FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Devika Gopal Agge
Chief Development & Employer Services Officer
devika@pursuit.org
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NEW YORK, NY, May 2026
Pursuit today announced a $2.5 million, three-year grant from Google.org to expand the AI Jobs Institute (AIJI), Pursuit's community-based platform for inclusive AI opportunity in New York. The grant runs from June 2026 through May 2029.
The AI Jobs Institute is a public-private partnership launching in Long Island City, Queens in 2027, supported by capital grants from New York City and State. It will serve as one of the nation's first AI-focused workforce hubs, a place where adults from underrepresented communities gain the skills and employer connections needed to thrive in the fastest-growing careers of our time.
Low-income New Yorkers face real barriers to accessing the AI economy. Small businesses that anchor working-class neighborhoods lack affordable, practical AI adoption support. Public school educators lack the training and resources to bring AI skills into their classrooms. And despite meaningful public investment in New York's AI workforce infrastructure, philanthropic capital is needed to bridge the gap between what public funding can reach and the full scope of inclusive AI opportunity.
Google.org's investment addresses all of these gaps at once.
The grant funds four interconnected workstreams through the AI Jobs Institute:
Small Business AI Programming Pursuit will deliver practical AI adoption support to small and midsize businesses across all five boroughs through workshops, applied projects, and Builder-supported implementation. Pursuit-trained Builders from low-income communities will work as paid AI consultants, gaining real work experience while helping businesses put AI to use in their day-to-day operations.
Educator Training Through a partnership with the United Federation of Teachers, Pursuit will train NYC public school teachers as AI Ambassadors, focused on practical AI integration and school-based leadership, bringing AI skills directly into New York City classrooms.
Community College Pathways Beginning with LaGuardia Community College and expanding across CUNY, Pursuit will build AI-native career pathways for community college students, connecting learners to AI-aligned careers through hands-on training and employer partnerships.
Statewide Expansion As New York State's officially designated administrator for AI Prep for Jobs, Pursuit leads a statewide coalition including Per Scholas in Buffalo and Le Moyne College in Syracuse, delivering intensive AI workforce training to low-income adults across New York City, Buffalo, and Syracuse.
Pursuit has a long track record of connecting low-income New Yorkers to good jobs and sustained wage growth. The AI Jobs Institute builds on that foundation, bringing together workforce training, small business support, educator development, and community college pathways under one roof.
The Institute is already generating replication interest from cities across the country. Pursuit and Google.org aim to build a model in New York that others can learn from and adopt.
"New York has always been a city that bets on people others overlook. The AI Jobs Institute is built on that same belief. Google.org's investment gives us the resources to reach further, move faster, and prove that the AI economy can be a genuine engine of mobility for low-income New Yorkers. This is exactly the kind of work we started Pursuit to do." — Nick Simmons, CEO, Pursuit
"Google is committed to supporting organizations doing work that is rooted in community, and built to last. Pursuit has built something in New York that has the potential to become a national model for how cities can create pathways for residents to the opportunities of the AI economy, and we are proud to support the AI Jobs Institute and the communities it serves." — Reggie Thomas, Head of Government Affairs at Google New York.
Pursuit is a New York City-based nonprofit that creates pathways to economic mobility by training adults with the greatest need and potential for AI-enabled careers. Since 2012, Pursuit has invested in individuals from low-income communities — 70% Black or Latine, 50% receiving public assistance, 60% without four-year degrees, and 40% immigrants — to prepare them for the jobs of the future. To date, Pursuit has generated more than $1 billion in lifetime wage gains for program participants by partnering with employers, community organizations, and public leaders to deliver AI-native training that leads directly to real jobs and sustained wage growth. For more information, visit pursuit.org.
Google's mission is to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful. Through products and platforms like Search, Maps, Gmail, Android, Google Play, Google Cloud, Chrome and YouTube, Google plays a meaningful role in the daily lives of billions of people and has become one of the most widely-known companies in the world. Google.org, Google’s philanthropy, brings the best of Google to help solve some of humanity’s biggest challenges combining funding, innovation, and technical expertise to support underserved communities and provide opportunity for everyone. Google has proudly called New York home for more than 20 years.
