Podcasts about hispanic professional engineers

In this episode, we dive deep into the world of internships in engineering, exploring why they are crucial for career success. Fresh from experiences at the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers convention, where thousands of students competed for opportunities, Nicolai shares invaluable insights about landing that first internship. From the shocking statistic that recruiters spend only 6 seconds reviewing each resume, to practical strategies like using company keywords and building an online presence, this episode is packed with actionable advice.You'll discover why any work experience - even cleaning dorms or working as a quality control technician - can be valuable for professional development. The hosts discuss the significant difference between student and professional mindsets, and how internships help bridge this gap. Plus, learn how networking through internships can lead directly to job offers, as demonstrated by real success stories from the hosts' experiences.Whether you're a student looking for your first internship or a professional seeking to understand the value of internship programs, this conversation offers practical tips, personal experiences, and proven strategies for standing out in today's competitive engineering job market.Lessons LearnedInternships are a critical differentiator in job applications - "I still was at such an advantage with having those four years of internships"Any work experience is valuable - from cleaning dorms to quality control technician, all jobs teach professional skillsThe transition from student to professional mindset is significant - "Being a worker and being a student are very different"Network building through internships can lead directly to job offers - as demonstrated by one host's experience getting hired through a previous internship connectionMain TakeawaysRecruiters spend an average of just 6 seconds reviewing each resume - making first impressions criticalHaving internship experience significantly increases chances of getting hired full-timeDifferent types of internships can help identify preferred career paths - "it helped me focus on what discipline I actually wanted to do"Professional skills developed during any job are transferable and valuableTake ActionCreate a standout resume with keywords from company websitesDevelop an online presence through LinkedIn and personal websitesBe proactive in reaching out - "Just find a phone and call the front desk"Apply the five-hour rule during internships - spend one hour each day learning about your fieldAttend industry conventions and career fairsJoin professional organizations like ASCE and Engineers Without Borders Get full access to Engineering our Future at engineeringourfuture.substack.com/subscribe

