Translating enterprise-scale goals into training, language, and systems that could reach people directly, at a human level, without losing rigor or trust.
The Challenge
How do you help one of the world’s largest technology companies understand the people it cannot easily see?
Google did not lack tools, data, or reach. What it lacked was a consistent way to understand how its products were experienced by entrepreneurs, small business owners, and community organizations operating far from enterprise corridors. These audiences were real, diverse, and deeply local, yet difficult to reach through traditional brand or enterprise channels.
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Before any curriculum was designed or systems were built, the work began with listening. JinJa Birkenbeuel traveled across cities to be on the ground with local business owners, community leaders, and partner organizations, observing firsthand how Google was perceived, understood, and experienced in different contexts.
This community informed insight was not guided by a predefined roadmap. Google did not yet have a clear model for engaging these communities at scale. Through field based discovery and direct exposure to local dynamics, Birk Creative identified gaps between enterprise intent and community reality and used those insights to inform the structure, tone, and delivery of the platform.
The result was a strategy grounded in lived experience rather than assumptions, allowing the training system to be designed with nuance, cultural awareness, and practical relevance from the start.
Overview
From 2014 through 2023, Birk Creative partnered with Google to co develop and design a national workforce training platform focused on entrepreneurs, small businesses, and community based organizations. JinJa Birkenbeuel, President of Birk Creative, played an instrumental role in shaping the platform from its earliest stages, working alongside Google teams as a co developer and design lead.
This work was not about producing isolated training sessions. It was about designing a system that could translate enterprise scale intent into something usable, human, and sustainable in real world environments. The goal was clarity at scale, without losing trust.
The Problem
Google’s engagement model at the time was largely oriented toward large brands and enterprise partners. While the company’s tools were widely available, many of the people who could benefit most from them lacked access to training that felt practical, relevant, and approachable.
Entrepreneurs and small business owners had limited time. Digital literacy varied widely. Jargon and abstract explanations created friction. At the same time, Google needed to protect its brand, ensure accuracy, and operate within a complex internal ecosystem where quality and consistency mattered.
The challenge was not technical. It was interpretive. How do you design training that respects both the rigor of a global technology company and the lived realities of local communities?
The Idea
The answer was not more content. It was better structure, clearer language, and thoughtful design.
Birk Creative approached the work as a design problem rather than a delivery task. Training would only be effective if it could be recognized, understood, reused, and sustained by people who were not part of Google’s internal teams.
That meant treating branding, naming, visual systems, and curriculum architecture as essential tools, not surface decoration. Training needed to feel intentional and cohesive. It needed to be modular, adaptable, and easy to pass from one facilitator to another.
The Work
Working directly with Google leaders and internal teams, JinJa Birkenbeuel helped shape the platform’s structure, curriculum framework, and delivery model. Where technical or product content existed, it was reviewed, edited, and translated into plain language. Where gaps existed, entirely new curriculum was concepted, written, designed, and piloted.
Birk Creative led the development of workshop decks, job aids, trainer guides, and participant materials, all designed for repeatable use. New curriculum was tested through live delivery, refined through feedback, and adjusted to work across different cities, cultures, and contexts.
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Training was delivered live, virtually, and through recorded sessions. Train the trainer models were built so partners could continue delivering content independently. Accessibility was embedded from the start, including Spanish language materials and disability informed design.
Beyond training, the work extended into community engagement and trust building. Birk Creative supported diversity focused initiatives, produced video content, interviewed Google leaders, and developed creative storytelling elements that reinforced Google’s presence as a genuine community partner rather than a distant technology provider.
Throughout the partnership, Google invested deeply in alignment and leadership development. JinJa Birkenbeuel participated in executive leadership training, including programs at Dartmouth, to ensure the work reflected both enterprise expectations and community realities.
The Result
What began as a pilot in six cities grew into something much larger.
Based on early success, Google adopted the initiative into its Grow with Google portfolio and expanded it to more than twenty cities across the United States. Over multiple years, the platform supported hundreds of workshops and reached nearly 30,000 participants through direct training.
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Delivery extended through a wide network of partners, including city agencies, chambers of commerce, libraries, and community organizations. The materials were designed to be facilitator independent, enabling partners to adapt and sustain training locally without ongoing external support.
The curriculum frameworks, training systems, and partner delivery models that Birk Creative helped establish became foundational to what is now the Grow with Google Coaches program. The platform continues to operate today as a national resource, supporting live and recorded training, train the trainer ecosystems, and long term internal ownership.
In 2022, the Google Digital Coaches initiative was recognized by Fast Company as one of the most innovative designs by a large business, affirming the quality, cultural relevance, and durability of the system that had been built.
Why It Endures
This work succeeded because it was designed to last. It respected the complexity of Google’s ecosystem while remaining grounded in how people actually learn and use tools. It demonstrated that clarity, creativity, and collaboration can coexist with rigor and scale.
At a time when many technology companies were hesitant to engage directly with small business owners and underrepresented communities, this platform showed a different path forward. One built on trust, thoughtful design, and shared ownership.
Client Feedback
“JinJa has been an innovative thought partner and activator of communities in partnership with my teams at Google.
JinJa’s digital transformation know how and passion for communities of color have translated into thousands of small and mid sized businesses, startups, and future founders gaining the skills, education, and inspiration to take their business to the next stage. JinJa is a no nonsense, results oriented leader who moves quickly to action. She is an ethical business leader, advocate, and collaborator. I am proud to call JinJa a partner.”
— Chris Genteel, Director, Google at time of engagement, Founder, Glidelane
Services Provided
Concepting and developing new curriculum where none previously existed
Conducting on-the-ground listening and field-based discovery to inform platform design
Translating complex technical and product content into clear, usable training
Defining curriculum structure, learning pathways, and delivery models for long-term reuse
Designing workshop decks, job aids, trainer guides, and participant materials
Creating branded visual systems to support consistency and recognition
Piloting new curriculum through live delivery and refining based on feedback
Delivering live, virtual, and recorded training at scale across multiple markets
Leading train-the-trainer workshops so partners could sustain delivery
Providing one-to-one coaching following workshops
Designing and analyzing pre- and post-training surveys
Creating accessible training, including Spanish-language materials and disability-informed design
Working with city agencies and public sector partners with awareness of workplace and union considerations