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Grants and Investments

What we're doing

RE<C

As of August 2008, Google.org has committed over $95 million in grants and investments
to further our five initiatives. These include:

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Predict & Prevent
Inform & Empower
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RE<C
eSolar Inc. and BrightSource Energy, Inc.: $10 million investments in each to
support R&D on solar thermal power to produce utility-scale power cheaper than
coal
Makani Power Inc.: $10 million investment to support R&D on high-altitude wind
energy extraction technologies aimed at producing utility-scale power cheaper
than coal
Potter Drilling: $4 million investment in two tranches focused on developing hard
rock drilling breakthrough technologies for EGS.
AltaRock Energy, Inc: $6.25 million investment in EGS technologies and project
development to support the advancement of enhanced geothermal systems.
Southern Methodist University Geothermal Lab: $489,521 grant to improve
geothermal resource assessment techniques and update the Geothermal Map of
North America.

RechargeIT
Aptera Motors and ActaCell: $2.75 million investment to support the development
of technologies that will enable widespread commercialization of plug-in electric
vehicles
Brookings Institution: $200,000 to support a conference in spring 2008 on federal
policy to promote plug-in hybrids
CalCars: $200,000 multi-year grant to the California Cars Initiative to support their
work educating the public about plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs)
Electric Power Research Institute: $200,000 to support EPRI's plug-in vehicle
research and development program including participating in advanced
infrastructure development, vehicle-to-grid technology demonstrations, and studies
of the environmental and economic benefits of plug-ins
Plug-In America: $100,000 to raise public awareness of and to advocate for
plug-in transportation options
Rocky Mountain Institute: $200,000 to partially fund an 'Innovation Workshop' to
promote new strategies for greater production and market adoption of plug-in
next-generation hybrid vehicles
Dr. Willett Kempton at University of Delaware: $150,000 for megawatt plug-in to
grid research and implementation planning

Predict and Prevent

InSTEDD: $5,000,000 multi-year grant to establish this nonprofit organization
focused on improving early detection, preparedness, and response capabilities for
global health threats and humanitarian crises
Global Health and Security Initiative: $2,500,000 multi-year grant to strengthen
national and sub-regional disease surveillance systems in the Mekong Basin area

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(Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, and China-Yunnan province)

Clark University for Clark Labs: $617,457 to Clark University, with equal funding
from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, to support the development of a
system to improve monitoring, analysis and prediction of the impacts of climate
variability and change on ecosystems, food, and health in Africa and the Amazon
HealthMap: $450,000 multi-year grant to conduct in-depth research into the use of
online data sources for disease surveillance

Inform and Empower

Pratham: $2,000,000 to create an independent institute that will conduct the
Nationwide Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) and large scale
assessments in the education sector
HakiElimu: $1,800,000 multi-year grant to improve the quality of education in
Tanzania by conducting critical research, conducting policy analysis, and
stimulating public debate in the media.
Educational Initiatives India: INR 61.9 million (approximately $1.6 million) contract
to conduct a benchmark study to gauge levels of student learning in classes 4, 6
and 8 and to identify learning gaps in India.
Institute for Finance Management & Research (IFMR): $1,015,000 multi-year
grant to create district level development indices in India and to support mapping
of information including research, government, non-government, and NGO
database information
PRS Legislative Research: $880,000 multi-year grant to increase citizen
engagement, track the performance of members of parliament, and procure
photocopies of state laws throughout India
Aspen Institute Africa Leadership Initiative: $851,053 grant for the ALI - East
Africa program, in support of the program's efforts to develop and cultivate the
next generation of leaders in the region from the business, non-profit and public
sectors.
Center for Budget and Policy Studies (CBPS): $765,000 multi-year grant to create
a Budget Information Service for local governments in India, with the goal of
facilitating better district and municipal-level planning
Centre for Policy Research (CPR):
$600,000 multi-year grant to increase the debate and discourse on issues
of urban local governance and urban service delivery in light of the rapid
expansion of cities in India
$250,000 multi-year grant to create a centre for accountability that will
collect accountability tools, analyze them, identify gaps, assess the
effectiveness and disseminate this information to policymakers and civil
society in India.
Policy Forum: $510,000 multi-year grant to support a coalition of civil society
organizations seeking to make the policy process in Tanzania more transparent,
participatory and accountable, to benefit society, especially the poor and
marginalized communities
Shekhar Singh: $250,000 contract to conduct a study of the use and
implementation of the Right To Information (RTI) Act across various stakeholders
in India (including public authorities, information commissions, media, judiciary,
NGOs, and corporate sector).
Center for Global Development (CGD):
$220,000 grant to support the launch of the International Initiative on Impact
Evaluation (3IE), which will bring new financial and technical resources to
conduct and disseminate impact evaluations around the world
$150,000 grant to help CGD grow and continue to expand their work on