**Advancing DEI Values** In an enlightening new episode of SA Voices From The Field Dr. Jill Creighton invites Shawntal Brown, an advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), to share her insights on driving institutional support for these crucial values. Shawntal emphasizes how integrating DEI into the fabric of higher education is not just beneficial but essential for creating welcoming and inclusive environments. **The Research Journey** Shawntal's research journey reveals a strategic pivot from focusing on staff insights to exploring university presidents' role in championing DEI. This shift underscores the importance of leadership buy-in for effective DEI initiatives **Navigating Complex Social Landscapes** Proactive DEI work is emerging as a priority in contemporary academia. Dr. Jill and Shawntal discuss the challenges posed by today's charged social and political climates, emphasizing the need for steadfast commitment to DEI principles. **Legislative Impacts on DEI** Texas Senate Bill 17's severe restrictions on diversity trainings and resources present significant hurdles. Shawntal offers a poignant analysis of the bill's consequences, exploring the complex task of reconciling legislative compliance with DEI values. **Staying True to DEI Amidst Legal Challenges** Transitioning DEI efforts to align with new legislation while adhering to core values is a delicate balance. Shawntal reflects on her time in the school of engineering, bringing a personal touch to her professional dedication to supporting students. **Self-Care for DEI Professionals** Shawntal wisely advises her peers to prioritize self-care while traversing the treacherous waters of DEI work, advocating for a strong support system amidst the current landscape. **Professional Development and Community Building** Promising initiatives like the NASPA 2024 Mid Level Administrators Conference and the Women's Leadership Institute provide pivotal growth and networking opportunities for DEI professionals. **Resources Against Regressive Legislation** Sharing resources and staying informed are vital for navigating legislative impacts on higher education, as Shawntal passionately discusses. TRANSCRIPT Dr. Jill Creighton [00:00:01]: Welcome to Student Affairs Voices from the field, the podcast where we share your student affairs stories from fresh perspectives to seasoned experts. This is season 10, continuing our season 9 theme of On Transitions in Student Affairs. This podcast is brought to you by NASPA, and I'm doctor Jill Creighton, she, her, hers, your essay voices from the field host. Hey, essay voices. Welcome back for our next episode. And today, I'm very excited to introduce you to Shawntal Brown. Shawntal aims to advance the values of diversity, equity, and inclusion and promote servant leadership through her research, service, and formal academic appointments. In her current appointment as senior outreach program coordinator for initiatives for campus support in the division of campus and community engagement at the University of Texas at Austin, Shawntal builds connections with students, staff, and faculty so the campus community members can experience a welcoming and inclusive campus climate. Dr. Jill Creighton [00:00:57]: She enjoys a research based approach to community building, including leveraging campus climate assessment findings to develop resources and strategically approach campus outreach to support equitable environments at the university. Her equity lens is also evident in her service and accolades. Shawntal is the co-president of the Texas Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education or TADAHE for short and provides TADAHE administrators with professional and personal development opportunities in alignment with the mission, envision, and equity and inclusive experience of the organization. Additionally, she received the NASPA Region 3 DEI Mosaic Award for her passion and support of diversity, equity, and inclusion through her advocacy and research. Shawntal's doctoral research focuses on university presidents and their commitments to DEI through their organizational perspective. Her work, mapping pleasure and pain of women's bodies, Southern Black feminist geographic interventions in the journal Gender, Place, and Culture. And Additionally, she has co authored with doctor Michael a Goodman in ACPA developments called It'll Be Like Biden and Harris, a Black Woman's Conundrum in Collegiate Student Government. To bridge research and practice across disciplines, Shawntal regularly presents at different conferences, including National Women's Studies Association, the Texas Association College and University Student Personnel Administrators or TCUPSA Group, and with NASPA. Dr. Jill Creighton [00:02:16]: Hope you enjoy our conversation. Before this episode moves forward today, I want to ensure that we clarify the timeline for the conversation. Shawntal and I had the pleasure of speaking in mid February 2024. This was prior to the layoffs happening at the University of Florida in the DEIB space. So if you don't hear us reference it or you're confused why something sounds a little different than your expectations, it's because that particular action simply had not occurred yet when this conversation was recorded. If you are a person at the University of Florida who's been impacted by the legislation and by job loss, just want to say that I'm thinking about you and hope that you're able to progress forward in a way that is meaningful and also still helps our students feel included, not just feel included, but become included in our collegiate spaces. I appreciate all of the work that you all are doing and have done. Shawntal, we are thrilled to welcome you to SA Voices. Shawntal Brown [00:03:14]: Yes. Thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited for today. Dr. Jill Creighton [00:03:17]: And in our theme of transitions, we're going to be talking about your transitions primarily as a diversity educator and student activist all the way through to professional who's supporting students who are engaging in activism. And we always love to get to know our guests by asking you how you got to your current seat. Shawntal Brown [00:03:34]: Yes. So I think going back, I am originally from Oklahoma City. So transferred to Austin, Texas for my master's in women's and gender studies. And so while I was a master's student, I was just trying to find my way of, like, you know, what do I wanna do as a career? What do I want to, like, focus on? And I found myself being in spaces that primarily supported minority student populations. And so first started out in a center called the Gender and Sexuality Center, supported LGBTQIA students, women students within that space, and led different opportunities like a feminist Friday, where we talked about different topics focused on, like, you know, feminist theory, talking about occurring events, things like that. Just supporting folks who are like in different organizations. And so as I was in that space, I was like, I kinda like this. This is like a really cool space to be in. Shawntal Brown [00:04:23]: I really enjoyed just working along the different program programs that they did, events that were had. And I was like there's there's something about this that I like and so after I finish that internship, I started working at the international office at my institution at the University of Texas at Austin, and I was working with, like, different students from different, countries. So from, like, China, Germany, you name it. We were working with those student populations. And to do that event, I was considered a assistant program coordinator then. And before, I'm not formally trained in, you know, student theory, higher education, and that sends for my master's degree. And so I was like, I wonder how this could pan out as a job in the future. And so slowly but surely continue to do that work, working with different student groups, whether they're international, whether they were, like, you know, minoritized populations, campus. Shawntal Brown [00:05:17]: And then I found myself, like, I think this is, like, the career path that I wanna go down. And so I was applying for positions that are specifically working with underrepresented students, especially women students. I wanted to, you know, continue to do that work. And after a while, I was able to become a student program coordinator in an engineering office that supported underrepresented students, which was an amazing opportunity because I, like, advise student groups, a lot of professional groups like the National Society of Black Engineers, Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers. I was able to put on programs to welcome, like, prospective students. I did a lot of recruitment work, and then also did, like, classes, taught, like, research research course, getting students it really interested in graduate school, especially underrepresented students because I was just like, you in this space are so important to have as a potential, like, faculty member, as a mentor for, like, future students that are coming behind you. And so I was really passionate about doing that work. But really in that role is doing, like, a little bit of everything, becoming like a Swiss army knife, if you will, in, the space. Shawntal Brown [00:06:18]: So really getting to know different skills that I was building and helping folks academically, helping folks professionally, you know, all those different realms for those student groups. And so after a while, I was like, this has been a really great opportunity just to really get to know these students, seeing them grow in their different ways. And so that was, like, my first full time position to really see, like, this is a really great opportunity to work with these students. And so now my current role as a senior outreach program coordinator, I work in a division of the of campus and community engagement. It's more focused on the broader campus community as supporting students, staff, and faculty to make sure they have a welcoming and accessible, like, experience at the institution. But really, my pathway kind of just helping support underrepresented groups has been really just like the foundation of where I found myself at the institution and just really enjoy the work that I do. Dr. Jill Creighton [00:07:09]: And I'll give you a shout out for your work for our listeners. As we mentioned in the bio, Shawntal actually received a NASPA award region 3 for, the DEI Mosaic award supporting diversity, equity, and inclusion. So can you tell us about what work led to that recognition? Shawntal Brown [00:07:24]: Yeah. Oh, goodness. I would just also wanna shout out the folks who willingly nominated me. I was like, thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. The it was really like a lot of the work that I have done has really been focused on, just supporting the professionals in my role with the Techs Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education. A mouthful I know, but we call it TADAA here, was really the opportunity for me to really branch out and network with other DEI professionals rather in the state of Texas. Shawntal Brown [00:07:51]: And so that was kind of, like, one of the many things that folks saw me doing. I'm currently the co president for that. And so that has kind of, like, led to to that recementing my foundation within DEI. I think just also the support of, underrepresented students, like I've mentioned, has really just been, like, the cracks that people can see that connection building that I really love to just put forth with people. And let me see. I think I'm trying to remember one more. I feel like I'm forgetting one more, but I think folks see the overall research. And I'm also doing my my doctorate part time, doing my research focusing on diversity, equity, inclusion. Shawntal Brown [00:08:28]: And I think people see that that's something that's really just a core value to my, like, higher ed professional life profile. And so I think the folks who nominated me really saw and let that shine through when they wrote those nominations. So I'm really appreciative for them. Dr. Jill Creighton [00:08:44]: And the work that you were doing for that recognition, also extremely important and kind of unique to tie into higher education. Can you talk a little bit about how you found your research topic? Because I know that is a major question for almost every doctoral student on the planet. Everyone's either on this very big mind space of wanting to study everything, maybe a little bit lost on not knowing what to study. Shawntal Brown [00:09:06]: Yeah. That's a great question. I think I really started out with, like, the crux of, like, I'm really interested in DEI in my research, but where do I go here? And initially, I was trying to focus more on, like, the staff perspective of, like, flipping it. Like, what could staff do to make DEI more cemented in their goals and their, like, you know, opportunities and things like that. But then I was, like, really sitting with it's bigger than this because my personal opinion in thinking about the institution, I feel like DEI should be really just linked up into, like it should be fully embedded into the infrastructure of the institution. So I was, like, thinking, how can that happen? What does that look like? And read through, like, the literature that I have gone through at this point. They talked about chief diversity officers as, like, really important people to have in these roles, really important to have in these spaces to really amplify that voice. But then in the case of my research specifically, I was like, you know what? Let's shift it. Shawntal Brown [00:10:00]: Like, what does it mean to have a university president who really supports this? And so that's kind of the perspective I'm taking up. Like, what does it mean for your leadership up above to support the values of diversity and inclusion, whether it be in their state of union addresses and strategic plans. Like what does that mean for them to do this work? And so it was something that it took me a while to get there. I think I kind of, like, was taking the different angles. I think of it as like a diamond. I was like, I'm on this face of the diamond, but I I need to just go over to this face to this face. And now I'm like, oh, I kind of hit where I wanna be. And it's really interesting. Shawntal Brown [00:10:34]: I might nerd out a little bit on researching because I'm really excited about it to really look at one specific, president that is at the University of Texas at Boston who had a really amazing legacy that I've heard so far, who was William c Powers, who just really did a lot of great work and really amplified diversity, equity, inclusion here. And so I'm kind of curious, how did he do this work? How did he get here? And so I'm very excited to start get to the process of, like, interviewing, chatting with folks to kinda hear about the experiences that people may have had with him. So I'm I'm really excited just to see what does this mean for other future university presidents? What does it mean for folks who are, like, aspiring for this role who also love diversity, equity, inclusion, or value diversity, equity, inclusion too? So I'm really excited for this. Dr. Jill Creighton [00:11:15]: I think that's really important work to look at that narrative perspective on what it actually looks like in practice. I know that our NASPA colleagues put out a publication not too long ago about campus statements in response to acts of racial aggression or ethnic aggression or marginalized identity based aggression and what they looked like, some of their impact and things like that that came out, I wanna say, maybe couple of years ago. It was post the murder of George Floyd, but it was, I think, still during the pandemic when that came out. So that maybe kind of losing a little steam in terms of age as we all know research does, but I appreciate that I think what you're doing is carrying that forward and looking a little bit deeper at one individual perspective. But I'm wondering as a professional in the DEI realm, what you're seeing in terms of transitioning the work that you're doing because I feel like for a long time, the field was in reactive mode because there was so much happening. And now maybe we're swinging back to being more proactive. What do you see? Shawntal Brown [00:12:13]: No. I think that's really important now, especially with, like, the social political climate happening, you know, states like Texas, very conservative states with the anti DEI legislature that's going on. And so I think it's an opportunity for professionals who are trying to, 1, remain in compliance with, like, you know, the new law. But then, 2, for folks who are, like, needing to really resubmit and reaffirm the work that they're doing. And so it's definitely, like, a difficult balance right now because to think more broadly about what's going on, folks of the AI professionals or, you know, the new spaces that folks are in trying to still support the new type of work that we're doing is a really tough place. It's definitely like a lot of losses happened, but I think it's more important now than ever to learn how to be proactive in the spaces, especially That's a generous word. Yeah. It's a unique time. Dr. Jill Creighton [00:13:11]: That's a generous word. Shawntal Brown [00:13:13]: Yeah. It's a unique time. And so I think it I think there is, like, a future of what we can do to continue to support a version of diversity work and what it can be. But I think it's definitely like a we're kinda rolling with the punches. And I think the proactive piece will definitely it still needs to be there, but I think it'll just have to be a different way of shaping it for it to be still present in our values in of itself, if that makes sense. Dr. Jill Creighton [00:13:42]: So the unique thing always about the US is that depending on which state you're in, the rules shift drastically. We also have quite a few national members who are not within the United States. So can you please elucidate a little bit what's going on in Texas with the law? Shawntal Brown [00:13:56]: Yes. No. That's important to just kind of get out of my US centric perspective. So in Texas specifically, there was a bill passed called 7 senate bill 17. It's more colloquially described as, like, the anti DEI bill. And so with this, the bill asked for many different things to be discontinued, such as, like, diversity trainings, opportunities to have specific affinity groups, ally trainings, different types of statements made by individuals. So, like, diversity statements are no longer able to be offered by faculty who are looking into precisions at their institutions. But many all of it did really say that is trying to aim towards, like, a color blind, gender neutral approach to things that happens at the institution, which is very difficult because a lot of the current DEI offices in Texas specifically have to go through undergo a lot of changes. Shawntal Brown [00:14:49]: And some of these changes resulted a lot of them were resolved. And then an office that, you know, had to come back with something that was gonna abide by the current law of senate bill 17. And so it's definitely been a lot of upheaval just like not specifically I would say upheaval watching it as a professional at my institution, but also looking at the broader, like, Texas institutions and seeing how the different changes are happening. And that's definitely been, like, a really tough time overall just kind of navigating the the spaces and how everyone's kind of doing things a little bit differently. So it's been tough in that front. Dr. Jill Creighton [00:15:25]: I think Texas, Utah, and Florida are all kind of in the same space right now. How are you transitioning your work on a day to day basis from what maybe you would have done last year or things like trainings or just general inclusion in your campus community? And how do you work towards that now given it feels like it's a little bit antithesis to the new law? Shawntal Brown [00:15:50]: Yeah. I think I'll I'll highlight Tadee because I think it is a moment where us as an organization, we really wanna provide resources to staff in those spaces and really help them kind of understand the new law and also building community with each other. Because since we Texas is so big, so spread out, there's so many institutions here. And so it's really, like, important to have, like, the community building, like, resource offering to folks because, like I mentioned, like, everyone's doing things a little bit differently, understanding the the law a little bit differently. And so that makes it really tough. I can empathize and, like, relate to, like, the feeling of, like, isolation in some ways of, oh my goodness. We're this little hub here, and we're doing this in this way. And then watching, like, a little hub there, and they're doing it that way. Shawntal Brown [00:16:40]: And so I think I am fortunate to be in a role with Tati just to kind of be a support system in this time and just really try to bring together the conversations with individuals. Like, we're having our annual summit that's coming up in the summertime, and so we're really trying to bring people, like, let's chat about this. Let's understand it. How can we work together in this time? How can we support each other in this time? And so that's our main push right now. Dr. Jill Creighton [00:17:04]: And what are you seeing that's working? Shawntal Brown [00:17:06]: I feel like, you know, in the in the broader sense, I think the resource sharing has been more, this is our key. We need to chat about this. We need to talk about these conversations. So resource sharing has been very helpful. Just to understand what's happening at other campuses because we're this is still new. We're about, what, a month in to this new legislature. So it's kind of like, oh, yeah. We need to chat with each other. Shawntal Brown [00:17:27]: We need to talk to each other. And so definitely, like, receiving articles, keeping up with the news, reading about what's changing, what's happening across the country, across the state, it's been really important during this time. Dr. Jill Creighton [00:17:38]: And anyone in particular who's been implementing practice differently now in terms of being able to do the work and stay in alignment with what the legislature expects? Shawntal Brown [00:17:48]: Yeah. I think that's a really great question. And I think a lot of the work that we used to do within our spaces cannot continue. And that's really been tough for us as higher ed professionals to learn the restrictions and the confines that we have to navigate with this new law. And so it really hurts because there's great losses that hasn't been acknowledged enough. I would say just to know that there are centers that are closed that used to support LGBTQ students. There are positions that are being let go of at different institutions. And so there's a lot of grieving that is happening right now amid these different anti DEI laws. Shawntal Brown [00:18:31]: And so it makes the work that we try to do within the confines of this law much more difficult because we are trying to make sure that we are in compliance to new law. So there's a lot of barriers to us now. And so it does impede a lot of the progress that was made in prior years that we're trying to, you know, we were trying to advance towards equity, and now we can't. And so it's definitely very much antithetical to the work that was previously done, and it's making it more difficult for higher ed professionals to continue to do this work. And so, yeah, that's been really tough and really difficult to just sit with currently. Dr. Jill Creighton [00:19:09]: Yeah. Let's talk about your students as well or the students in the state of Texas because, you know, we we think about the impact to the profession. We think about, you know, the impact to how our faculty colleagues are also responding. But at the end of the day, the number one population impacted is probably the students who will either no longer be receiving this type of education or who maybe relied on services or communities, that are no longer either allowed or at least recognizable under this new law. So how is that playing out? Shawntal Brown [00:19:44]: I think in the sense of this law, the students have really stepped up in some ways. And I know that's kind of a tricky thing because I know my personal, like, soap boxes that students came to the institution to learn and not have to do so much advocacy work. And so I hold a bit of tension with it in some ways. But I also say that they have a lot of voice in what they can do and make institutional leaders know, like, this is a problem. We're missing this. We're hurting. We want to make sure that you understand this loud and clear. And I think, like, you know, throughout social media, throughout, like, my personal experience of, like, what I'm seeing broadly is, like, I think that student voice is really important right now. Shawntal Brown [00:20:24]: It's critical right now, and it's so needed because they are being heard. They are, you know, doing their own organizing. And there are groups that are even outside of the institution that are doing their organizing that, you know, are putting their own resources together to really band with each other, which is really important too. And so I really admire and appreciate what they're doing because it's really gonna be something that's, 1, gonna be important in when we look back at this time to see the work that they've done and acknowledge that work. But then, 2, it's gonna be something that we may need to think about in the future sense too of, like, you know, how can we make sure that students, in a broader sense, kind of get information that's gonna be helpful for them prior to, like, the bills coming up. Maybe more of a, how can we think about legislative, like, education and advocacy for our students? Like, how can that be built into our to our programming and our systems, like, in the future too? So it's kind of like a thought that I hadn't missed about this kind of reflecting the experiences. Dr. Jill Creighton [00:21:20]: And you were a student activist before becoming a professional in the DEI space. How has your take on the work changed from being a student in the space to being a professional who's leading others in the space? Shawntal Brown [00:21:32]: I think in my experience, I guess, like for context, I went to the University of Oklahoma for my alma mater. And so there is a unfortunately, a racist incident that happened at the institution that is known as the Sigma Alpha Epsilon, incident. Institution that is known as the Sigma Alpha Epsilon, incident or SAE. It had a lot of, like, press CNN, a lot of, like, you know, large global and local news kind of took over it. And, essentially, it really alienated black students on campus because the fraternity didn't want black men to be part of their organization. And so it was something where in that student activist perspective, I was like, my voice, I feel like I need to share something. Like, my voice is needed in this conversation, and I wanna be able to contribute. And so to really do a lot of work of, like, making your voice known at that time was really important and also engaging in different conversations that people were having. Shawntal Brown [00:22:24]: So whether it was me on social media talking about, you know, this is why this isn't, you know, this is the article, current events. This is what I think about it. We need to kind of think about how we can incorporate this at the institution is one way I kinda contribute my voice in the conversation. And also showing up to, like, meetings with senior leadership as well as a way to kind of put the face and name, help them understand how we can better improve the experiences for black students specifically at the campus, but also like black faculty to consider them and black staff to consider them. And I think that was really important during that time in addition to there's already a, like, a student activist group called O You and Her that I always tell folks, like, I feel like I was at the 2nd wave of that organization. And the 1st wave of folks were really doing the work, and the 2nd wave was kind of thinking more of, like, how can we make this work be expansive than just this time frame that we're having now. And so to think about all those different experience as a student activist that I've had and coming into this role as, like, being a full time professional, it was interesting to think about when 2020 did happen and then the murder of George Floyd did occur, that there was a lot of student voice that was happening when I was in my role in the the school of engineering. And I was like, oh, when I was in my role in the the school of engineering. And I was like, oh my goodness. This is very reminiscent. This feels familiar. And it was a moment for me to kind of think about, like, where do I step in and where do I step back? Because I know as a professional, there's, like, all the different layers of, like, you know, you cannot represent, like, the institution. You can't represent your department, but how else can you support these students? And so really to be like the the listening ear or the person who's signing, like the list of demands that they had to kind of like cosign with them. If I was able to do that with them, then that was something that I was, like, I feel good about supporting you in this way or folks that, like, wanting to talk about advice about navigating the space or what made sense or who to talk to. Shawntal Brown [00:24:13]: I think that's kind of how it shifted in a way of from the student perspective, I felt more, I guess, I don't wanna say without restriction, but I guess, like, there's a freeness around, like, you know, how I can, like, express my voice and how I can express my opinion and thoughts and things of that way. But as a staff member, I had to kinda reflect on my sense of, like, power and privilege and kind of, like, know when I can, like, step up in that space and, like, help support or need to step back and let the students kind of lead that and let me be in the background. And so I think that perspective overall has really kind of helped better understand or I guess better empathize really when students do use their voice or, you know, need support in using their voice and kinda think about how the greater picture of, like, what can change at an institution really look like overall with those two perspectives in mind? Dr. Jill Creighton [00:25:00]: That is a really important lesson that I think a lot of us in campus based higher education need to relearn often, which is in student affairs, we are more often than not the primary advocate and voice for student needs within a university's administration. And that voice has a lot of power, but also it can be marginalized at an institution in a lot of cases. And so often I I think about how much power our students really do have compared to staff, and it is a very different balance. And deciding to sign on to a position statement with students is an interesting balance of choice that we all have to make when presented with that choice. Can you talk a little bit about how you make that choice, to determine whether you're signing on to something that your students are advocating for versus not? Shawntal Brown [00:25:50]: I think that's a delicate balance. And truthfully, I think I'm still learning. I think in that space of thinking about when I was in engineering, I was appreciative that other staff members were willing to do that same thing for students. And so I felt that since the community from trusted folks who were, like, signing on to their to their positionality statements and speaking up in that way. And I think it was more of a communal thing of, like, you know, yes, we agree with you. We see you. We see the work that you're doing. I think in in now, I think in some ways, I still do that. Shawntal Brown [00:26:22]: But sometimes I'm used like a personal email, for example, as a way to still kind of do that work because I feel, you know, there is I think I've hear this so many times, like, there's power in numbers and it's really important. And so if I can still provide that support and maybe it's more of a perfect like a personal like, I personally feel like this is something critical that the institution needs to listen to. I will do that work because I want to see the institution or whatever the department, the office change for the better. And once it changes for the better, it changes for everyone. And it's a it's a win for everyone, I feel. And so I think that's like the subtle way I have done it. There's probably other ways that folks probably have thought through it, but I think that's the my catch for all that balancing. Dr. Jill Creighton [00:27:07]: Especially if you're a public employee choosing to use a personal email is a big thing. Right? So I think everyone would be smart to check with their local regulations on what that means for public records and whole bunch of other things. But, yeah, it's it's definitely an interesting balance. And then at some point in your career as you grow, that letter's being sent to you as opposed to you being asked to sign on to it. And then we're in a position to decide how we engage in dialogue and actions and how we determine what's actionable and not actionable. What's usually, everything is quite reasonable, but what is actionable is a different question given budget and time and, human resources and all those things. I absolutely have so much respect for what's going on for DEI professionals. And as like I said, in Texas, Utah, Florida, you all are on the forefront of what could be a policy trend. Dr. Jill Creighton [00:28:01]: And then on the other side, you know, we've got states that are instituting protective measures for these efforts instead. Do you have any advice for DEI professionals who are out there navigating these waters on a daily? Shawntal Brown [00:28:14]: I guess one thing is please take care of yourself during this time because it's hard. It has definitely been hard. I think that that has been the biggest thing that I feel like I'm still in some ways learning of, like, needing to step away for a moment as much as I'm able to and kind of step back. Because at the end of the day, it's like it's a very large thing that's happening, like, across the United States, across specific states. And I think if you have the support to lean on someone else or to tap in someone else to kind of be there for you as you kind of, like, take that moment to yourself is really important. I think it's a tricky thing, but I think that's something that I wish I kinda had that person, like, in the midst of things changing or learning about the legislation. I kinda wish I had a tap and being like, hey, Shawntal, you need to go sit down for a moment. You need to rest for a moment. Shawntal Brown [00:29:04]: And that has been something that I feel like that is at the core now. For me, it's just kind of slowing down, taking the step away, reading a book, meditating, whatever I need to to kind of repour my cup for myself and to kind of still understand the the current landscape that we're in. Dr. Jill Creighton [00:29:20]: It's such simple and beautiful advice, but so hard to actually do. The delivery of that is really challenging, I think, in the hustle and bustle of our present day. Shawntal Brown [00:29:30]: Yes. But it's a good like a reminder. So check-in, it's kind of like check-in like, Hey, how are you doing? And then really kind of assess like, what makes sense for you to like, continue in the day. Dr. Jill Creighton [00:29:41]: It's time to take a quick break and toss it over to producer Chris to learn what's going on in the NASPA world. Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:29:47]: Thanks, Jill. So excited to be back in the NASPA world and a lot of things happening. Though we're past the NASPA annual conference, there's a number of other professional development opportunities that are coming up. One such event is the 2024 NASPA Mid Level Administrators Conference. The early registration for this conference closes on Friday, March 29th. Join us in Indianapolis, Indiana for a transformative professional development experience tailored for mid level student affairs professionals like you. Discover cutting edge strategies for organizational leadership, master the art of managing from the middle, and unlock your full potential in influencing change. Connect with peers, exchange insights, and build a robust network of allies to support your growth. Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:30:32]: Don't miss out on this opportunity to level up your skills and take your career to new heights. Register now and embark on a journey of growth, learning, and connection at mlac 2024. The conference itself runs from June 13th to June 15th in Indianapolis, Indiana. If you want more information, go to the NASPA website and find out more. The 2024 Women's Leadership Institute is running from December 10th through 13th in San Diego, California. ACUI, Association of College Unions International, and NASPA are partnering to bring you an experience focused on women leaders in higher education. This institute offers strategies for women who plan to lead with lasting impact. ACUI and NASPA are seeking programs that will inspire participants to become an inspirational and effective leader. Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:31:23]: The program is designed by women for women. If you have a program that you would like to submit, submit it on the NASPA website by April 26th to be considered for this. Some of the topics that the Leadership Institute looks to cover include supervision and performance management, strategic planning, financial well-being, upskill, reskill the bridge to the future, delegating and giving away, picking up new skills and putting things down among others. Again, the deadline to submit your program is April 26, and I encourage you to go to the NASPA website to find out more. Volume 25 of the Journal of College and Character is out. And as a NASPA member, you have access to the Journal of College and Character among a number of other great journals that will help you in your own professional development. This peer reviewed publication has a number of amazing articles that are in it. And in this issue, there are a ton of peer reviewed articles as well as some specific focus areas on student engagement with spiritual and secular world views, diversity and social justice and interfaith cooperation. Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:32:36]: I highly encourage you to check out the Journal of College and Character for yourself. If you've never checked out the journals, go to the NASPA website, highlight publications, and go down to the Journal of College and Character. You'll also see the other 3 journals that are available for NASPA members, the Journal of First Generation Student Success, the Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice, and the Journal of Women short course that is happening between March 25th April 26th on basic counseling skills. This short course is a primer on the fundamental critical topic of mental health and how to support students on your campus and beyond tailored for non clinical professionals. The program will focus on hands on skills needed for empathetic listening and effective referral making based on NASBA's book, Basic Counseling Skills for Higher Education Professionals, topics include anxiety and depression, sexual assault and violence, well-being and burnout, current trends in student mental health, making referrals, student support, and more. You can register for this short course on the NASPO website. This course is set up as 5 60 minute live sessions that'll be held every Wednesday at 1 PM EST. They're scheduled for March 27th, April 3rd, April 10th, April 17th, and April 24th. Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:34:02]: Again, go to the NASPA website and learn more. Every week, we're going to be sharing some amazing things that are happening within the association. So we are going to be able to try and keep you up to date on everything that's happening and allow for you to be able to get involved in different ways because the association is as strong as its members. And for all of us, we have to find our place within the association, whether it be getting involved with a knowledge community, giving back within one of the the centers or the divisions of the association. And as you're doing that, it's important to be able to identify for yourself where do you fit? Where do you wanna give back? Each week, we're hoping that we will share some things that might encourage you, might allow for you to be able to get some ideas that will provide you with an opportunity to be able to say, Hey, I see myself in that knowledge community. I see myself doing something like that. Or encourage you in other ways that allow for you to be able to think beyond what's available right now, to offer other things to the association, to bring your gifts, your talents, association and to all of the members within the association. Because through doing that, all of us are stronger and the association is better. Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:35:25]: Tune in again next week as we find out more about what is happening in NASPA. Dr. Jill Creighton [00:35:30]: Chris, we really appreciate you always updating us on what's going on in and around NASPA. And, Shawntal, that means we have made it to our lightning round of our show. I have 7 questions for you in about 90 seconds. Feeling ready? Shawntal Brown [00:35:44]: I'm ready. Dr. Jill Creighton [00:35:45]: Alright. Let's roll. Question number 1. If you were a conference keynote speaker, what would your entrance music be? Shawntal Brown [00:35:50]: Because I'm gonna say Texas Hold. I'm gonna be Beyonce. Dr. Jill Creighton [00:35:52]: Number 2, when you were 5 years old, what did you wanna be when you grew up? Shawntal Brown [00:35:56]: An astronaut. Dr. Jill Creighton [00:35:56]: Number 3, who's your most influential professional mentor? Shawntal Brown [00:35:59]: Oh my goodness. I would say doctor Sophia Morin at the University of Oklahoma. Dr. Jill Creighton [00:36:05]: Number 4, your essential student affairs read. Shawntal Brown [00:36:08]: Not necessarily within student affairs, but I would say Set Boundaries, Find Peace by Nedra Glover Tawab. Dr. Jill Creighton [00:36:15]: Number 5, the best TV show you binged during the pandemic. Shawntal Brown [00:36:18]: Oh, goodness. I watch a lot of true crime, so that's probably what was something I was watching during that time. Dr. Jill Creighton [00:36:24]: Number 6, the podcast you spent the most hours listening to in the last year. Shawntal Brown [00:36:28]: Oh, that is You Need to Hear This by Metro Global Chihuahua. Wonderful, wonderful podcast. Dr. Jill Creighton [00:36:33]: And finally, number 7, any shout outs you'd like to give personal or professional? Shawntal Brown [00:36:37]: Oh, goodness. I like to thank my husband, Cody. He's always there listening to me, listening ear. I'll shout it out to my family in Oklahoma and all the folks that I have made friends with and and who have supported me in the state of Texas. There's a lot of people, but I hope they all know who they are. Dr. Jill Creighton [00:36:54]: Well, it's been wonderful to learn from you today, Shawntal, and to hear your perspective on the evolution of DEI work in these states that are becoming more challenging to deliver that work in on a daily. If anyone would like to find community with you after the show, how can they reach you? Shawntal Brown [00:37:09]: Yes. I'm really active on Twitter. It is @ShawntalBrown, capital s, capital b. You can find me there. You can also connect with me on LinkedIn. And then I also have a Instagram, Shawntal_ or Shawntal_brown_22. So happy to connect with folks on all those platforms. Dr. Jill Creighton [00:37:27]: Thank you so much for sharing your voice with us today. Shawntal Brown [00:37:29]: Thank you. Dr. Jill Creighton [00:37:33]: This has been an episode of Student Affairs Voices from the Field, a podcast brought to you by NASPA. This show continues to be possible because you choose to listen to us. We are so grateful for your subscriptions and your downloads and your engagement with the content. If you'd like to reach the show, please email us at sa voices at naspa.org or find me on LinkedIn by searching for doctor Jill L. Creighton. We always welcome your feedback and your topic and guest suggestions. We'd love it if you take a moment to tell a colleague about the show and give us a 5 star rating on Apple Podcasts or wherever you're listening now. It really does help other student affairs professionals find the show and helps raise the show's profile within the larger podcasting community. Dr. Jill Creighton [00:38:14]: This episode was produced and hosted by doctor Jill Creighton, that's me, produced and audio engineered by Dr.Chris Lewis. Special thanks to the University of Michigan Flint for your support as we create this project. Catch you next time.

