In a blog post on February 23rd, Dr. Larry Brilliant announced some changes at Google.org, Google's philanthropic group. These changes include that Dr. Brilliant will now be serving as Google's Chief Philanthropy Evangelist and that Megan Smith, who currently serves as Vice President of New Business Development, will also be serving as General Manager of Google.org and provide day-to-day management.
In addition, Dr. Brilliant outlined that these next steps would be taking place:
One of the first things that Megan will focus on is how Google.org can best achieve its mission. During our review it became clear that while we have been able to support some remarkable non-profit organizations over the past three years, our greatest impact has come when we've attacked problems in ways that make the most of Google's strengths in technology and information; examples of this approach include Flu Trends, RechargeIT, Clean Energy 2030, and PowerMeter. By aligning Google.org more closely with Google as a whole, Megan will ensure that we're better able to build innovative, scalable technology and information solutions. As a first step, Google has decided to put even more engineers and technical talent to work on these issues and problems…
Other investments that Google.org has previously made in the clean energy area include its RE<C initiative, an investment in eSolar, and investments in EGS (Enhanced Geothermal Systems). Google, Inc. has also made a variety of investments and undertaken initiatives pertaining to clean energy. Brilliant stated that there is no change in Google's commitment, stated in 2004, to dedicate 1% of the company's equity and profits to philanthropy. For more information:
- Google.org – Home page
- The Next Chapter for Google.org (Official Google.org Blog, February 23, 2009)
- Google.org Announces Philanthropy Focus Areas; Includes Climate Change (Green VC, November 28, 2007)