Miami-Dade County partners with Google and CareerSource South Florida to offer Google Career Certificate scholarships

Today, Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava and District 7 Commissioner Raquel Regalado joined representatives from Google, Miami-Dade Public Housing and Community Development, CareerSource South Florida, and the Miami-Dade Public Library System at the Main Library in downtown Miami to announce that Google is providing Google Career Certificate Scholarships to local residents for digital skills training. The company will offer an initial 500 scholarships to low income and public housing residents to take one of the Google Career Certificates, which equip people with job-ready skills in Data Analytics, IT Support, Project Management, and UX Design within 3-6 months—with no degree or experience required. Additionally, the Miami-Dade Public Library System is providing 2,000 Chromebooks for check out in local library. 
 
“My administration is committed to building a Miami-Dade that works for everyone,” said Mayor Daniella Levine Cava. “By connecting residents to their local libraries, reliable technology, and to critical job training in partnership with Google and CareerSource, we are building pathways to prosperity for residents in every corner of our County.”
 
“Technology has transformed the types of skills needed for a successful career and Google Cloud is committed to helping people develop the capabilities they need to seize new opportunities,” said Brent Mitchell, Managing Director of State and Local Government, Google Cloud. “We’re honored to contribute to this important partnership and excited to show communities across the country what we’ll all achieve together in Miami-Dade County.”
 
Miami-Dade County is leading an ambitious housing development goal to have at least 14,000 affordable rental and homeownership units in financial closing by the end of 2022. The Google Career Certificate program is being offered as an embedded digital service for tenants and waitlisted applicants of existing and to-be-developed affordable housing units. Through the scholarship offering, Miami-Dade County aims to equip public housing residents with skills that can lead to higher-paying jobs. 
 
“While Miami-Dade County is undertaking a transformative comprehensive redevelopment of our properties, we cannot forget that beyond brick-and-mortar improvements, our ultimate responsibility is to improve the lives of our residents.  It is our pleasure to partner with Google  and Career Source to bring real world training and education that will equip our residents with the skills needed to fill good paying jobs,” said Michael Liu, Executive Director, Public Housing and Community Development. “We thank Commissioner Raquel Regalado for her leadership in sponsoring this resolution and Mayor Daniella Levine Cava ensuring that public housing residents have access to the tools that can create greater economic and personal opportunities.”  
 
“Education and skill building are the solutions for our communities to make their own success,” said Commissioner Raquel Regalado. “Those tools, once earned, can never be taken away. I’m thrilled that Google is stepping up to help us offer an achievement path to our residents who want to grow their own prosperity.”
 
Residents who do not have access to the internet at home or to a computer or mobile device can access the Google Career Certificate program by checking out a Chromebook with built-in internet from their nearest Miami-Dade Public Library System branch with their library card. The Library will begin offering chromebooks for residents to borrow and use at home later this month as part of its Community Internet Connectivity Initiative, which provides Miami-Dade County residents with more digital connectivity options and equitable access to the internet and technology.
 
The program can also be accessed by visiting one of CareerSource South Florida's 11 Full Service Career Centers and 3 Tech Hire Centers. CareerSource South Florida assists employers and job seekers with employment services for adults, youth, dislocated workers, individuals transitioning from welfare to work, and refugees.
 
 “The CareerSource South Florida investment in the Google Career Certificate Scholarship program is an investment in our workforce,” said Rick Beasley, Executive Director of CareerSource South Florida. “Our goal is to prepare individuals who may have faced barriers in the past to compete in today’s job market. The Professional and Business Services industry gained the most jobs in the region over the year according to a recent labor market report. A specialized Career Certificate will prepare jobseekers for these high demand employment opportunities.”
 
The Google Career Certificates were developed by Google employees to support skilling in high-demand fields, and are available with Spanish language support. The program includes an employer consortium of over 150 companies that consider certificate graduates for jobs, including Google and Florida-based companies such as Freedom Learning Group, KnowBe4 and Modi. Certificate graduates also have access to resume templates, coaching and career placement support from CareerCircle, mock interview practice via Big Interview, and a job board. There are currently 1.3M open jobs across the U.S. in the Google Career Certificate fields. Seventy-five percent of program graduates report a positive career impact--such as a new job, higher pay, or promotion--within 6 months of completion.
 
To apply for a Google Career Certificate Scholarship today, please complete this Google Form.