My guest on today's podcast is an accomplished engineer, teacher, and advocate for traditionally underrepresented groups in STEM. Melissa Villegas Drake is a graduate of New Mexico State University, where she obtained her Bachelor of Science in Electrical and Electronics Engineering. She has held multiple roles as an engineer, including working on the Space Shuttle Program, and had a second career as an educator teaching engineering to high school students aspiring to a career in engineering. One thing that has been consistent for Melissa is her advocacy for minority representation in engineering. While in school, she became involved with the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, and after starting her career, she continued her involvement and eventually became the National President of that organization. Melissa's newest adventure is her efforts to get more girls and women into tech careers. She and another colleague revived the Girls in Tech chapter in Phoenix, as her main goal is to inspire individuals to begin a career in tech. Being a coach to a FIRST robotics Girl Scout team, she is a formal volunteer for Girl Scouts. She is an ambassador of the Google Group Women Techmakers and was recently recognized as one of Phoenix Magazine's Great 48 Phoenicians. Melissa is such a wonderful ambassador for the engineering community, and I'm so grateful that she has offered her time to share her journey here on the podcast Don't miss a blog post or a podcast episode, subscribe to my newsletter on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.ENGRingSuccess.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Support the on podcast on Spotify or on Patreon: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/ENGRingSuccess⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Top tier supporters - shout out each episode of the month for $10 monthly donation. Follow along on all social medias: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/ENGRingSuccess⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ To submit your question, email ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠daniel@ENGRingSuccess.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Subscribe on YouTube to watch short excerpts of podcast episodes addressing specific topics: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCj86alc3a7_A_PibgYpkWFg⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Daniel is a Mechanical Engineering graduate of Trinity University's B.S. in Engineering Science and currently works in Commercial Management in the Engineering and Construction Consulting Industry. All views expressed on this podcast are his own and do not reflect the opinions or views of his employer. Music by Maxgotthetracks: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://open.spotify.com/artist/0Pclog68AY1⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/engineering-success/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/engineering-success/support

Episode SummaryIn this episode, Special Advisor for Cyber Risk at the NACD, Christopher Hetner, returns to the show to discuss the new SEC cybersecurity rules. Chris has over 25 years of experience in cybersecurity, helping protect industries, infrastructures, and economies, serving in roles including as SVP of Information Security at Citi, Senior Cybersecurity Advisor to the Chairman of the US SEC, Executive Member of IANS, the National Board Director of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, Senior Advisor for the Chertoff Group, Senior Advisor to the CEO of Stuart Levine & Associates, and Co-Chair of Nasdaq Cybersecurity and Privacy.Today, Chris talks about the developments since January 2023, the timeframe requirements in practice, and normalizing cybersecurity incidents as business-as-usual. What is Inline XBRL? Learn how startups could prepare themselves for these changes, the scope of disclosure, and how risk management strategies might evolve to address Cloud-specific threats. Timestamp Segments·       [02:36] What has changed since January?·       [06:49] Why things changed.·       [08:51] Was it a good move?·       [12:27] Determining the materiality of cybersecurity incidents “without unreasonable delay.”·       [17:49] Is 4 days enough?·       [22:19] The scope of disclosure.·       [24:09] Normalizing cybersecurity incidents.·       [26:24] Moving toward real-time monitoring.·       [28:52] Is insurance becoming a forcing function?·       [32:18] Evolving risk management strategies.·       [36:05] Third-party disclosure requirements·       [39:51] How do startups prepare?·       [41:52] What is Inline XBRL?·       [42:54] Inline XBRL to 8-k.·       [43:30] How the tagging requirement impact the disclosure process. Notable Quotes·       “The magnitude of these events is the percentage of the event relative to revenue.”·       “We're going to see market forces drive these safety standards within our enterprises.” Relevant LinksLinkedIn:         Christopher Hetner Resources:https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2023-139.Secure applications from code to cloud. Prisma Cloud, the most complete cloud-native application protection platform (CNAPP).Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

The Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers National Convention in SLC  Secretary of State Anthony Blinken interrupted by protestors while speaking on funding for Ukraine and Israel  Casual Friday, Casual Everyday: Do Americans dress too sloppy?  SHPE: STEM in Utah  The Unsophisticated approach to the Las Vegas Cyber hack 

The Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers National Convention is taking place in SLC and it is the largest event that has taken place for SHPE. Dave speaks with Miguel Alemany, CEO and Arash Shariatzadeh, Former student who shares his success story from this event. 

SHPE National Convention serves as the country’s largest, annual gathering of Hispanic STEM students and professionals. This serves as the country’s largest, annual gathering of Hispanic STEM students and professionals. Dave speaks with BYU Idaho student Rebecca Motoso about her interest in STEM and the impact of this event. Dave is also joined by Courtney McCoy, Global Talent Acquisitions, Early Careers Diversity, Cummins Inc about the opportunities available.   

Dr. Jim discussed the challenges faced by early to mid-career professionals from underrepresented communities. He noted that these professionals are often high-performing individual contributors but struggle to unlock their full career potential due to a lack of resources. With this in mind, Dr. Jim intends to explore the resources available to these professionals to help them gain a career edge. He believes that understanding the dynamics of the workplace and the opportunities available will help these professionals achieve success. He concluded that the conversations he has with these professionals will help them unlock their full potential.Dr. Jim shared key resources that are important to have on one's radar when it comes to career development and progression. He suggested that LinkedIn is a great platform for networking opportunities, mentorship opportunities and finding out what companies are really like behind the curtains. Jopwell and Diversity Jobs.com are helpful for connecting with companies that are committed to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. It is important to make sure companies are truly committed to DEIB by looking at the executive suite and senior leadership. Additionally, he suggested to look for resources that are unique to diverse communities.Dr. Jim discussed resources available for LGBTQIA+ professionals, people with disabilities, and women in tech. He recommended using Equal, the Job Accomodation Network, and Women Who Code to get support, resources, and networking opportunities. Additionally, he suggested joining professional organizations like the National Society of Black Engineers, Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, Association for Women in Science, and Society of Human Resources Management to gain knowledge, tools, and connections. He encouraged the listener to reach out to him on LinkedIn or follow the Cascading Leadership handle for further questions.Timestamps00:00:50Heading: Leveraging Resources for Career Progression and Development as an Underrepresented Professional00:03:58"Networking Resources for LGBTQIA+ and Disabled Professionals"Music Credit: Maarten Schellekens - Riviera Follow us at: www.cascadingleadership.comlinkedin.com/in/drjimklinkedin.com/in/1lawrenceobrown

Today's episode is a joint episode that is being released both here on the Epics Podcast but ALSO on the SHPE Out Loud Podcast! SHPE (the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers) is the nation's largest association dedicated to fostering Hispanic leadership in the STEM (Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) field. There is a huge disparity between the Hispanic population and their representation in STEM.SHPE raises awareness, provides access, and prepares Hispanic students and professionals to become leaders in STEM. Our members are driving innovation, the global economy, and a prosperous Hispanic community. I have had the privilege of producing their podcast, SHPE Out Loud and our joint episode today is a preview to an upcoming series on their podcast. In November I got to be a part of their National conference recording testimonies of their amazing members.These testimonies are being released weekly on the SHPE Out Loud podcast and I highly recommend you going to listen to them because I was able to interview so many incredible people there! One of the great people I had the pleasure of interviewing in November was Emily Anne Vargas, who is our guest this week! Emily Anne is a Ph.D. student at the University of Southern California. Her story is one of breaking barriers and achieving success in the face of adversity. As a first-generation college graduate and engineer from a family of Cuban immigrants, she has paved the way for future generations to follow in her footsteps. Emily Anne has also been actively involved with SHPE since 2013, serving in multiple leadership positions, including as the youngest Vice-Chair for the SHPE National Board of Directors in nearly 50 years.  On this episode we dive into her unique journey and gain insight into the importance of representation and community support in pursuing a career in STEM I started this podcast because I believe that the foundation of hate and discrimination in our world comes from a lack of understanding of those who are different from ourselves. We plan to combat that by hearing everyone's stories, that we can better understand them, be a part of creating real positive change. More info on our Epic Referral Program!

Director of the Master of Science in Analytics, Myra Gonzalez, is also an active community leader and possesses a fervent interest in the future of technology. She has also been an obliging mentor for many students while working at Texas A&M for over 20 years. She has done extensive outreach to high school students and created pipelines from areas that had never sent students to Texas A&M before. She centers her program around the students needs and enjoys watching her students go from having little knowledge in data, into flourishing digital leaders.   Bio:  Myra Gonzalez is an Aggie from Houston, Texas and the current Director of MS Analytics Program at Mays Business School. She is an accomplished higher educational professional with undergraduate and graduate admission experience. Gonzalez has a passion for life-long learning and understands that higher education is one pathway to improve oneself and the community we live in. Since 2002 she has served as advisor for the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers at Texas A&M University. She has also served on various committees in the Texas Association for College Admission Counseling and the National Association for College Admission Counseling.

Joselyn Fonseca Palacios was born in Lima Peru and moved to Los Angeles at the age of 8. She is part of the Los Angeles Department of Water where she leads public works projects throughout the city. Her focus is on water treatment facilities to ensure safe drinking water for Angelinos. As a young professional in the field, she is currently navigating through her journey to becoming a licensed Architect. She graduated from the University of Southern California with a Bachelor of Architecture and a minor in Consumer Behavior with the Alpha Rho Chi Medal, recognizing her leadership and service to the future of the profession. She is an active member of the National Organization of Minority Architects, where she serves as Co-Director for Project Pipeline Bootcamp, a summer camp dedicated to exposure to architecture and related professions for the youth. Her passion revolves around inspiring, educating, and mentoring first-generation low-income students. In addition, she volunteers her time during Peruvian elections to help her fellow compatriotas in Los Angeles vote and is Chair of Communications for the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers. She is family-oriented and during her free time she enjoys watching movies, spending time outdoors, and dancing. Connect with Joselyn: Instagram: @jossy_yssoj Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/joselyn-fonseca Ways to support Peruvians of USA: Sign up for our newsletter Visit our website for episode notes Give us a review on Apple Podcast or Spotify Become a Listener Supporter, link to Anchor Visit our Online Store and help us change the narrative with our t-shirt: “El Mejor Amigo de un Peruano es otro peruano.” Also available in feminine (“peruana”) and gender-neutral (“peruanx”) versions Follow Peruvians of USA Podcast on IG: @peruviansofusa Like our page on Facebook! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/peruviansofusa/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/peruviansofusa/support

In this episode, we hear from Chris Wilke, CEO of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE). Chris shares his views on diversity, equity, and inclusion, the Hispanic community, and SHPE as a valuable organization to create opportunities in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).

Happy Hispanic Heritage Month Listeners! We love elevating marginalized voices and today Jeanette Vega-Orozco takes the mic. She currently works as the master production scheduler at L'Oreal. Tune in to this podcast to hear her philosophy on maintaining your identity in the working world as well as insights into first generation college students. Listen to hear Jeanette's advice on overcoming obstacles and her own experience with imposter syndrome. Podcast Editor: Laurel Settlemire NOTES: SHPE (Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers): https://shpe.org/ Take a Deep Breath podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/take-a-deep-breath-with-mike-maher/id1519472365

SHPE Out Loud is a podcast that amplifies the voices of Hispanic leaders in STEM. There is a lot of noise out there, and it is dominated by the same kind of people that dominate most things. But innovation, creativity, and disruption depends on new perspectives and diversity of thought. The world needs to listen to those who have been silenced. All of our futures depend on it. And so, we've created a space where Hispaincs in STEM can speak up and get down to the nitty-gritty of success. We believe aspiring professionals must hear from role-models that they relate to in order to learn how their own culture can be leveraged to develop solutions and advanced careers. Join us once a month as we interview Hispanic thought-leaders in STEM and SHPE members just like you! Our focus is on having authentic conversations and sharing stories that inspire. We hope you feel like you belong both here and at the highest levels of industry - because you do! Welcome to the Familia. SHPE (Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers) is the nation's largest association dedicated to fostering Hispanic leadership in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). Our members are driving innovation, the global economy, and a prosperous Hispanic community. Website: https://www.shpe.org/ FB: https://www.facebook.com/shpenational/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/SHPE IG: https://www.instagram.com/shpenational/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/society-of-hispanic-professional-engineers/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/SHPENational

Raquel Tamez is the Chief Inclusion & Engagement Officer at Charles River Associates, a leading global management consulting firm that provides expert services to law firms, legal departments, and government agencies. Before joining CRA in May 2021, Raquel served as the Chief Executive Officer of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, where she oversaw the largest strategic transformation in the organization's 45-year history. With a Juris Doctor degree from St. Mary's University School of Law, Raquel has served as a Prosecutor for the Department of Labor and the Chief Legal Officer & General Counsel for SourceAmerica. Raquel joins me today to discuss turning Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) efforts from a trend into corporate culture. She explains why it's important for leaders at the C-Suite to be committed to DEI and reveals the six characteristics of an inclusive leader. She discusses what it means to “mind the middle'' and why it's important to consider current team members when fostering diversity in a company. Raquel also highlights the role of tech in increasing diversity in workplaces and society. “Ignite a cultural evolution where Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion isn't just some initiative, but something truly integrated in the organization's DNA.” - Raquel Tamez This week on Girls in Tech: Racquel's background and the most influential person in her life The role of executive coaches in one's professional career The emergence of the Chief Inclusion & Engagement Officer role in Fortune 500 companies Why there is currently an increased awareness of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion The reason companies need to do more than “diversity” Charles River Associates' efforts in increasing diversity in the talent pipeline Creating safe spaces for DEI in organizations Building inclusive leaders at the C-Suite and why executives need to commit to DEI The six traits of an inclusive leader Transforming systems and behavioral norms in the workplace to benefit DEI Addressing resistance to DEI efforts How technology can enable cultural shifts in companies Connect with Raquel Tamez: Charles River Associates Charles River Associates on LinkedIn Charles River Associates on Instagram Charles River Associates on Facebook Charles River Associates on Twitter Raquel Tamez on LinkedIn Inspiring Girls in Tech...One Conversation at a Time Thanks for tuning into this week's episode of Girls in Tech. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review wherever you get your podcasts. Apple Podcasts | TuneIn | GooglePlay | Stitcher | Spotify | iHeartRadio Be sure to share your favorite episodes on social media to help us reach more listeners, like you. Join us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn. For more exclusive content and information, visit our website.

Raquel Tamez is the Chief Inclusion & Engagement Officer at Charles River Associates, a leading global management consulting firm that provides expert services to law firms, legal departments, and government agencies. Before joining CRA in May 2021, Raquel served as the Chief Executive Officer of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, where she oversaw the largest strategic transformation in the organization's 45-year history. With a Juris Doctor degree from St. Mary's University School of Law, Raquel has served as a Prosecutor for the Department of Labor and the Chief Legal Officer & General Counsel for SourceAmerica. Raquel joins me today to discuss turning Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) efforts from a trend into corporate culture. She explains why it's important for leaders at the C-Suite to be committed to DEI and reveals the six characteristics of an inclusive leader. She discusses what it means to “mind the middle'' and why it's important to consider current team members when fostering diversity in a company. Raquel also highlights the role of tech in increasing diversity in workplaces and society. “Ignite a cultural evolution where Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion isn't just some initiative, but something truly integrated in the organization's DNA.” - Raquel Tamez This week on Girls in Tech: Racquel's background and the most influential person in her life The role of executive coaches in one's professional career The emergence of the Chief Inclusion & Engagement Officer role in Fortune 500 companies Why there is currently an increased awareness of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion The reason companies need to do more than “diversity” Charles River Associates' efforts in increasing diversity in the talent pipeline Creating safe spaces for DEI in organizations Building inclusive leaders at the C-Suite and why executives need to commit to DEI The six traits of an inclusive leader Transforming systems and behavioral norms in the workplace to benefit DEI Addressing resistance to DEI efforts How technology can enable cultural shifts in companies Connect with Raquel Tamez: Charles River Associates Charles River Associates on LinkedIn Charles River Associates on Instagram Charles River Associates on Facebook Charles River Associates on Twitter Raquel Tamez on LinkedIn Inspiring Girls in Tech...One Conversation at a Time Thanks for tuning into this week's episode of Girls in Tech. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review wherever you get your podcasts. Apple Podcasts | TuneIn | GooglePlay | Stitcher | Spotify | iHeartRadio Be sure to share your favorite episodes on social media to help us reach more listeners, like you. Join us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn. For more exclusive content and information, visit our website.

