Google Innovator Academy Dates Announced

Twenty years ago a small group of educators gathered together on Tuesday, November 7th, 2006 at Google’s headquarters in Mountain View, California to celebrate the very first Google Teacher Academy.   For those first few Academies, only educators within 160km of the Google office were chosen to attend.  Anyone beyond that had to wait until 2008.  

The program, the name and the logo design have come a long since that time. 

Now known as the Google Certified Innovator Academy, the program has welcomed almost 2000 educators from all over the world into the community. This group of passionate educators has inspired countless new ideas, programs, school initiatives and more.

At each academy educators create projects to solve a challenge, network with like minded passionate educators and learn more about how to effectively use Gemini and Google Workspace tools to engage and inspire students and colleagues. 

At Deploy Learning, we have found our experience at the academy to be career changing while remaining one of the  best professional development events that we’ve ever attended. 

Google has released the dates for the 20th Anniversary Google Certified Innovator Academies so now is the time to apply!

This refreshed program is built on three bold goals:

• Launching Transformative Projects: Innovators will solve real educational challenges by designing, piloting, and documenting replicable projects that leverage Google’s AI tools.
• Leading Responsible Innovation: We are committed to fueling brand advocacy as the clear leader in responsible AI for education, helping participants develop deep expertise in AI-driven strategy and design thinking.
• Creating a Global Legacy: A major new goal for this cohort is to generate a global library of high-impact AI best practices, paving the way for the adoption of tools like Gemini in classrooms worldwide.

Want to learn more about the APAC Innovator Academy and the application process?

Join us to find out more about the APAC Innovator Academies, the application and hear from Innovators about their experience:  

• Wednesday 18th February 
• 6 pm AEDT (4 PM JST)
• Register here

Applications for all Innovator Academy locations are officially open. Visit Google’s website to select the Academy you are interested in, and submit your application today.

Click here for more information.  Any educator can apply to any of the cohorts, but remember that travel to the academy is your responsibility.  Are you interested in applying? Which cohort do you want to be a part of?

For more questions/information about the Google Innovator program, contact us or visit Google’s Innovator page.

Stay Curious!

📖 Learn on your own time – Head over to our online courses store to check out the different courses we have on offer from our Level 1 and 2 Google Certified Educator Courses to Intro to Gen AI or Google Classroom Masterclass to the Essentials with Docs, Sheets, Gmail and Slides.

🤝 Professional Development – Reach out to us to discuss how we can partner with your school to support your professional development journey.

📣 Events – Watch this space! The 2026 Summits will be announced soon. Follow us onLinkedIn or Instagramfor more information.