11 Latinas in Technology Changing the Face of Their Industry

We’ve all heard about the depressing statistics about women in tech and I’m pretty sure most of us have heard the outrage over the appalling treatment of women in the tech world overall

Photo: Instagram/beatrizacevedogreiff

Photo: Instagram/beatrizacevedogreiff

Avatar for Yvette Montoya

By  Yvette Montoya

We’ve all heard about the depressing statistics about women in tech and I’m pretty sure most of us have heard the outrage over the appalling treatment of women in the tech world overall. The bottom line is that it’s tough to be a woman in any field that requires them to work alongside men who don’t believe women have the intelligence or the inclinations in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math). As you can guess it’s even harder for Latinas in the STEAM world. They make up 1% of working tech professionals but as we already know, Latinas are resilient and even though the opportunities are slim they are still out there making room for themselves and other women like them. Here are 11 Latinas in STEAM that are truly kicking ass and taking names.

Beatriz Acevedo: President and Co-founder, Mitú

The lady who needs no introduction, Beatriz is a founding partner and president of mitú, the leading technology-driven media brand focused on millennial Latinos. She is a digital pioneer, Latin media expert and network approved show-runner with more than 20 years of entertainment experience, having created, developed and produced more than 1,000 half-hours of original, primetime television programming and award-winning digital series in English, Spanish and Portuguese. (2015.latism.org)

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Lisa Feria: CEO, Stray Dog Capital

Stray Dog Capital wants a world in which all animals live in peaceful co-existence. They provide early stage companies with the capital and support to grow their businesses and shift away from an animal-based economy. Feria has worked with blue chip companies such as Procter & Gamble and General Mills and on businesses ranging from $350 MM to $2.5 BN. Lisa has an MBA from the University of Chicago where she was voted “one of the 25 most influential MBA students,” and a Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology. Lisa has always been heavily involved in the community – as a volunteer for SPCA and the United Way, and was the recipient of one of the two ArtsWave awards given by the Procter & Gamble CEO. 

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Liliana Monge: Co-founder, Sabio

Sabio is a coding bootcamp based out of Los Angeles that focuses on training and mentoring people of color and women as way to disrupt the lack of POC in tech. Liliana and her husband Gregorio founded Sabio as a way to do their part in helping diverse candidates compete in the knowledge based economy. 75% of its graduates are either Latino or African American and 40% are women—10% higher than the industry average. So far they’ve had many successful alumni and continue to grow from Culver City into Orange County and the East side.

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Dr. Lisette Nieves: CEO, Lingo Ventures

Lisette is currently founding partner at Lingo Ventures, where she provides consulting services to the nonprofit and public sector on growth, talent recruitment/retention, and change management. Prior to Lingo Ventures, Lisette served for two years as the Belle Zeller Distinguished Visiting Professor in Public Policy at the City University of New York at Brooklyn College. During this time, she also led the launch of a pilot workforce and community college partnership in Miami and Philadelphia. Lisette also served as the founding Executive Director of Year Up NY, an innovative workforce development program, where in the span of five years she grew the organization from a $250,000 seed grant to a $6 million operation with 40 staff serving over 250 young adults annually. 

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Luz Rivas: Founder, DIY Girls

Luz Rivas founded DIY (Do-It- Yourself) Girls, a nonprofit based in Pacoima that offers after-school and summer programs that provide hands-on STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math) experiences for girls. Since 2012, DIY Girls has served over 2,000 girls in grades 4-12, helping them to develop 21st century skills and capabilities as engineers and designers. She’s on the Board of Directors of the Department of Public Works, she’s taught service learning for engineering undergraduates at USC, worked to increase diversity at Caltech, and worked on NASA and National Science Foundation funded projects that aimed to increase access to STEM in community-based organizations. Rivas is also announcing her campaign for State Assembly! You can support her here.

wp_*postsNoramay Cardenas: Co-founder & Managing Director, Make in LA

Make in LA is an early stage accelerator and fund created to support technology enabled hardware companies (IoT, robotics, wearables, VR, etc). As an accelerator they help startups avoid costly pitfalls associated with hardware production. Noramay Cadena is a nationally recognized leader for her technical contributions in the corporate sector as well as for her work in the community. She spent over 12 years working across multiple business units at The Boeing Company and is leading the Latinas in STEM Foundation, an organization she co-founded in 2013, as the Executive Director. 

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Ramona Ortega: Founder, Mi Dinero Mi Futuro

Mi Dinero Mi Futuro is an online financial planning platform with budgeting tools and financial advice dedicated to empowering Latinas to create wealth. Ortega focuses on the Latino community as a way to create culturally competent dialogue with millennial women who are looking for curated financial products. Essentially she’s shaking up the FinTech world by giving Latinas all the tools they need to become financially savvy and independent.

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Estrella Jaramillo: Co-Founder, B-wom

Have you thought about your pelvic floor? This jet-setting lady is out there spreading the intimate health gospel through her app B-wom. B-wom offers a pelvic floor test with 10 questions on life status, urine loss symptoms, strength of pelvic floor contraction and other risk factors like constipation, weak abdomen, or the existence of a c-section scar, perineal tear or episiotomy. After completing the test, a woman can access her results by registering on the app. B-wom has collaborated with the LA chapter of UN Women, partnered with the Women’s Health Organization and are conducting their first scientific study with UCLA.

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LaLa Castro and Tanya Salcido: Founders, Latina Geeks

LaLa Castro and Tanya Salcido were brought together thanks to a common passion — the love of technology and all things digital. With backgrounds in marketing, eCommerce, and social media, these early adopters of tech found a gap within the online Hispanic community. It was at that pivotal moment #LatinaGeeks was born. Both LaLa and Tanya created the first-of-its-kind community to empower and inspire Latin women by spreading the knowledge of entrepreneurship, social media and technology. Their website reviews the latest gadgets, mobile applications, social technology and local tech-startups that women can apply to their daily lives and/or businesses. Join the geek movement on LatinaGeeks.com. 

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America and Penelope Lopez: Cyber Code Twins

These girls are double trouble! America and Penelope Lopez are known as the “The CyberCode Twins.” They are twin sisters born and raised in East Los Angeles who have traveled to many cities and received various awards in tech competitions and hackathons such as the NASA International SpaceApps Challenge, AT&T Developer Summit, HackForLA, IBM Global Mobile Innovators Challenge and many more. Now, they are on a mission to make communities safer thru wearable tech and mobile apps. 

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Sue Siegel: CEO, GE Ventures

Sue Siegel is GE’s Chief Innovation Officer and CEO of GE Ventures, leading the development and acceleration of innovation across the company. An innovator and disruptor at heart, she is a seasoned executive focused on uncovering new and unconventional paths to growth. She has 30+ years of corporate, entrepreneurial and venture capital experience all geared at one thing: turning untapped potential into real value… Sue has been recognized in Fortune as one of “34 Leaders Who Are Changing Health Care” and as one of “The 100 Most Influential Women in Silicon Valley” by Silicon Valley Business Journal. She is an Aspen Institute Crown Fellow and was featured as a “Multiplier” in the bestselling book: “Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter.” 

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