Fo this week, we are wrapping up season 1 top 6 episodes. Next week, season 2 replay starts! Don't forget to come back every week and relive the best discussions and stories brought to you with your host Nathalie Sofia. ************************** This conversation follows up Delia and her family's immigration story. Nathalie and Delia discuss how she announced to her friends and how they dealt with immigrating to the USA. Delia Rios was born and raised in Lima, Peru, and moved to the United States at the age of 13. She graduated from Rutgers University with a Bachelor of Science in Industrial and Systems Engineering in May 2009. For various years, she was an active member of SHPE (Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers), where she held various positions including Chapter President at Rutgers University. She works in New York City as a Quality Assurance Manager for FOODMatch Inc., a company that imports food products from all over the world, including Europe and South America. As part of her job, she works with Peruvian Vendors, where she puts her Spanish-speaking skills to use. In her free time, she enjoys traveling (up to 20 countries) and dancing (recently learning New York-style salsa). She loves meeting other Peruvians, if you would like to connect, her Instagram is @deliari1 ***************************** Ways to support the podcast: Sign-up to learn more about Peruvians of USA Scholarship Program Give us a review on Apple Podcast Become a Listener Supporter, see link in bio Visit our Online Store and help us change the narrative with our t-shirt: “El Mejor Amigo de un Peruano es otro peruano.” Also available in feminine (“peruana”) and gender-neutral (“peruanx”) versions Follow Peruvians of USA Podcast on IG: @peruviansofusa Like our page on Facebook! --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/peruviansofusa/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/peruviansofusa/support

For the next weeks, we will be re-sharing the top 6 episodes of Peruvians of USA Season 1! ********************************* Delia Rios was born and raised in Lima, Peru, and moved to the United States at the age of 13. She graduated from Rutgers University with a Bachelor of Science in Industrial and Systems Engineering in May 2009. For various years, she was an active member of SHPE (Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers), where she held various positions including Chapter President at Rutgers University. She works in New York City as a Quality Assurance Manager for FOODMatch Inc., a company that imports food products from all over the world, including Europe and South America. As part of her job, she works with Peruvian Vendors, where she puts her Spanish-speaking skills to use. In her free time, she enjoys traveling (up to 20 countries) and dancing (recently learning New York-style salsa). She loves meeting other Peruvians, if you would like to connect, her Instagram is @deliari1 Topics mentioned: - Ring Around the Yunsa Tree: https://festival.si.edu/blog/2015/ring-around-the-yunsa-tree-the-harvest-dance-of-el-carmen/ ********************************** Ways to support the podcast: Sign-up to learn more about Peruvians of USA Scholarship Program Give us a review on Apple Podcast Become a Listener Supporter, see link in bio Visit our Online Store and help us change the narrative with our t-shirt: “El Mejor Amigo de un Peruano es otro peruano.” Also available in feminine (“peruana”) and gender-neutral (“peruanx”) versions Follow Peruvians of USA Podcast on IG: @peruviansofusa Like our page on Facebook! --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/peruviansofusa/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/peruviansofusa/support

In this episode, we get an HR association leader's take on the needs and experiences of HR pros. Hear too, about what a return to the office means for the HR department's workload. The guest in #306 is Rafael Rivera, CEO at the Professionals In Human Resources Association (PIHRA) - an affiliate of SHRM with 5000+ members. Rafael is responsible for the strategic operation and success of PIHRA, as well as the annual California HR Conference. He leads a dedicated team of staff at headquarters and over 200 volunteer leaders across Southern California.Questions include: You recently wrapped up the PIHRA 2021 California HR Conference - tell us about itWhat have you heard from PIHRA members as to some of the biggest challenges for HR pros and leaders since Q1 of 2020?What does the easing of restrictions mean for HR? What will their workload look like for the rest of 2021? What unique challenges and opportunities are HR pros facing as they try to ease employees back to the workplace?More About Rafael RiveraSince 2010, Rafael has worked to influence greatness in human resources by engaging, elevating, and serving the Southern California HR community, which impacts the lives of more than 2 million employees. He is a tireless advocate for HR professionals leading as strategic partners in all organizations.Prior to joining PIHRA, he was the top administrative and executive officer at the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers. For over 20 years, Rafael demonstrated continuous progression leading nonprofit and for-profit organizations in marketing and events roles.

rebroadcast from 03-27-20 My name is Gerardo Figueroa, I am a junior in the Biomedical Engineering department at the University of Arizona. I am currently working with Dr. John A. Szivek from the Orthopedic Surgery Department developing a multi-sensory device for continuous bone monitoring in space. After graduating I hope to pursue a PhD in Biomedical Engineering focusing mostly on bone biomechanics and tissue engineering. I hope in the future to encourage the importance of STEM by mentoring the youth and being part of organizations such as the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers.

Our latest episode features a Women in STEM discussion from a livestream panel hosted by MIND on March 10th featuring MIND’s Content Design Manager Nina Wu, The STEAM Connection founder Danielle Boyer, and Invent the Change Founder and CEO Jay Flores. Their discussion centered on gender gaps in STEM and STEAM education and the workforce, and what individuals and organizations can do to drive the cultural changes that need to occur in order to make STEM and STEAM more inclusive.   Topics Covered in the Podcast:3:00 Intros5:30 The STEM Gender gap conversation in 20218:00 Power and culture in the STEM industry13:00 Removing barriers and biases20:30 Meeting students at what they're passionate about24:00 Danielle's STEAM origins28:00 Creating a sustainable culture change33:00 Actions we all can take37:00 Closing thoughts and recommendationsIf you’d prefer to watch the panel instead, you can head over to MIND’s YouTube channel. You can follow Danielle Boyer on LinkedIn here, and learn more about The Steam Connection at steamconnection.org. Danielle also co-hosts a weekly podcast called Hands-On Techie Talks, a “family EduTech podcast encouraging hands-on learning for children through technology and engineering.” The podcast can be found on all major platforms and you can listen on the STEAM Connection website as well.You can follow Jay Flores on LinkedIn here, learn more about Invent the Change, and keep up with his current projects at www.jayfloresinspires.com. Episodes of Jay’s video series “It’s Not Magic, It’s Science” can be found on his YouTube channel. Here are some of the other links mentioned in the podcast:American Indian Science and Engineering Society (https://www.aises.org/) National Society of Black Engineers (https://www.nsbe.org/home.aspx)Society of Women Engineers (https://swe.org/)Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (https://www.shpe.org/)Thanks to Nina, Danielle and Jay for a wonderful conversation, and thanks to you for listening to the podcast! If you enjoy the show, please leave us a review on iTunes, Google Play, Spreaker or wherever you are listening. Subscribe to get future episodes as soon as they are released!

Episode 20 covers Fernanda's journey from her cool encounters with airplanes at a restaurant overlooking an airport runway to her experience as a Mechanical Design Engineer completing interior modifications on Delta Airlines Aircraft. Fernanda shares how she progressed through school in Mexico and eventually found herself in Wichita Kansas studying Aerospace Engineering. She educates us on her wonderful experience within the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers but also talks about some of the unfortunate encounters she's experienced as a Latina in the STEM industry. She also describes her engineering roles and responsibilities and highlights her trips to China where she was able to work in her role in an entirely different environment! This podcast ends with a fun conversation about all kinds of music and inspiration through a final word of advice. You don't want to miss this insightful and fun episode of the STEMusic Podcast! STEMusic Website: https://www.thestemusic.com/ STEMusic March Madness: https://www.thestemusic.com/marchmadness Passage Flight: https://www.passageflight.org/ Follow Us! Instagram: @thestemusic Facebook: thestemusic Twitter: @thestemusic STEMusic YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChOQXJ6Ggz-U5uXR86OKsGg

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the education of many young students. Due to the necessity of distance education, it has been challenging to keep children interested in science, technology, engineering, and math subjects. Jay Flores, CEO and founder of Invent the Change, has spent his entire career trying to inspire young STEM minds. Over the last 10 years, he has worked with the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, Rockwell Automation, and FIRST Robotics to mentor and educate young people, exploring the power of STEM. On this episode of ASME TechCast, he speaks with us about the current state of STEM, how the pandemic has impacted education, and the disparities found in today’s STEM society.

Dr. Graciani assumed the position of Director for Middle Level Education, Math and Science, and currently serves as the Director of STEM and Medical Assisting at Esperanza College of Eastern University. Prior to her work at Esperanza, Dr. Graciani held research scientist positions in the pharmaceutical industry. Her research included work with peptides and small molecules in various therapeutic areas including cancer, cardiovascular, inflammation, infectious diseases and women’s health. She has been a speaker at scientific and health conferences. Professor Graciani lives in Garnet Valley, PA with her husband and three children. She is actively involved at her church and her children’s schools. She is on the Advisory Board of the Latina Leadership Network at the Greater Philadelphia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the Susan G. Komen Latina Advisory Board. She has also been an influential part in the development of the Hunting Park Science Network in Philadelphia. She’s been instrumental in running the first robotics club at Esperanza College and was honored in 2014 as Community Partner of the Year by the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers. Her role at Esperanza allows her to impact younger generations by sharing her passion and developing in them a love for teaching and becoming professionals in STEM-related fields.

Get an inside perspective of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers at UCF as Matters of Diversity with Dr. B interviews SHPE Officers: Carlos Arboleda, Antonny Porlles, Kevin Jui, Santiago Valdez, Valentina Nino & Monne'T Williams. The Office of Diversity and Inclusion has created a Diversity Dialogues Series designed to highlight equity issues as they relate to the University of Central Florida community. The episodes will be broadcast live via Zoom and YouTube on Wednesdays from 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM and Fridays from 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM weekly. The Wednesday show will have fireside chats with UCF administrators, faculty, staff, and community stakeholders. The Friday show is designed to specifically engage with UCF students providing them with a platform to share their views This show is sponsored by UCF Foundation. Special thanks to: Kavita Sawh, Jose Marcano, Isabella Marchetta, and Azon Bonifacio Music by: Dr. Alex Burtzos Assistant Professor of Composition Department of Music

Welcome to the new #STEM series of the Mastering College to Career Podcast. In this episode I introduce you to my Co-Host for the #STEM series, Miguel Angel Cuen a Computer Science Student at the University of Arizona. We talk to Dr. Zack Valdez who is the Manager of Career Services for the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers. We learn about Zack's journey from being a superstar soccer player and getting multiple degrees in STEM to now leading the Career Services team for SHPE. We dive into the things you can do to increase your chances of success and we talk about why every STEM college student should join SHPE. If you would like to learn more about SHPE visit https://www.shpe.org/ or email Zack at zackv@shpe.org About Zack Zack Valdez received his B.S. in Engineering in Physics before earning a Ph.D. in biogeochemistry at Baylor University. His professional experience at Southwest Research Institute and multiple graduate research opportunities focused on big data analytics to create interdisciplinary solutions within the energy industry. Post-Ph.D., Zack worked with U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee to develop science policy and has transitioned to non-profit work with AGU Community Science Program Management and now develops career services to promote Hispanics in STEM with the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers. Zack enjoys playing competitive soccer around the DMV area and spending time with friends and family back home in Texas.

Welcome to the new #STEM series of the Mastering College to Career Podcast.  In this episode I introduce you to my Co-Host for the #STEM series, Miguel Angel Cuen a Computer Science Student at the University of Arizona. We talk to Dr. Zack Valdez who is the Manager of Career Services for the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers. We learn about Zack's journey from being a  superstar soccer player and getting multiple degrees in STEM to now leading the Career Services team for SHPE. We dive into the things you can do to increase your chances of success and we talk about why every STEM college student should join SHPE.  If you would like to learn more about SHPE visit https://www.shpe.org/ or email Zack at zackv@shpe.org About Zack  Zack Valdez received his B.S. in Engineering in Physics before earning a Ph.D. in biogeochemistry at Baylor University. His professional experience at Southwest Research Institute and multiple graduate research opportunities focused on big data analytics to create interdisciplinary solutions within the energy industry. Post-Ph.D., Zack worked with U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee to develop science policy and has transitioned to non-profit work with AGU Community Science Program Management and now develops career services to promote Hispanics in STEM with the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers. Zack enjoys playing competitive soccer around the DMV area and spending time with friends and family back home in Texas.

Join me for Part 1 of a two-part series with SHPE royalty! Fernando Ceballos and Brianne Martin! Relationships take real work and dedication. In this first part, we explore beginnings and managing a dual-career partnership. Fernando is a civil engineer working at Pape-Dawson and Brianne Martin is a Mechanical Engineer currently working for the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers.  This is a very open discussion of the highs and the lows in this couple's life so far. You do not want to miss out on the energy these two bring.  Listeners' discretion is advised... Not really I just really got carried away writing these show notes.  Fernando Ceballos: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fdoceballos/ Brianne Martin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/briannecmartin/ Dealing with life Stuff: https://www.dealingwithlifestuff.com/ The People Engineer Podcast: https://www.briannecmartin.com/podcast MUSIC Song: (Royalty Free Music) Utopia - Ikson Music promoted by Tyler Montgomery. Video Link: https://youtu.be/GXcUofHwOkc  --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/manny-de-la-cruz3/message

In this episode, I spoke with Brianne C. Martin, Senior Manager for Membership Relations at Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE). Brianne is one of the most authentic persons I know. She has a passion for career development and growth that is impossible to ignore. Brianne is a mechanical engineer, musician, and speaker. She has […] The post How to Be an Ally to Women in STEM: Brianne C. Martin, Senior Manager for Membership Relations at the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) appeared first on Latinos Who Tech.

Javier Cortavitarte es Ingeniero, Venezolano y amante de la tecnologia. Actualmente vive en Sunnyvale, California. En el famoso Valle del Silicio. En este episodio nos cuenta la historia de como consiguio su primer trabajo en Google. Su rol en el Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers  (SHPE)  y como es subir la escalera corporativa en este valle del silicio. Además de trabajar todo el día, Javier participa de forma voluntaria en SHPE como vicepresidente del consejo directivo a cargo de relaciones corporativas y de comunicación. Tiene una licenciatura en Ingeniería Electrónica de la Universidad de Florida y posee una extensa y amplia experiencia adquirida en distintas empresas. Ha transitado por empresas como Google, Axcient, ServiceNow y BlazeMeter, un startup que recientemente fue adquirido por una empresa de software llamada CA Technologies. En EEUU hay solamente dos ingenieros que hacen este producto a nivel global, y Javier es uno de ellos. Su larga trayectoria comienza en Venezuela, luego sigue en Florida donde realizó sus estudios y pasó por un Co-Op en FPL, hasta llegar a Silicon Valley donde no deja de subir la escalera corporativa y donde obtuvo su primer puesto de trabajo en Google. Hemos hablado de cómo y cuándo nos conocimos en SHPE, su cargo y rol en el consejo directivo y el perfil de gente que concurre a los eventos, su trabajo y rol actual, el salto a su primer trabajo en el valle y lo que más le sorprendió de Google, el motivo por el cual dio el salto de una corporación tan grande como Google a un startup, el ejemplo de “shopping cart” que dio en una de sus charlas en BlazeMeter, su comparación del día a día entre una corporación y un startup, la continuidad de Javier en el trabajo después de que CA Technologies adquirió BlazeMeter, su próximo desafío, y sus consejo para aquellas personas que quieran trabajar en Silicon Valley como ingeniero/a. Recursos mencionados: SHPEMiami Dade CollegeCA Technologies (Broadcom Inc.)BlazeMeterFIUFPLServiceNowAxcient ¿Nos quieres ayudar a crecer?: Déjanos una reseña en ITunesMandanos un mensaje a ConexionesPodcast@gmail.comCompártelo con un amigo En este episodio hablamos de: 00:00:59 – Acerca de Javier00:01:53 – Como se conocieron Hugo y Javier00:04:17 – Rol de Javier en el consejo directivo de SHPE00:05:07 – Perfil de gente que concurre a los eventos00:06:43 – Trabajo y rol actual00:08:26 – El salto de Javier a su primer trabajo en Silicon Valley00:19:35 –  Lo que más le sorprendió a Javier de Google00:23:35 –  Motivo por el salto de una corporación a un startup00:40:10 –  Ejemplo de shopping cart; load testing00:46:18 – Comparación del día a día entre una corporación y un startup00:49:21 – BlazeMeter adquirido por CA Technolgies; continuidad de Javier en el trabajo00:55:49 – El próximo desafío de Javier01:01:02 – Consejo para aquella persona que quiere trabajar en Silicon Valley como ingeniero/a01:07:39 – Últimas palabras de consejo ¿Quién es Hugo Castellanos? Averigua quién es en linkedin Muchas gracias por escuchar el programa! Si quieres saber más o comentar el programa, por favor unete a nosotros en Conexiones o buscanos en LatinosWhoTech

Javier Cortavitarte es Ingeniero, Venezolano y amante de la tecnologia. Actualmente vive en Sunnyvale, California. En el famoso Valle del Silicio. En este episodio nos cuenta la historia de como consiguio su primer trabajo en Google. Su rol en el Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers  (SHPE)  y como es subir la escalera corporativa en este valle del silicio. Además de trabajar todo el día, Javier participa de forma voluntaria en SHPE como vicepresidente del consejo directivo a cargo de relaciones corporativas y de comunicación. Tiene una licenciatura en Ingeniería Electrónica de la Universidad de Florida y posee una extensa y amplia experiencia adquirida en distintas empresas. Ha transitado por empresas como Google, Axcient, ServiceNow y BlazeMeter, un startup que recientemente fue adquirido por una empresa de software llamada CA Technologies. En EEUU hay solamente dos ingenieros que hacen este producto a nivel global, y Javier es uno de ellos. Su larga trayectoria comienza en Venezuela, luego sigue en Florida donde realizó sus estudios y pasó por un Co-Op en FPL, hasta llegar a Silicon Valley donde no deja de subir la escalera corporativa y donde obtuvo su primer puesto de trabajo en Google. Hemos hablado de cómo y cuándo nos conocimos en SHPE, su cargo y rol en el consejo directivo y el perfil de gente que concurre a los eventos, su trabajo y rol actual, el salto a su primer trabajo en el valle y lo que más le sorprendió de Google, el motivo por el cual dio el salto de una corporación tan grande como Google a un startup, el ejemplo de “shopping cart” que dio en una de sus charlas en BlazeMeter, su comparación del día a día entre una corporación y un startup, la continuidad de Javier en el trabajo después de que CA Technologies adquirió BlazeMeter, su próximo desafío, y sus consejo para aquellas personas que quieran trabajar en Silicon Valley como ingeniero/a. Recursos mencionados: SHPEMiami Dade CollegeCA Technologies (Broadcom Inc.)BlazeMeterFIUFPLServiceNowAxcient ¿Nos quieres ayudar a crecer?: Déjanos una reseña en ITunesMandanos un mensaje a ConexionesPodcast@gmail.comCompártelo con un amigo En este episodio hablamos de: 00:00:59 – Acerca de Javier00:01:53 – Como se conocieron Hugo y Javier00:04:17 – Rol de Javier en el consejo directivo de SHPE00:05:07 – Perfil de gente que concurre a los eventos00:06:43 – Trabajo y rol actual00:08:26 – El salto de Javier a su primer trabajo en Silicon Valley00:19:35 –  Lo que más le sorprendió a Javier de Google00:23:35 –  Motivo por el salto de una corporación a un startup00:40:10 –  Ejemplo de shopping cart; load testing00:46:18 – Comparación del día a día entre una corporación y un startup00:49:21 – BlazeMeter adquirido por CA Technolgies; continuidad de Javier en el trabajo00:55:49 – El próximo desafío de Javier01:01:02 – Consejo para aquella persona que quiere trabajar en Silicon Valley como ingeniero/a01:07:39 – Últimas palabras de consejo ¿Quién es Hugo Castellanos? Averigua quién es en linkedin Muchas gracias por escuchar el programa! Si quieres saber más o comentar el programa, por favor unete a nosotros en Conexiones o buscanos en LatinosWhoTech

