and philanthropist MacKenzie Scott in 2020. With nearly 10,000 students enrolled, Palo Alto College offers associate degrees and certificates of completion for transfer programs and continues to follow its mission to inspire, empower, and educate our community for leadership and success. Learn more at alamo.edu/pac.