Ben Jealous brought Google and Alphabet execs to Maryland

Gubernatorial candidate Ben Jealous organized a meeting on Thursday that gave executives from Google and parent company Alphabet a chance to hear about technology in Baltimore and Prince George’s County.
Jealous, who is among a field of candidates running for the Democratic nomination in June’s primary, said he hosted Alphabet Senior Vice President of Corporate Development David Drummond and Google Vice President Bradley Horowitz. News of the visit was first reported by the Baltimore Business Journal.

Today, I’ve invited executives from Alphabet and @Google to meet with civic, social, and business leaders. Now we’re touring @UofMaryland’s campus in Prince George’s County! pic.twitter.com/UezuAl1sT4

— Ben Jealous (@BenJealous) April 26, 2018

According to tweets, the execs toured and heard from Ken Ulman, who is leading the university’s efforts to attract startups. They also visited College Park–based IonQ. Jealous said a meeting took place in Prince George’s County, but included Baltimore tech companies such as Catalyte, BridgeEdu and Barcoding Inc. Google has ties to the state via cofounder Sergey Brin, who is a University of Maryland alum and grew up in Prince George’s County. His brother Sam Brin was also in attendance.
“We brought them here today for a very robust conversation about the unique value Maryland offers a company like Google in health sciences, cyber and also when it comes to building a more inclusive workforce,” said Jealous, who has tech investing experience as a partner at venture firm Kapor Capital.
Jealous said the last point was particularly important, as companies in Silicon Valley have “workforces that have become less inclusive over time.”
“We did our best today to have this really be about all the people of Maryland and the potential to build more inclusive tech companies here,” he said.