Javier Cortavitarte es Ingeniero, Venezolano y amante de la tecnologia. Actualmente vive en Sunnyvale, California. En el famoso Valle del Silicio. En este episodio nos cuenta la historia de como consiguio su primer trabajo en Google. Su rol en el Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers  (SHPE)  y como es subir la escalera corporativa en este valle del silicio. Además de trabajar todo el día, Javier participa de forma voluntaria en SHPE como vicepresidente del consejo directivo a cargo de relaciones corporativas y de comunicación. Tiene una licenciatura en Ingeniería Electrónica de la Universidad de Florida y posee una extensa y amplia experiencia adquirida en distintas empresas. Ha transitado por empresas como Google, Axcient, ServiceNow y BlazeMeter, un startup que recientemente fue adquirido por una empresa de software llamada CA Technologies. En EEUU hay solamente dos ingenieros que hacen este producto a nivel global, y Javier es uno de ellos. Su larga trayectoria comienza en Venezuela, luego sigue en Florida donde realizó sus estudios y pasó por un Co-Op en FPL, hasta llegar a Silicon Valley donde no deja de subir la escalera corporativa y donde obtuvo su primer puesto de trabajo en Google. Hemos hablado de cómo y cuándo nos conocimos en SHPE, su cargo y rol en el consejo directivo y el perfil de gente que concurre a los eventos, su trabajo y rol actual, el salto a su primer trabajo en el valle y lo que más le sorprendió de Google, el motivo por el cual dio el salto de una corporación tan grande como Google a un startup, el ejemplo de “shopping cart” que dio en una de sus charlas en BlazeMeter, su comparación del día a día entre una corporación y un startup, la continuidad de Javier en el trabajo después de que CA Technologies adquirió BlazeMeter, su próximo desafío, y sus consejo para aquellas personas que quieran trabajar en Silicon Valley como ingeniero/a. Recursos mencionados: SHPEMiami Dade CollegeCA Technologies (Broadcom Inc.)BlazeMeterFIUFPLServiceNowAxcient ¿Nos quieres ayudar a crecer?: Déjanos una reseña en ITunesMandanos un mensaje a ConexionesPodcast@gmail.comCompártelo con un amigo En este episodio hablamos de: 00:00:59 – Acerca de Javier00:01:53 – Como se conocieron Hugo y Javier00:04:17 – Rol de Javier en el consejo directivo de SHPE00:05:07 – Perfil de gente que concurre a los eventos00:06:43 – Trabajo y rol actual00:08:26 – El salto de Javier a su primer trabajo en Silicon Valley00:19:35 –  Lo que más le sorprendió a Javier de Google00:23:35 –  Motivo por el salto de una corporación a un startup00:40:10 –  Ejemplo de shopping cart; load testing00:46:18 – Comparación del día a día entre una corporación y un startup00:49:21 – BlazeMeter adquirido por CA Technolgies; continuidad de Javier en el trabajo00:55:49 – El próximo desafío de Javier01:01:02 – Consejo para aquella persona que quiere trabajar en Silicon Valley como ingeniero/a01:07:39 – Últimas palabras de consejo ¿Quién es Hugo Castellanos? Averigua quién es en linkedin Muchas gracias por escuchar el programa! Si quieres saber más o comentar el programa, por favor unete a nosotros en Conexiones o buscanos en LatinosWhoTech

Javier Cortavitarte es Ingeniero, Venezolano y amante de la tecnologia. Actualmente vive en Sunnyvale, California. En el famoso Valle del Silicio. En este episodio nos cuenta la historia de como consiguio su primer trabajo en Google. Su rol en el Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers  (SHPE)  y como es subir la escalera corporativa en este valle del silicio. Además de trabajar todo el día, Javier participa de forma voluntaria en SHPE como vicepresidente del consejo directivo a cargo de relaciones corporativas y de comunicación. Tiene una licenciatura en Ingeniería Electrónica de la Universidad de Florida y posee una extensa y amplia experiencia adquirida en distintas empresas. Ha transitado por empresas como Google, Axcient, ServiceNow y BlazeMeter, un startup que recientemente fue adquirido por una empresa de software llamada CA Technologies. En EEUU hay solamente dos ingenieros que hacen este producto a nivel global, y Javier es uno de ellos. Su larga trayectoria comienza en Venezuela, luego sigue en Florida donde realizó sus estudios y pasó por un Co-Op en FPL, hasta llegar a Silicon Valley donde no deja de subir la escalera corporativa y donde obtuvo su primer puesto de trabajo en Google. Hemos hablado de cómo y cuándo nos conocimos en SHPE, su cargo y rol en el consejo directivo y el perfil de gente que concurre a los eventos, su trabajo y rol actual, el salto a su primer trabajo en el valle y lo que más le sorprendió de Google, el motivo por el cual dio el salto de una corporación tan grande como Google a un startup, el ejemplo de “shopping cart” que dio en una de sus charlas en BlazeMeter, su comparación del día a día entre una corporación y un startup, la continuidad de Javier en el trabajo después de que CA Technologies adquirió BlazeMeter, su próximo desafío, y sus consejo para aquellas personas que quieran trabajar en Silicon Valley como ingeniero/a. Recursos mencionados: SHPEMiami Dade CollegeCA Technologies (Broadcom Inc.)BlazeMeterFIUFPLServiceNowAxcient ¿Nos quieres ayudar a crecer?: Déjanos una reseña en ITunesMandanos un mensaje a ConexionesPodcast@gmail.comCompártelo con un amigo En este episodio hablamos de: 00:00:59 – Acerca de Javier00:01:53 – Como se conocieron Hugo y Javier00:04:17 – Rol de Javier en el consejo directivo de SHPE00:05:07 – Perfil de gente que concurre a los eventos00:06:43 – Trabajo y rol actual00:08:26 – El salto de Javier a su primer trabajo en Silicon Valley00:19:35 –  Lo que más le sorprendió a Javier de Google00:23:35 –  Motivo por el salto de una corporación a un startup00:40:10 –  Ejemplo de shopping cart; load testing00:46:18 – Comparación del día a día entre una corporación y un startup00:49:21 – BlazeMeter adquirido por CA Technolgies; continuidad de Javier en el trabajo00:55:49 – El próximo desafío de Javier01:01:02 – Consejo para aquella persona que quiere trabajar en Silicon Valley como ingeniero/a01:07:39 – Últimas palabras de consejo ¿Quién es Hugo Castellanos? Averigua quién es en linkedin Muchas gracias por escuchar el programa! Si quieres saber más o comentar el programa, por favor unete a nosotros en Conexiones o buscanos en LatinosWhoTech

Raquel Tamez, the CEO of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE), joins Innovators to talk about the importance of the development of hispanic and latinx professionals in America, especially in STEM fields. Tamez talks about SHPE's role in the landscape and the reasons for her to be "cautiously optimistic" about the evolution and trends of representation in STEM fields. Tamez has been the CEO of SHPE since 2017, and prior to her work at SHPE, she was the Chief Legal officer, General Counsel and Senior Vice President of Legal for SourceAmerica, a national nonprofit agency that creates employment opportunities for people with significant disabilities.  Tamez is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and St. Mary’s University School of Law. Innovators is a podcast production of Harris Search Associates. The show is produced by Grant Burkhardt.  *The views and opinions shared by the guests on Innovators do not necessarily reflect the views of the interviewee's institution or organization.*

Uno de los episodios que grabamos desde la conferencia del Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers en Phoenix, Arizona. Mas de 9000 profesionales y estudiantes de Ingenieria se reunen en un solo sitio por 4 dias para hacer talleres, networking y reclutar talento. En esta ocasion, aproveche que una de las salas de talleres estaba vacia y grabamos un podcast impromptu con 4 profesionales: Edwin Marrugo, Senior IT Associate, Eli Lilly Natalia Ariza, Account Management Lead, Uber Eats Juan Lopez Marcano, Machine Learning Engineer, Uber Hugo Castellanos, Product Marketing Manager, Intel Conversamos sobre nuestras experiencias siendo latinos en corporate America, el doble filo de la humildad y como conectar con otros profesionales ---- Si quieres escuchar el panel que hicimos en vivo justo antes de este podcast, lo puedes escuchar aqui: https://latinoswhotech.com/live-from-the-society-of-hispanic-professional-engineers-convention-shpe2019/ --- Siguennos en @ConexionesPodcast Reclama tu audiolibro en AudibleTrial/Latinos

Uno de los episodios que grabamos desde la conferencia del Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers en Phoenix, Arizona. Mas de 9000 profesionales y estudiantes de Ingenieria se reunen en un solo sitio por 4 dias para hacer talleres, networking y reclutar talento. En esta ocasion, aproveche que una de las salas de talleres estaba vacia y grabamos un podcast impromptu con 4 profesionales: Edwin Marrugo, Senior IT Associate, Eli Lilly Natalia Ariza, Account Management Lead, Uber Eats Juan Lopez Marcano, Machine Learning Engineer, Uber Hugo Castellanos, Product Marketing Manager, Intel Conversamos sobre nuestras experiencias siendo latinos en corporate America, el doble filo de la humildad y como conectar con otros profesionales ---- Si quieres escuchar el panel que hicimos en vivo justo antes de este podcast, lo puedes escuchar aqui: https://latinoswhotech.com/live-from-the-society-of-hispanic-professional-engineers-convention-shpe2019/ --- Siguennos en @ConexionesPodcast Reclama tu audiolibro en AudibleTrial/Latinos

First-ever live episode! Over 150 people attended a panel we hosted at the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers Convention in Phoenix, Arizona. The SHPE National Convention happens every year and over 9k students and professionals converge during 4 days to network, attend workshops and find career opportunities. In this panel we explored the question: “What […] The post LIVE from the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers Convention – #SHPE2019 appeared first on Latinos Who Tech.

Uno de los episodios que grabamos desde la conferencia del Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers en Phoenix, Arizona. Mas de 9000 profesionales y estudiantes de Ingenieria se reunen en un solo sitio por 4 dias para hacer talleres, networking y reclutar talento. En esta ocasion, aproveche que una de las salas de talleres estaba vacia y grabamos un podcast impromptu con 4 profesionales: Edwin Marrugo, Senior IT Associate, Eli Lilly Natalia Ariza, Account Management Lead, Uber Eats Juan Lopez Marcano, Machine Learning Engineer, Uber Hugo Castellanos, Product Marketing Manager, Intel Conversamos sobre nuestras experiencias siendo latinos en corporate America, el doble filo de la humildad y como conectar con otros profesionales ---- Si quieres escuchar el panel que hicimos en vivo justo antes de este podcast, lo puedes escuchar aqui: https://latinoswhotech.com/live-from-the-society-of-hispanic-professional-engineers-convention-shpe2019/ --- Siguennos en @ConexionesPodcast Reclama tu audiolibro en AudibleTrial/Latinos

