Google announces career and digital training initiative for formerly incarcerated individuals Google today announced the launch of Grow with Google Career Readiness for Reentry. The initiative — created in partnership with nonprofits The Last Mile, Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO), Defy Ventures, Fortune Society and The Ladies of Hope Ministries — is designed to offer job readiness and digital skill training for formerly incarcerated individuals. As the company notes in a blog post today, returning citizens have an unemployment rate 5x higher than the national average — and returning citizens who are Black experience this at an even higher rate, due to discriminatory practices. In all, some 600,000 Americans attempt to make the transition from incarceration to employment every year.