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education and outcome based assessments

International Budget Project of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (IBP):
$197,000 multi-year grant to support the building of a larger constituency for
budget tracking work in India.
Social Development Network (SODNET): $149,967 multi-year grant to support a
budget tracking tool to monitor Kenya's Constituency Development Fund and other
development funds providing communities the opportunity to make better
expenditure decisions to maximize their well-being.

Fuel Growth of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises

TechnoServe: $1.7 million for managing the business plan competitions and
entrepreneurship programs in Ghana and Tanzania since 2006
TechnoServe: $3 million as a general support grant to expand
TechnoServe's efforts to support enterprises, spur job creation, and strengthen
poverty alleviation programs in the Africa region
Acumen Fund: $5.2 million to build and support innovative enterprises serving the
poor through market-oriented approaches
Grameen Foundation: $200,000 to assess the potential for mobile applications to
provide information for rural enterprises and households in East Africa

Special Projects & Learning Grants

Energy Foundation: $50,000 for climate change research
NRDC:
$100,000 to support the Environmental Entrepreneurs Climate Campaign to
assist with the implementation of the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006
(California's AB 32)
$2,000,000 to create a Center on Energy Efficiency Standards to help the
US and China achieve major reductions in the use of electricity and natural
gas and significantly cut associated global warming pollution and energy
bills through voluntary and mandatory efficiency standards for buildings,
equipment and appliances
ONE Action Campaign: up to $3,000,000 to ensure global health and development
issues, specifically the need to conquer malaria, are prominently represented in
2008 U.S. presidential election campaigns
PlanetRead: $345,000 to support Same Language Subtitling (SLS) programs in
India
Seva Foundation: $2,000,000 to support programs to prevent blindness and
restore eyesight in India, Nepal, Tibet, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Egypt, Tanzania
and Guatemala
TEDGlobal / Sapling Foundation: $100,000 grant to support the TEDGlobalsponsored Fellows' Program which seeks to provide African entrepreneurs with
financial and other philanthropic support, as well as communication technologies to
make markets and governments more efficient
UC Berkeley Regents: $451,000 to support research on water intervention in
Kenya
UC San Francisco: a multi-year grant of $200,000 to support Dr. John Kane's
malaria research
World Bank - Development Marketplace: $500,000 to support their international
business plan competition that funds innovative, early-stage projects with high
potential for development impact
Support for global disease eradication efforts:

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The Carter Center: $1,450,000 in matching funds to support guinea worm

eradication in Ghana
Rotary Foundation: $3,500,000 in matching funds to support polio eradication
globally
Support for disaster response and recovery:
China -- more than $1.5 million to support disaster relief efforts in the aftermath of the
earthquake in central China.
Myanmar (Burma) -- $1 million to support disaster relief efforts in the aftermath of
Cyclone Nagris. $600,000 in initial grants to:
CARE USA
Doctors Without Borders
Friends of the World Food Program; Emergency Telecommunication Centers
Project
Save the Children
United States Gulf Coast -- $950,000 to support disaster response and recovery efforts
in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
Accion USA
Trickle Up Program
City Year Louisiana
National Urban League
Greater New Orleans Foundation
Liberty Bank

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