Zach speaks with Lionel Lee, Zillow Group's Head of Diversity Engagement, and they discuss his unique personal career journey up to this point. Lionel details what influence and coalition-building look like in his position, and he also shares some of the things that he's been able to do at Zillow that he believes have helped to improve the sense of belonging and inclusiveness for black and brown folks in the workplace.Connect with Lionel on LinkedIn!TRANSCRIPTSheneisha: Hey, y'all. Sheneisha here with Living Corporate. As you know, we're about having real talk in a corporate world. With that in mind, before we get into this amazing discussion with Lionel Lee, we want to let you know this content makes mention of violence, which may be upsetting, so if you're listening with some little ones, discretion is advised. Zach: What's up, y'all? It's Zach with the Living Corporate podcast, and of course you know what we do. We have interviews, conversations, right, that serve to amplify the voices of black and brown folks at work. And what do I mean by that? I mean we typically have black and brown folks, leaders, executives, creatives, entrepreneurs, you name it, on the show, having real conversations about real topics, and today is no different. We actually have with us today a very special guest. I'm very excited to speak with this person. I've been in contact with him for a little while, and I'm excited just to, like, get him on the show, 'cause, like, we've been texting, and then we talk on LinkedIn, and then, you know, we've been trying to coordinate. Even today we were coordinating back and forth. Lionel Lee. Lionel Lee is the head of diversity engagement at Zillow Group. He provides career development support to underrepresented employees and works with executives to develop equity and belonging policies to improve employee experiences. He also serves as a connecter between employees and community organizations. Prior to joining Zillow Group, he worked in talent acquisition, sourcing candidates across technology and banking industries. Okay, so really quick y'all, all of that to say he's by the people, for the people, you see what I'm saying? Okay. Helping communities has always been a constant throughout his life. Lionel has created and developed community groups that promote health and wellness. He's worked with HIV/AIDS education groups, substance abuse/addiction organizations, as well as health groups for youth. Lionel immigrated to the United States from Korea at age 5. His experiences growing up in south-central Los Angeles and later in the projects of Honolulu, Hawaii--I'm gonna ask a question about that in a little bit--helped nurture his passion for community building. With all that being said, Lionel, welcome to the show. How are you doing?Lionel: I'm doing well, man. Thank you. Appreciate it.Zach: Now, look, you know, of course I've got all of these questions for you and everything, but the first thing I gotta ask - you talked about the projects of Honolulu. Hawaii has projects?Lionel: Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah, Honolulu has projects, and growing up there in the '70s and partial '80s, yeah, it was kind of rough, 'cause most people don't know about that, 'cause what they see about Honolulu and hear about Honolulu is it's just a paradise, but it's not really a paradise for all. You know, the level of poverty there, still to this day, is [amazing?], but back then it was like--where I grew up, in Kalihi--Kalihi is a town right outside of Waikiki, and it's--the projects are called Kuhio Park Terrace. We call it KPT, or Killer Park Terrace. Kill People Today. That's what it was, and I lived on the 16th floor, and I had to actually walk up the stairs to get to my apartment because there was a young lady that got her head cut off in the elevator, so the parents and kids, you know, catch the elevator. And then, you know, you have the same stuff that you have in a lot of different projects. You know, you have a lot of drug abuse, and, you know, you have people defecating in the stairwells. So that was the smell you walked into every single day. The crazy thing is that the dude that cut off the woman's head lived two doors down from me. And he kept it. Kept the head. Zach: What?!?!!!!!!????????????Lionel: He kept the head. But, um...Zach: Whoa, whoa, whoa. I'm sorry. Wait, wait, wait. You said he kept the head?Lionel: He kept the head. He was--he was a Cambodian dude, and he was just mentally disturbed, you know? He just had some serious stuff going on, and he kept the head, and we found out, like, you know, two weeks after it had happened, you know? That was--it was a very different kind of place. Very violent. You can still look up--actually, you can go on YouTube and look up videos from Kuhio Park Terrace, and they'll show you videos of what it's like at KPT to this day.Zach: To this day. That is--that is--wow, that is shocking. I'ma tell you, you know, Lionel, in your short 3 minutes of being on the Living Corporate podcast, you have given us the most gangsta introduction we've ever had. And I'm not making light of anything. I'm just taken--I'm very taken aback by this. Wow.Lionel: Yeah, I don't have the typical--you know, I don't have the pedigree of someone that's in my position, definitely. I'm not--you know, I just wasn't raised like that. I wasn't--you know, I didn't think I was gonna go to college. I didn't go to college. I didn't get a degree. You know, I had to work and do all of that kind of stuff. It's just I was given certain opportunities and took advantage of every single one, you know? Made the very best that I could, and I've always had a tremendous work ethic, you know? Just, you know, been out of my house since I was 17 years old. I've lived in my car for, like, three days, just so I can be out here, you know, just doing my thing. You know, just doing my thing and just trying to keep it moving.Zach: Wow. Well, kind of to start there, let's talk a little bit about that. So you've started on that path, but kind of talk to us about your journey from Hawaii to the head of diversity and engagement at Zillow. What did that look like?Lionel: I was a gogo dancer at one time. That was pretty weird. I've done everything, man. Like, I can do stuff around my house--like, right now I'm remodeling my house, and my kids will be like, "Where'd you learn how to do that?" And I'm like, "Man, it wasn't nothing about learning. I just had to survive." Zach: Wait, wait, wait. So let's take a step back. You said you were--you were a what dancer?Lionel: I was a gogo dancer for a little bit. [Zach laughs] Yeah, when I was, like, young, you know, and that kind of stuff. So I was raised extremely religious. My grandfather is a Baptist minister, and I was raised in the church, so we didn't go out and do that kind of stuff a lot, you know? And I went to, like, school dances every once in a while, and I always liked to dance, so as soon as I got out of my house and, you know, I didn't have nobody telling me what I could and could not do, you know, I got caught up in the dance club scene for a while, and I was going there a lot, and the dude that owned the club, you know, he asked me one day if, you know, I'd want to just come in and, you know, get paid for it, right? But it was like--I don't know if you remember. I don't know how old you are, but--Zach: 29.Lionel: There was this one dance that I was really good at. It was The Prep. I don't know if you remember what The Prep is.Zach: Nah, what's The Prep?Lionel: It's just a dance that, you know, like, a lot of black folks did, you know, back then. You know, I'd have to show it to you in order for you to know what it was, but people around my age group, they know what that dance is, and I was really good at it. You can be extremely creative with it, you know? So the dude just kind of, you know--and I didn't paid, like, a lot. It was--like, that was my part-time gig. My full-time gig was, you know, managing the Church's Fried Chicken, which was down the street from the club, right? So after work at Church's Fried Chicken I would shoot over there, and back then they would throw some, you know, neon sweater or some shit on me, and then I'd get on there and, you know, do my thing. [both laugh] So yeah, that's a snippet of my background, but the way that I got into where I'm at now is--the funny thing is I met a dude on a basketball court, right, like, when I was in my late twenties, and it was one of those stereotypical things, you know? I got into a fight with this dude on the basketball court, you know? Like, you know, you get into a fight on the basketball court, they find out you can fight, and then all of a sudden everybody wants to be your friend, right? So dude wanted to be my friend. He was a white dude, and I had never had too much interaction with white people honestly, and definitely not on a personal, you know, like, friendship level. That just wasn't the way I was raised. So I was kind of cautious, and at that time I worked for an organization called Street Outreach Services, and it was an HIV/AIDS prevention organization. It was led by this amazing sister from Brooklyn. Her name was Amani Wood. She recently passed, like, a couple years ago, and I consider her one of the strongest individuals I've ever met and was lucky enough to have her as a mentor for a very large portion of my life. But anyway, she and I were working together, and then I came up with this crazy idea that what we should be doing is we should be documenting, you know, crack addicts and crack dealers under the age of 18, 'cause that's a group that we were not capturing. So the city of Seattle liked the idea. My organization liked the idea. So I ended up doing that for about 2.5 years. So I was going into crack houses and stuff, like, you know, at 3:00 a.m., you know, 4:00 a.m., and dealing with a whole bunch of kids, and I dealt with the kids--I mean, I had one sister, her name was Beautiful, literally, and she was 13 years old, you know? She was 13 years old with a baby and she was a crack addict, and she was a crack dealer. So, you know, I had to deal with that, and that kind of stuff is emotionally extremely taxing, and the--I just couldn't do it as--I couldn't put as much of myself into it as I was, so I was starting to get burnt out, and dude--you know, he was a recruiter, this white dude that I had met, right? He was like, "Hey, you ever thought about, like, recruiting?" And I was like, "I don't even know what that is, man." And he brought me up to his office to show me what he did, and, like, a lot of young black men and young black women and kids that come from, you know, lesser economic areas, you know, when I saw a computer I thought, "Nah, I can't do that," you know? 'Cause, you know, "Computers are magic, right?" They're not meant for me. They're meant for, like, geniuses, right? You know, "Black kids can't do math." You know, "Black kids can't do this kind of stuff," and I bought into a lot of that. I bought into a lot of that kind of stuff. But I had a two-year-old child, so I had to do something, you know? 'Cause I wasn't making enough money, and I wanted him to have a better lifestyle than I did growing up. So I took him up on it, and, you know, I shot across the bridge over into Bellevue from Seattle, and then--I don't know if you know Seattle, but in Seattle you have east side and west side, and when you go across that bridge, man, it's completely different. Extremely affluent. Very, very white. You know, as a brother back in the, you know, '90s, you couldn't be on that side if you weren't an athlete, right, or somebody else, you know, that they recognized, because if you were a black person that they didn't recognize, the cops would give you a hard time. Like, literally. They would follow you around and stuff, right? But I went over there and I interviewed, and I interviewed with, like, nine blonde-haired, blue-eyed women, man, sitting around the table. I was like, "Man, I don't know if I want to do this," and they offered me the job, you know? And I was like, "Whoa, what do I do now?" And at that same time I was actually interviewing with the fire department, and walking out of that office--I drove, like, this beat up 1984 Volvo, you know? And when I say it was beat up, I mean it was *beat up*. There was 100 and something thousand miles on it. The paint was peeling, you know? That kind of stuff, you know? I put on the best clothes that I had at that time.Zach: That was a bucket.Lionel: It was a bucket. Man, it was a buck-et. And I'm walking out, and every car in the parking lot was like Mercedes, Audis, BMWs, you know, that kind of stuff, and I was like, "I don't know, maybe I can do this." And so I accepted and started there, and struggled, man--I struggled a lot. I mean, I struggled so bad the first three months. There's a very large organization. It's called EDP Contract Services. Now I think they're called TAC Worldwide, and it's one of the largest recruiting organizations in the world. At that time, I forget exactly how many people they had, but I know that at one time I was ranked, like, something like 2000th or something out of the company of recruiters, and by the time--I had to make a decision at one point because--you know, because I was basically told that I could be pretty successful in this if I got the street out of my voice, right? So I started [?]--you know, I went home and was, like, frustrated over it, you know? And my girl at that time, she was pretty hood too, so she was like, "[BLEEP] them. You know, we can sue them. Blah, blah, blah, blah," you know? But I went to bed with my two-year-old son, you know, and I was like, "Man, I've got to do something." So I made up my mind. You know, I made up my mind that okay, well, this is what I'm gonna do, and I walked into the office the next day--I got there at 6:00 in the morning. Nobody was there. And I didn't leave until, like, 8:00 at night, and then I did that for, like, a whole year, and I became #2 in the company, and my income went up something like 300% in a year. Zach: Goodness gracious.Lionel: Mm-hmm. And so I figured out that yeah, I can do this. And then I went to--excuse me, sorry. I went to San Francisco right after that. I got recruited by a staffing firm there. I didn't like them too much, so I started my own staffing firm. We did $2.5 million in our second year of business, and that was just, like, you know, three of us, right? And then we added some people on and that kind of stuff. Then I came back to Seattle and, again, you know, got recruited by another company and became the manager for recruiting for a startup during the dot-com era. I was killing it there, then the dot-com bubble burst, and then I went to Washington Mutual as their diverse executive recruiter, and that was probably one of the worst work experiences I've ever had, 'cause what happened--what happened was they wanted this person, but one of the head people in this department didn't want this person. They didn't feel the need for a diversity executive recruiter. So they waited for her to go on maternity leave and then, behind her back, hired me, right? So my first day of work I'm walking down the hall and this woman walks up to me and she goes, "Who are you?" And I said, "Oh, I'm Lionel Lee." And she goes, "Well, what do you do?" And I said, "Well, you know, I run diversity executive recruitment here," and she just looked at me, and I got this, like--it was chilling. Like, this look was crazy, and then the next thing I know, man, like, seven months later or eight months later, you know, maybe close to a year later, you know, the whole group was disbanded and we all had to leave and, you know, go do our own thing. And it was kind of crazy too. The way that they told you was, you know, they asked you to come in for an early morning meeting. I went in for an early morning meeting and they had HR there, and they said it's disbanded.Zach: So where does Zillow come into play?Lionel: 2007 hit, man. 2007, 2008, 2009, you know, and I went through all of my money, and I had to get back to work, you know? So I joined a really small recruiting firm that was, you know, bullshit. They didn't know what they were doing. [both laugh] But then there was this other recruiting firm that I really wanted and I went and joined them, and they were amazing, and--that's one of the crazy things too, the dude that hired me--he's, like, this really young--comparatively. I think he's, like, you know, close to 40 now--Republican white dude, right? And he hired me on to the company, and I go in there and I'm on the phone the first day, and he said "Hey, Lionel, can I [?] you for a second?" And I was like, "Yeah, what's up?" And he goes, "Man, who the hell is that on the phone?" And I was like, "What are you talking about?" He goes, "Do you know you sound white?" And I was like, "What?" He goes, "Yeah. When you talk to me normally, you know, we're fine, but whenever you get on the phone you sound white," and it's because of what I learned in the earlier part of my career.Zach: Code switching, man. Yeah.Lionel: I was code switching. And I told him, "Well, you know, that's how--" And he goes, "Nah, man. I don't think that's why you're successful. I would really love to see you be you. I got enough white dudes in my office. That's why I hired you." [Zach laughs] And I was like, "Oh, okay," and then I started really, like, trying to understand what just happened, and the reason I ended up here at Zillow Group--I stayed there for, like, five years, six years, right? And I ended up killing it there. I was always either #1 or #2. And the reason I ended up here is that the person who had hired me on at Washington Mutual, she became the vice president of talent acquisition here at Zillow, and she--I started my own company after a while, again, right, and she was one of my clients, and she asked me to come in, and she said, "Lionel," you know--this was, like, 2016. "Lionel, we're really trying to do this diversity thing, man, but we don't know what we're doing." You know, "Would you want to help us?" And I said, "Well, I can put something together." You know, I talked about it with them a little bit. They wanted me to do it. I couldn't dedicate time to it 'cause I had my own staffing firm at that time and my staffing firm was doing extremely well, but what happened was that it kind of grabbed a part of me that I didn't know really existed. My experience in tech as a black man was horrible. I mean, it was horrible, so I decided that, you know, by doing this I would be given an opportunity to better the experiences of other people that are underrepresented in the tech space, right? 'Cause when I was starting out, you know, there was no other. You know, there was me. There was me, and I was probably the only one that I knew with the exception of, like, one or two that worked in other agencies. But it was me, right? And it was horrible. I hated it. I mean, I couldn't--there was no way that I could tell somebody that "Yeah, this is a good day." I woke up every single day begrudging going to work, and eventually I was able to push down to the point where I didn't realize that, you know, there was a part of me that was always anxious, right? And that's when I got a chance to change, you know, within this organization, and then what I'm hoping for is that this organization will be--you know, will be, like, a beacon for others to take a look at, right? Like, "What did they do to make a difference?" Right? 'Cause we did. We changed how we are as a company. We've changed the way that we're perceived. You know, people want to come to work here, you know? That kind of thing, and, you know, the brown and black folks here are much happier now than they were. We know that because I'm very data-driven, and we took some surveys and things like that that let us know that the things we're doing are working. But that's how I ended up in this position. And I was a consultant at first, and they--you know, we talked about 20 hours a week. 20 became 40. It became 60. It became an obsession, you know? Because I--you know, I was like, "Ooh, I get a chance to--"Zach: Really move the needle in some way, yeah.Lionel: Yeah. Not just move the needle, but, you know, just--you know, we talk a lot in those kind of terms, right? Like, "move the needle," you know, that kind of stuff, and the way that I looked at it was never really like that, you know? The way that I was looking at it was, you know, "Improve the day-to-day experience of the underrepresented worker going into the tech space." That was my--that's my driver, right? The way that I describe what I do is that my job is to make sure that everybody that comes to work is happy and feels like they belong. That's my job. That is my job, and I--I don't like to say I love my job, because I don't think in that way, but I'm extremely proud of what we've done here at Zillow Group. I'm extremely proud, and I'm hoping to continue on this path and, you know, continue to make us an employer of choice.Zach: [applause sfx] I mean, what can I say? I mean, I hear you. This is incredible. Look, I have another question, but I want to get into this really quick though. You talked about some of the things that y'all are doing here and, like, they've been serving well. What are some of those things that you've been able to do at Zillow that you believe have helped to improve the sense of belonging and inclusiveness for black and brown folks? Lionel: Well, that was the thing, right? 'Cause one of the things that they had asked me to do was go out and find best practices, and the crazy thing is that there were no best practices 'cause nobody was really killing it. Nobody's numbers said that they were killing it, right? So I had to come up with my own stuff, but what that gave me was green fields. So I could do a couple things. So one of the first things that I did is I was walking through the office one day--and we had this wall of speakers, right? And the speakers--I looked at that wall, and it's a pretty big wall of all of these, you know, headshots of all of these speakers that we've had come into the office, and I was like, "Damn, every single person on there is white." Like, literally. Like, every single person on there is white except for one brother that we had, and of course he was a football player, right?Zach: Of course. Of course.Lionel: Right? And I was like, "Come on, man." You know? So I changed that immediately. That was one of my goals, to change that, and I did that. You know, we brought in people like Van Jones. We brought in people that were from the Islamic community. We brought in people from the Latinx community. Totally changed that whole landscape, right? And then we started talking about, like, just simple things like events, you know? Because that's one of the things that tech companies are known for, right? We have these crazy-ass parties where everybody has a good time, but not everybody gets down like that, you know what I mean? Like, I didn't grow up that way, you know? I don't go out and--you know, I'm not one of those people that like to [imbibe?] in that way and that's how I party. That's not how I do. I like the music. I like to dance. I like that kind of stuff, you know? And I'm not saying that we're all the same, but there are certain foundational pieces that make us a little bit the same. [?], right? And so we started throwing, like, parties, but I would tell the dudes that came in--I started going out and creating relationships with external organizations that were representative of underrepresented groups within our company. So we had professional organizations that I went and made agreements with, and then they would come in and they would throw the parties. And they asked me, they said, "Well, how black do you want this to be?" [both laugh] And I was like, "I want it to be as black as you want to make it."Zach: Right. It needs to be black black, with a Q.Lionel: It needs to be, 'cause you have people here from, you know, predominantly black areas, right? You've got a kid that grew up in a predominantly black area. He goes to an HBCU, you know, does really well there, and then all of a sudden he's thrown into this, right, where he's one of--I think we're at, like, 9% or something like that, right? We're still improving in that area, right? And then he's just got to, like, hang out and do what these guys do? You know, why don't we give him some of what he had back home? You know, why don't we create a sense of community for him, you know what I mean? And we did that, and then we started taking a look at some of the things--and it's all from my own experience, right? One of the things that really bothered me is, like, when all of the brothers was getting shot, you know, I felt completely alone in the office, and I had nobody to talk to about it, right? And what we did is we started--we created a forum here where people can--when things like that happen, for example when the El Paso shooting happened recently, you know, we had a forum here inside the office where people from the Latinx community could get together, along with people that were not from that community but allies that were in positions of power and strength here at the company, we all got together and we had a conversation, and we, you know, basically video-taped everybody in from all the other offices, and we had this, you know, straight up conversation about what this feels like, and that made a difference in people's experience, right? And then we talked about "How do we do our recruiting?" We started taking a look at--I started taking a look at how we do the recruiting in the first place, right? Many of our people that come on board come on from internships, so how do we effect that? Well, we start creating more relationships with organizations that are representative of us. So we started a relationship with NSBE, the National Society of Black Engineers. We started a relationship with SHPE, Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, right? And then we put into practice talking to the CTO, the chief technology officer, who is just--you know, he's cool, he's just really cool, and I gave him an a-ha moment when I took him to AfroTech, like, two years ago.Zach: Oh, yeah. Shout-out AfroTech. Shout-out Blavity. Yeah, yeah, yeah.Lionel: Yeah, by Blavity, right? And I took him--he was one of the only white dudes there, and I was like, "Look, you know, I'm gonna introduce you to some people. You're gonna have some good conversations, and then we're gonna talk about it afterwards," and he was like, "Cool," but he walks in and there's THOUSANDS of black people, man. Where people were telling him, "Oh," we can't be found, which is bullshit. Zach: It is, man. No, it is. It is so annoying, Lionel. Well, it's annoying and it's insulting and it's racist, right? So you said, "Well, we can't find this talent"--like, we're all over, and, like, look, AfroTech is an obvious one, but man, there are also, like, a lot of, like, local, like, groups, right? Like, there's all--if you go to any major city, there's some grassroots coding group that is black and brown, right? And honestly, even if you just take the time and look in the PWIs that you're recruiting, if you just look one more time, they're there too. Like, we're here. Lionel: Right, right. So what we did--he saw that, and we came back and he was like, "What do we do?" And I said, "Well, let's figure out some strategies," and what we started doing is we started making--'cause Boeing has doing been this forever, but Boeing's been going to NSBE and making offers on the spot, right? And so it was like, "Okay, well, let's do that," and we started doing that, and we started increasing our numbers because of that, right? And then those kids that were coming in as interns, we started converting them to full-time, and then on top of it their experience as workers here is real cool because, like, I'll walk by, you know, and I'll talk to 'em and be like, "Hey, what's happening, brother?" You know? "How you doing?" And they'll look at me like--Zach: Even that alone, which is small, right? It's huge to them.Lionel: It's small. It's really, really small, but it's so important, right? People gotta feel like they feel belong. People gotta feel like they're appreciated, right? That's what has to happen, and that's what we started doing. That's one of the things. I could go on and on, man. We've done--when I say I'm proud of the work that we've done here, I'm extremely proud of the work that we've done here.Zach: Rightfully so.Lionel: Yeah. The executives have been fully on board. You know, we also do this other thing where we understand the C-level, the C-Suite, has to be on board. So we do a thing called the MB Learning Series, which is twice a month. You know, we get together, myself, the senior VP of community and culture, and some other key individuals that are well-versed in this space. We'll get together with a bunch of people from the C-Suite, and we'll sit down and we'll talk for about an hour, an hour and a half, about whatever it is, right? It could be a current event that has impacted an underrepresented group, or it could be about something that they've encountered themselves, right, that they want to know more about, right? So we work with them, and they get to learn, they get to learn what's happening, and it changes their perspective and it changes the way that they go out and approach things and make decisions, right? We have our CEO--our CEO is, like, one of the only CEOs where, you know, in his signature file, you know, he has his pronouns, right? Because that's important, you know, to understand that not everybody identifies in that way. Understanding that people identify differently is extremely important, 'cause it puts you in a different place in your learning, in your journey, and that's how we got here. I mean, there's--you know, I could go on and on, but that would take up your whole segment.Zach: No, no, no. This is great, and look, Lionel, we'll just have you back. It's not a problem, man. We'll just have you--[both laugh] You'll just come on back. But it's interesting, really quickly, about the pronoun point, right? So, you know, some research that Living Corporate has been doing, you know what I'm saying, on our whitepaper--if you check us out on the website, you know, you'll see us on there, and we talk about the fact that, you know, 14% of millennials identify as trans or non-binary, right? So it's a real statistic.Lionel: Oh, it's a real statistic. It's real. And, you know, there's so many different groups of other people that do not feel like they belong. You know, they just--you know, especially with the current climate in our country today. That kind of stuff, the divisiveness of our country today, and, you know, we just--we want to make sure, in our company--and we've been voted, like, one of the best places to work forever, right? ["ow" sfx] Forever. But what was not being considered was that not everybody felt that way. It was not the best place to work for everyone. We found that out through our data, you know? We pulled some data that showed us that. So our goal is to make this the best place to work for everyone, and we don't--I mean, we look at everyone and make sure that they're taken care of. And we started our ERGs here two years ago. We dedicated a lot of resources to it. It has its own program manager that manages everything. That's his full-time gig. That's what he does to make sure that, you know, they're good. You know, we have all of the infrastructure in place for that. They're fully capitalized. Yeah. We do--you know, we do a lot of stuff here that a lot of companies don't do, and I think a lot of it just has to do with the fact that we've been following best practices. 'Cause, like I said, we didn't find any, so we had to create our own.Zach: No, that's incredible, and you're absolutely--this is the thing. It's so interesting because as commercialized and, I'm gonna say it, colonized as diversity and inclusion has become, right, like, as a space, when it comes to actually delivering and doing the work, we're still very much so in our infancy, right? Like, there's not a blueprint for anything.Lionel: No. No, there isn't, and that's--yeah, I would agree with you that there is a lot of stuff in our space that, you know, I kind of, like, look at three or four times too, you know? Like, "Really? That's what we're gonna do now?" [Zach laughs] But that's the thing, you know? Let's be creative, you know? Let's figure it out, and for me it was very personal, you know? That's why, you know, a lot of the stuff that we did here was me imagining me, you know, sitting there at work. You know, what would I want? You know, when I first started in this stuff, what would I want? I'd want to be able to come into work and feel like I can be the best me possible, right? But I don't have to, like, play by nobody else's rules about how I talk, how I walk, and all of those kinds of things. I don't believe that people should or can bring their whole selves to work. I don't believe in that. I think that, you know, there's some shit you need to leave at home, right? [both laugh] I don't believe--you know, like, my grandmother used to tell me, you know, "Tell some. Keep a lot." You know what I mean? You don't need people knowing everything, right?Zach: Yeah, keep going.Lionel: You should be able to be comfortable when you go to work. You shouldn't have to code switch as much. You shouldn't, you know, have to wonder about your place there as much, you know what I mean?Zach: I do. You're 100% right, yeah. Lionel: Yeah, that's what we did. Zach: You said, "Share a little bit. Keep a lot." But you're right though, and some of that, Lionel, is cultural, right? So, like, I would say black and brown folks--and I'll just speak for my experience. Like, I was raised, you know, you keep your business to yourself, right? Like, there's certain things, where as then, you know, there's stereotypes that white folks love to just tell everything they got going on. They'll talk about the medication they're taking, if they're depressed, you know? They'll share everything. But you're right, like, I'm not tripping on--I don't necessarily--my quote-unquote "whole self," like, I don't have to do that, but I should feel comfortable--right, I should not feel uncomfortable and dread going to work or feel like, man, just so otherized to the point where I can't even function.Lionel: Exactly, and being othered is real, and it's difficult for people to see that, you know? Like, "Oh, we're paying you," you know? "I don't know why you don't feel appreciated," you know? It's that kind of stuff, and it's like, "Man." You know, if I'm coming into work and I can't wait to get home--not because, you know, I just don't want to be at work for whatever reason, but just because I don't feel comfortable and when I get home is when I feel comfortable? Or I'm dreading going to a company event because I don't feel comfortable? You know, that's a problem. That's a problem. That's why there's more brothers and sisters that are consultants than full-time employees in the tech space.Zach: Man... listen. Oh, my goodness. So look, Lionel, you gonna have to come back, because I've got, like, four more topics we can talk about, [laughs] but you're 100% right, right? Like, you think about, like, it's these temporary, transient roles, right, that give you space, but then also, like--they give you space to kind of move around and not get too uncomfortable in these environments. Man, not to mention the pattern where I'm seeing a lot of black and brown folks are in these, like, non-client-facing positions. Like, they'll typically in, like, the security tech roles, but let me not even--let me not step on too many toes today. Let's keep going though. I want to respect your time. Let's get into how you and I connected. So of course, you know, I'm on LinkedIn. I'm active active on there, but I seen you on there, and you sent me a link about a project you're working on, which really got my attention, and I'd love to--I'd love for you to talk a little bit about that as well as--and just kind of your passion and interest as to why you're doing the work that you're doing on it.Lionel: Yeah. I think you're referring to the microaggressions survey that we sent out.Zach: That's right. Lionel: So Rebekah Bastian is the VP of Community and Culture here. She's my boss, right? I have a direct line to her and then a [?] line to the chief people officer. She and I sit right next to each other. It's an open kind of space. And she's a contributing writer for Forbes. So she was writing this thing on microaggressions, and I was like, "Let me read that," and I read it, and it talked about microaggressions towards women, right, and more microaggressions towards women, and I was like, "Man, that's crazy," you know? Because we suffer from microaggressions. And she was like, "You do, I know that." And I was like, "Yeah, I know you know that, but, you know, there's no data around it. Why don't we do our own survey?" You know, 'cause we couldn't find no data, right? We did the research and whatever, and she was like, "Yeah, I would love to write something on that, but, you know, I can't find any data," and I said, "Well, let's create our own data, you know?" So she put a survey together, and I sent it out to my network, which is pretty broad, and then many of my--that's one thing I want to thank everybody for, including yourself, you know? Many of them sent them out to their networks too. Like, "Hey, you know, this is happening. Let's talk about this." Right? And yeah, I came back and--I think we're gonna try and do this, like, yearly, and try to go even deeper, 'cause I think that it was a great introduction, but I think that we could have covered a couple areas that, you know, people really don't want to cover. But it's important, right? 'Cause I know that I suffer for them still today on a daily basis. I have to check somebody in a meeting or, you know, I also have to be mindful about certain things, right, you know, that they don't have to, you know? When I say them, I mean, like, white folks that are in my same position or at the same level that I'm at, right? And yeah, we still go through it, and it's difficult. You know, it's difficult, and we had to put that information together ourselves 'cause we couldn't find any.Zach: Well, to that point though, why do you think that I&D programs--so I have a bevy of my own theories, right, but why do you think, when we talk about diversity, equity, and inclusion, we don't zoom in on black male or brown male experiences specifically?Lionel: I don't think people really want that wake-up call yet, you know what I mean? I think that people want to imagine that "Hey," you know, they got to this particular spot in their career, you know, they're making this particular amount of money, you know, they should be happy, right? But they don't know that for a lot of us--I mean a lot of us, man, a lot of us--you know, we have to deal with [BLEEP] on a daily basis that they never have to deal with, they never have to deal with. But nobody really wants to put light on that, you know? 'Cause then that would mean that we have to do some more work, and I think people don't want to do that, you know? I think that, you know, people try and find the easiest and fastest way to get to a certain point, right? But when we're talking about something that's this complicated and this nuanced, it's gonna take some work. It's gonna take some serious work, and--what is it--the implicit bias trainings and all of those kinds of things, you know, that's, like, the tip of the iceberg. Nobody wants to.Zach: No, they don't. And it's aggravating too, because even--so I've talked to--so in my current job, and then at previous jobs too, but, like, I have mentors here, and I've [?]--you know, what I find frustrating about us always running into implicit bias is that it makes the presumption that all bias is accidental or unconscious, right? And it's like, "No." Some of y'all actively don't want black and brown people here. Like, come on. It is 20--it is the age of our Beyonce, 2019. We know the deal. [both laugh] We know where people align politically. Like, more than ever we have direct insight into political idealogies, beliefs, and points of view on race, gender, sex, religion, sexuality. Like, we know all these things, so, like, let's not act like everything is "Oh, I stumbled across this racist thing." Like, come on. That's not the reality. So let me ask you this as we kind of wrap up. What are some of the challenges that you've come across as a black executive leader within an I&D space? 'Cause you're the second person. You're only the second person in one of these positions that I've met that is a black man. So you're in this position, right? Typically I see folks in this position are white women and maybe even white women who identiy as LGBTQ, right? As a black man, what does influence and coalition-building look like in your position?Lionel: Influence and coalition-building in my position? Well, one is--you know, one, you've got to have allies. I don't believe that we're in a position right now, that we have the power right now, to be able to make the change that we need to make without powerful allies, right? But at the same time, those powerful allies are working with biases themselves, so you need to make sure that you're training them up, mentoring up with them, to make sure that when they are supporting you that they're supporting you effectively and they know where it's coming from. I agree with you in many ways that, yeah, I don't necessarily think--well, let me change that. I don't believe that bias is a strong enough word for one thing. Two, I don't believe that it is all implicit. I do think that some people are just that way, and they just believe, you know, all of the propaganda and rhetoric that has been going on in the United States forever about us, right? And coalition-building really means getting rid of some of that, you know? Doing the, you know, behavioral change and thought change is important, you know? That kind of thing has to happen before people can really try to support you, because they have to understand that they are being affected, and their actions are being affected, by things that they've been taught for most of their lives in the United States, you know? The United States, man, we're--this is a country built on racism. This is a country that's, you know, built on the backs of us, you know? Whether you're Asian, Latino, Native-American, you know, that's what this country is built on. [to this day sfx]Zach: Straight up.Lionel: To this day.Zach: To this day!Lionel: To this day, right? To this day, and we have to get to a place where we recognize that. We have to get to a place where we're not okay with it. It is something that we're ashamed of, but it's something that we're gonna admit, right? That this is what's going on with us, and we need to move forward from here. That's coalition-building, you know? Getting people to really understand the mistakes that were made. Fess up to them. Own up to them. Make some changes, right? [?]Zach: [Flex bomb sfx] Man, I love it. And, you know, this is the thing--you're the first person who I've had a conversation with who talks about the fact that coalition-building is not only bringing things in but also pushing things away, right? It's both. I love that. I love that. Well, look, let's do this. If you had three points of advice for any leader seeking to specifically recruit and engage black men, what would they be?Lionel: Make sure that what you want to invite them to is welcoming of black men. Do that, right? I mean, don't ask me to come to your house if your house is falling apart. Don't do that. Like, make sure your outline's right first, right? Make sure that you work with recruiting to help them to understand that, yes, they are out there, you're just gonna have to work a little bit harder. Make sure that you work with your executive staff to make sure that they're on board with whatever programs that you put in place so that you can make sure that you keep people once they get there. Zach: I love it. Just like that. And listen, y'all, you heard Lionel's advice, so we looking at you now. So you're gonna come around trying to invite black and brown men to your organizations, and we're looking back at you like [haha sfx]. Look, don't play yourself. Pay attention. This has been great, Lionel. Before we get out of here, any parting words or shout-outs?Lionel: No, man. Thank you for having me. You know, we've got a lot of work to do. You know, we're nowhere near where we could be, and a lot of this is about the economic divide, the wealth gap, and it's just gonna get wider and wider and wider. We've got to get on, you know, our bikes, man. We've got to get to work, you know, 'cause--we've got to get to work. We've got to get to work.Zach: Well, they're projecting that the median wealth of black families from a household perspective will be zero dollars, like, by 2050 or so, so you're absolutely right. We gotta--man, Lionel, this has been--like, no shade to everybody else, y'all, this has been top two dopest conversations we've had on Living Corporate. Thank you so much for being a guest. We very much so want to have you back. We'll talk about that offline. Until next time, y'all, this has been Zach. You've been listening to Lionel Lee at the Zillow Group. Make sure you check out all of his information. Links in the show notes. Catch y'all next time. Peace.

En este episodio hablé con Manuela Morales, Colombiana, estudiante de Ingeniería Mecánica en UCF y Propulsion Engineering Co-Op en Delta Airlines. Hablamos de su pasión por los aviones, su trabajo en Delta como Co-Op, todo acerca de Delta Airlines y sus beneficios, y cómo es ser mujer, latina e inmigrante en un entorno tradicionalmente masculino. Conéctate con Manuela vía linkedin: Manuela Morales Recursos mencionados: AviancaSociety of Women Engineers Valencia CollegeSociety of Hispanic Professional Engineers - SHPECalm - aplicación para meditar; recomendable para los que no les gusta volarTurbulence ForecastAPUFly-by-wireRelay For Life Nos quieres ayudar a crecer?: Déjanos una reseña en ITunesMandanos un mensaje a ConexionesPodcast@gmail.comCompártelo con un amigo Timestamps: 01:00 – Dando la bienvenida a Manuela Morales01:57 – Acerca de Manuela y cómo llegó a Orlando02:41 – Compañías en las que ha trabajado Manuela04:37 – Cómo funciona un Co-Op06:54 – De dónde viene la pasión de Manuela por la aviación14:40 – El trabajo de Manuela en Delta16:29 – El trabajo de Manuela como pasante (co-op) en Delta21:27 – #Mujer, #Latina, #Ingeniera trabajando entre hombres con más de treinta años de experiencia30:36 – Mujeres mecánicas en Delta?33:10 – Cómo conseguir un Co-Op o trabajo en Delta41:15 – Beneficios de Delta, y el favorito de Manuela45:18 – Últimas palabras para la audiencia Acerca del episodio: Manuela es originalmente de Colombia y ha vivido en un entorno de vuelos y aviones. Su padre era piloto de Avianca volando más de seis veces por día, y cuando se retiró, toda la familia se mudó a Florida en EEUU. Manuela fue a Valencia College y se recibió con un Associate's Degree en Ingeniería. Actualmente está estudiando en la universidad de UCF cursando su licenciatura en Mechanical Engineering.  Manuela tiene pasión por la aviación y comenzó cuando se puso a estudiar ingeniería. Unirse al grupo de “Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers”, empezar el capítulo de “Society of Women Engineers at Valencia College” y conocer a otros profesionales y estudiantes, le permitió ver con mayor interés todo lo que su padre comentaba acerca de la tarea de ser piloto. Otro motivo de su pasión es haber visto por primera vez en Honeywell la pequeña y potente turbina APU que permite el vuelo de un avión.  Manuela ha trabajado en varias empresas como Cinnabar, Limbach, Lincoln Electric donde realizó su primera pasantía, Honeywell, Walt Disney World, y Siemens entre otros.  Actualmente trabaja en Delta TechOps dentro del aeropuerto de Atlanta, una división de Delta Airlines, encargada de la reparación, revisión y mantenimiento de las turbinas de los aviones. Esta división también ofrece sus servicios a clientes, tanto aviones presidenciales como a los de transporte. Ella trabaja como Co-Op en el grupo de “Propulsion Engineering” y se ocupa del mantenimiento y la seguridad de las turbinas. Todos los aviones tienen diferentes turbinas, y es por ello que en cada equipo hay ingenieros trabajando en distintos componentes, así como también hay otros ingenieros trabajando y viendo los procesos para reparar y controlar la turbina del avión al momento de salir. Un Co-Op es una pasantía a largo plazo de tiempo completo, en donde el pasante trabaja un semestre y en el otro estudia. La pasantía en la empresa dura aproximadamente año y medio. En ese tiempo enseñan y preparan a los pasantes para la etapa final, en la que estarán haciendo el trabajo de un ingeniero full time en la empresa. Durante los semestres existen evaluaciones en las que el pasante coloca su meta y dice lo que espera de Delta, y la empresa que espera del pasante. Las evaluaciones se dividen en tres etapas: inicial, media y final y son documentadas para la decisión final cuando se eligen a tres o cuatro Co-Ops de los cien que han contratado en el año.  En el primer semestre tratan de familiarizar a los pasantes con la turbina acomodandolos e...

En este episodio hablé con Manuela Morales, Colombiana, estudiante de Ingeniería Mecánica en UCF y Propulsion Engineering Co-Op en Delta Airlines. Hablamos de su pasión por los aviones, su trabajo en Delta como Co-Op, todo acerca de Delta Airlines y sus beneficios, y cómo es ser mujer, latina e inmigrante en un entorno tradicionalmente masculino. Conéctate con Manuela vía linkedin: Manuela Morales Recursos mencionados: AviancaSociety of Women Engineers Valencia CollegeSociety of Hispanic Professional Engineers - SHPECalm - aplicación para meditar; recomendable para los que no les gusta volarTurbulence ForecastAPUFly-by-wireRelay For Life Nos quieres ayudar a crecer?: Déjanos una reseña en ITunesMandanos un mensaje a ConexionesPodcast@gmail.comCompártelo con un amigo Timestamps: 01:00 – Dando la bienvenida a Manuela Morales01:57 – Acerca de Manuela y cómo llegó a Orlando02:41 – Compañías en las que ha trabajado Manuela04:37 – Cómo funciona un Co-Op06:54 – De dónde viene la pasión de Manuela por la aviación14:40 – El trabajo de Manuela en Delta16:29 – El trabajo de Manuela como pasante (co-op) en Delta21:27 – #Mujer, #Latina, #Ingeniera trabajando entre hombres con más de treinta años de experiencia30:36 – Mujeres mecánicas en Delta?33:10 – Cómo conseguir un Co-Op o trabajo en Delta41:15 – Beneficios de Delta, y el favorito de Manuela45:18 – Últimas palabras para la audiencia Acerca del episodio: Manuela es originalmente de Colombia y ha vivido en un entorno de vuelos y aviones. Su padre era piloto de Avianca volando más de seis veces por día, y cuando se retiró, toda la familia se mudó a Florida en EEUU. Manuela fue a Valencia College y se recibió con un Associate's Degree en Ingeniería. Actualmente está estudiando en la universidad de UCF cursando su licenciatura en Mechanical Engineering.  Manuela tiene pasión por la aviación y comenzó cuando se puso a estudiar ingeniería. Unirse al grupo de “Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers”, empezar el capítulo de “Society of Women Engineers at Valencia College” y conocer a otros profesionales y estudiantes, le permitió ver con mayor interés todo lo que su padre comentaba acerca de la tarea de ser piloto. Otro motivo de su pasión es haber visto por primera vez en Honeywell la pequeña y potente turbina APU que permite el vuelo de un avión.  Manuela ha trabajado en varias empresas como Cinnabar, Limbach, Lincoln Electric donde realizó su primera pasantía, Honeywell, Walt Disney World, y Siemens entre otros.  Actualmente trabaja en Delta TechOps dentro del aeropuerto de Atlanta, una división de Delta Airlines, encargada de la reparación, revisión y mantenimiento de las turbinas de los aviones. Esta división también ofrece sus servicios a clientes, tanto aviones presidenciales como a los de transporte. Ella trabaja como Co-Op en el grupo de “Propulsion Engineering” y se ocupa del mantenimiento y la seguridad de las turbinas. Todos los aviones tienen diferentes turbinas, y es por ello que en cada equipo hay ingenieros trabajando en distintos componentes, así como también hay otros ingenieros trabajando y viendo los procesos para reparar y controlar la turbina del avión al momento de salir. Un Co-Op es una pasantía a largo plazo de tiempo completo, en donde el pasante trabaja un semestre y en el otro estudia. La pasantía en la empresa dura aproximadamente año y medio. En ese tiempo enseñan y preparan a los pasantes para la etapa final, en la que estarán haciendo el trabajo de un ingeniero full time en la empresa. Durante los semestres existen evaluaciones en las que el pasante coloca s...

En este episodio hablé con Manuela Morales, Colombiana, estudiante de Ingeniería Mecánica en UCF y Propulsion Engineering Co-Op en Delta Airlines. Hablamos de su pasión por los aviones, su trabajo en Delta como Co-Op, todo acerca de Delta Airlines y sus beneficios, y cómo es ser mujer, latina e inmigrante en un entorno tradicionalmente masculino. Conéctate con Manuela vía linkedin: Manuela Morales Recursos mencionados: AviancaSociety of Women Engineers Valencia CollegeSociety of Hispanic Professional Engineers - SHPECalm - aplicación para meditar; recomendable para los que no les gusta volarTurbulence ForecastAPUFly-by-wireRelay For Life Nos quieres ayudar a crecer?: Déjanos una reseña en ITunesMandanos un mensaje a ConexionesPodcast@gmail.comCompártelo con un amigo Timestamps: 01:00 – Dando la bienvenida a Manuela Morales01:57 – Acerca de Manuela y cómo llegó a Orlando02:41 – Compañías en las que ha trabajado Manuela04:37 – Cómo funciona un Co-Op06:54 – De dónde viene la pasión de Manuela por la aviación14:40 – El trabajo de Manuela en Delta16:29 – El trabajo de Manuela como pasante (co-op) en Delta21:27 – #Mujer, #Latina, #Ingeniera trabajando entre hombres con más de treinta años de experiencia30:36 – Mujeres mecánicas en Delta?33:10 – Cómo conseguir un Co-Op o trabajo en Delta41:15 – Beneficios de Delta, y el favorito de Manuela45:18 – Últimas palabras para la audiencia Acerca del episodio: Manuela es originalmente de Colombia y ha vivido en un entorno de vuelos y aviones. Su padre era piloto de Avianca volando más de seis veces por día, y cuando se retiró, toda la familia se mudó a Florida en EEUU. Manuela fue a Valencia College y se recibió con un Associate’s Degree en Ingeniería. Actualmente está estudiando en la universidad de UCF cursando su licenciatura en Mechanical Engineering.  Manuela tiene pasión por la aviación y comenzó cuando se puso a estudiar ingeniería. Unirse al grupo de “Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers”, empezar el capítulo de “Society of Women Engineers at Valencia College” y conocer a otros profesionales y estudiantes, le permitió ver con mayor interés todo lo que su padre comentaba acerca de la tarea de ser piloto. Otro motivo de su pasión es haber visto por primera vez en Honeywell la pequeña y potente turbina APU que permite el vuelo de un avión.  Manuela ha trabajado en varias empresas como Cinnabar, Limbach, Lincoln Electric donde realizó su primera pasantía, Honeywell, Walt Disney World, y Siemens entre otros.  Actualmente trabaja en Delta TechOps dentro del aeropuerto de Atlanta, una división de Delta Airlines, encargada de la reparación, revisión y mantenimiento de las turbinas de los aviones. Esta división también ofrece sus servicios a clientes, tanto aviones presidenciales como a los de transporte. Ella trabaja como Co-Op en el grupo de “Propulsion Engineering” y se ocupa del mantenimiento y la seguridad de las turbinas. Todos los aviones tienen diferentes turbinas, y es por ello que en cada equipo hay ingenieros trabajando en distintos componentes, así como también hay otros ingenieros trabajando y viendo los procesos para reparar y controlar la turbina del avión al momento de salir. Un Co-Op es una pasantía a largo plazo de tiempo completo, en donde el pasante trabaja un semestre y en el otro estudia. La pasantía en la empresa dura aproximadamente año y medio. En ese tiempo enseñan y preparan a los pasantes para la etapa final, en la que estarán haciendo el trabajo de un ingeniero full time en la empresa. Durante los semestres existen evaluaciones en las que el pasante coloca s...

En este episodio hablé con Manuela Morales, Colombiana, estudiante de Ingeniería Mecánica en UCF y Propulsion Engineering Co-Op en Delta Airlines. Hablamos de su pasión por los aviones, su trabajo en Delta como Co-Op, todo acerca de Delta Airlines y sus beneficios, y cómo es ser mujer, latina e inmigrante en un entorno tradicionalmente masculino. Conéctate con Manuela vía linkedin: * Manuela Morales Recursos mencionados: * Avianca* Society of Women Engineers Valencia College* Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers - SHPE* Calm - aplicación para meditar; recomendable para los que no les gusta volar* Turbulence Forecast* * APU* Fly-by-wire* Relay For Life Nos quieres ayudar a crecer?: * Déjanos una reseña en ITunes* Mandanos un mensaje a ConexionesPodcast@gmail.com* Compártelo con un amigo Timestamps: * 01:00 – Dando la bienvenida a Manuela Morales* 01:57 – Acerca de Manuela y cómo llegó a Orlando* 02:41 – Compañías en las que ha trabajado Manuela* 04:37 – Cómo funciona un Co-Op* 06:54 – De dónde viene la pasión de Manuela por la aviación* 14:40 – El trabajo de Manuela en Delta* 16:29 – El trabajo de Manuela como pasante (co-op) en Delta* 21:27 – #Mujer, #Latina, #Ingeniera trabajando entre hombres con más de treinta años de experiencia* 30:36 – Mujeres mecánicas en Delta?* 33:10 – Cómo conseguir un Co-Op o trabajo en Delta* 41:15 – Beneficios de Delta, y el favorito de Manuela* 45:18 – Últimas palabras para la audiencia Acerca del episodio: Manuela es originalmente de Colombia y ha vivido en un entorno de vuelos y aviones. Su padre era piloto de Avianca volando más de seis veces por día, y cuando se retiró, toda la familia se mudó a Florida en EEUU. Manuela fue a Valencia College y se recibió con un Associate’s Degree en Ingeniería. Actualmente está estudiando en la universidad de UCF cursando su licenciatura en Mechanical Engineering.  Manuela tiene pasión por la aviación y comenzó cuando se puso a estudiar ingeniería. Unirse al grupo de “Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers”, empezar el capítulo de “Society of Women Engineers at Valencia College” y conocer a otros profesionales y estudiantes, le permitió ver con mayor interés todo lo que su padre comentaba acerca de la tarea de ser piloto. Otro motivo de su pasión es haber visto por primera vez en Honeywell la pequeña y potente turbina APU que permite el vuelo de un avión.  Manuela ha trabajado en varias empresas como Cinnabar, Limbach, Lincoln Electric donde realizó su primera pasantía, Honeywell, Walt Disney World, y Siemens entre otros.  Actualmente trabaja en Delta TechOps dentro del aeropuerto de Atlanta, una división de Delta Airlines, encargada de la reparación, revisión y mantenimiento de las turbinas de los aviones. Esta división también ofrece sus servicios a clientes,

In this episode, I had the chance to interview Fernando Ceballos, P.E. Fernando is a Project Engineer for Pape-Dawson Engineers and the President of the DFW SHEPE Chapter. [1:40] Fernando's story [3:45] When you work for a company it needs to be a two-way street in terms of providing value. They provide value to you, but you also have to provide value to them. [5:40] Why students should consider pursuing a career in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) [7:45] Why Fernando got involved with SHPE (Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers) [10:00] Why every engineering student should consider joining SHPE [12:20] Attending the SHPE national convention will allow you to meet and connect with recruiters from top tier organizations that usually only recruit from top tier schools. [16:10] Less than 15% of STEM roles are held by Hispanics and the number decreases for higher level roles. [18:15] Why Hispanics don't gravitate towards STEM roles [20:30] Why you should hold a leadership position [25:00] You can be a leader without a title [28:00] How to turn your weaknesses into your advantages The one thing Fernando would like for you to take away from this episode: Find your why! Want to connect with Fernando? Name of Guest: Fernando A. Ceballos, P.E Job Title: Project Engineer and SHEPE DFW President Organization: Pape-Dawson Engineers/ SHEPE Email: fdoceballos@gmail.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fdoceballos/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fdoceballos/ Other: https://shpe.org/ Let's connect! I want to hear from you, so please do NOT hesitate to reach out to me on LinkedIn, email, or anywhere else. LinkedIn- https://www.linkedin.com/in/thedanielbotero/ Intagram- https://www.instagram.com/thedanielbotero/ Facebook-https://www.facebook.com/thedanielbotero Email- Daniel@masteringcollegetocareer.com Website- https://masteringcollegetocareer.com/ Subscribe & Review in iTunes Have you subscribed to my podcast? If you haven't, I encourage you to do that today. I would hate for you to miss any future episodes. Every week I bring on a brand new guest and cover a very important topic to help you master your transition from college to career. If you're not subscribed there's a good chance you'll miss out on some amazing episodes. Click here to subscribe in iTunes! Have you gained value from this show and want to give me some extra love? I would really appreciate if you left me a review on iTunes. That review will help other students, like you, find my podcast. I also love reading the reviews so that I can keep making improvements based on what my audience is looking for. Just click here to review, select “Ratings and Reviews” and “Write a Review” and let me know what your favorite part of the podcast is! From the bottom of my heart, Thank you!

In this episode, I had the chance to interview Fernando Ceballos, P.E. Fernando is a Project Engineer for Pape-Dawson Engineers and the President of the DFW SHEPE Chapter.    [1:40] Fernando’s story    [3:45] When you work for a company it needs to be a two-way street in terms of providing value. They provide value to you, but you also have to provide value to them.    [5:40] Why students should consider pursuing a career in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics)   [7:45] Why Fernando got involved with SHPE (Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers)   [10:00] Why every engineering student should consider joining SHPE    [12:20] Attending the SHPE national convention will allow you to meet and connect with recruiters from top tier organizations that usually only recruit from top tier schools.    [16:10] Less than 15% of STEM roles are held by Hispanics and the number decreases for higher level roles.    [18:15] Why Hispanics don’t gravitate towards STEM roles   [20:30] Why you should hold a leadership position   [25:00] You can be a leader without a title   [28:00] How to turn your weaknesses into your advantages   The one thing Fernando would like for you to take away from this episode:  Find your why!    Want to connect with Fernando?  Name of Guest: Fernando A. Ceballos, P.E Job Title: Project Engineer and SHEPE  DFW President  Organization:  Pape-Dawson Engineers/ SHEPE Email: fdoceballos@gmail.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fdoceballos/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fdoceballos/ Other: https://shpe.org/ Let’s connect! I want to hear from you, so please do NOT hesitate to reach out to me on LinkedIn, email, or anywhere else.  LinkedIn- https://www.linkedin.com/in/thedanielbotero/ Intagram- https://www.instagram.com/thedanielbotero/ Facebook-https://www.facebook.com/thedanielbotero Email- Daniel@masteringcollegetocareer.com Website- https://masteringcollegetocareer.com/ Subscribe & Review in iTunes   Have you subscribed to my podcast? If you haven’t, I encourage you to do that today. I would hate for you to miss any future episodes. Every week I bring on a brand new guest and cover a very important topic to help you master your transition from college to career.  If you’re not subscribed there’s a good chance you’ll miss out on some amazing episodes. Click here to subscribe in iTunes!   Have you gained value from this show and want to give me some extra love?   I would really appreciate if you left me a review on iTunes. That review will help other students, like you, find my podcast. I also love reading the reviews so that I can keep making improvements based on what my audience is looking for. Just click here to review, select “Ratings and Reviews” and “Write a Review” and let me know what your favorite part of the podcast is!    From the bottom of my heart, Thank you!

In this episode of our This Viterbi Life series, Shuntaro talks to Kristina, Luann, Catherine, and Vanessa about their unique experiences at national conferences. These conferences range from the Biomedical Engineering Society Conference to the Grace Hopper Conference to the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers conference where students throughout the nation come together to develop their passions and themselves!

The Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers is a US-based non-profit that has been preparing students from a hispanic background for careers in STEM since 1974. We recorded this episode at their 2018 national conference in Cleveland, Ohio where more than 7000 engineering students and professionals met for 4 days of workshops and networking. In 2015, in the midst of the #IlookLikeAnEngineer movement 3 young Latina Engineers and SHPE members felt that there was something missing from the conference: A space where female students could talk and learn about topics specific to their experiences and where they could celebrate and empower each other. This was how the SHPEtinas were born. They spearheaded a track for the 2016 conference with workshops and panels led by female professionals and have become a staple of the national conference ever since. Together these 3 women, Ximena Aristizabal, Andrea Sanchez Sours and Stephanie Serrano have grown a movement that has touched the lives of 2000+ female students and young professionals. This is a look at their story. Subscribe to Conexiones on iTunes, Spotify and wherever podcasts are hears. You can also leave us comments on our blog at Conexiones.io and follow us on instagram @ConexionesPodcast

The Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers is a US-based non-profit that has been preparing students from a hispanic background for careers in STEM since 1974. We recorded this episode at their 2018 national conference in Cleveland, Ohio where more than 7000 engineering students and professionals met for 4 days of workshops and networking. In 2015, in the midst of the #IlookLikeAnEngineer movement 3 young Latina Engineers and SHPE members felt that there was something missing from the conference: A space where female students could talk and learn about topics specific to their experiences and where they could celebrate and empower each other. This was how the SHPEtinas were born. They spearheaded a track for the 2016 conference with workshops and panels led by female professionals and have become a staple of the national conference ever since. Together these 3 women, Ximena Aristizabal, Andrea Sanchez Sours and Stephanie Serrano have grown a movement that has touched the lives of 2000+ female students and young professionals. This is a look at their story. Subscribe to Conexiones on iTunes, Spotify and wherever podcasts are hears. You can also leave us comments on our blog at Conexiones.io and follow us on instagram @ConexionesPodcast

The Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers is a US-based non-profit that has been preparing students from a hispanic background for careers in STEM since 1974. We recorded this episode at their 2018 national conference in Cleveland,

Ana Riveros is an Industrial Engineering student and President of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers chapter at the University of Central Florida. We recorded this episode during the annual SHPE conference @ Cleveland, Ohio where more than 7000 professionals and students gathered to connect and learn about #STEM. Ana is a very charismatic student leader that has gained experience as a reliability engineer at Lockheed Martin and General Motors. Ana shared with us her experience being a female SHPE president, her challenges getting out of her comfort zone working with GM in Flint, Michigan and a reflection on the #SHPE2018 Conference. **Disclaimer***We recorded this episode at the Historic Cleveland Arcade on the last night of the #SHPE2018 conference. Apologies for the background noise.

Ana Riveros is an Industrial Engineering student and President of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers chapter at the University of Central Florida. We recorded this episode during the annual SHPE conference @ Cleveland, Ohio where more than 7000 professionals and students gathered to connect and learn about #STEM. Ana is a very charismatic student leader that has gained experience as a reliability engineer at Lockheed Martin and General Motors. Ana shared with us her experience being a female SHPE president, her challenges getting out of her comfort zone working with GM in Flint, Michigan and a reflection on the #SHPE2018 Conference. **Disclaimer***We recorded this episode at the Historic Cleveland Arcade on the last night of the #SHPE2018 conference. Apologies for the background noise.

Ana Riveros is an Industrial Engineering student and President of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers chapter at the University of Central Florida. We recorded this episode during the annual SHPE conference @ Cleveland,

En este episodio de Conexiones conversamos con Andrea Sanchez Sours, PhD desde las oficinas de Intel en Folsom, California. Andrea es especialista en corrosion de materiales y trabaja en Intel como ingeniera de control de calidad para la division de discos de estado solido (SSDs). Andrea es Venezolana y nos comparte como fue su experiencia haciendo un Doctorado en USA.Nos cuenta como se le dio la oportunidad de hacer el doctorado en Estados Unidos, como fue su proceso para sacar una visa de estudiante, conseguir un mentor de tesis y las cosas que tienes que tener claras a la hora de decidir comenzar un PhD. Conversamos sobre su experiencias en "Big Oil" trabajando con la empresa Noruega DNV GL que cuenta con clientes como BP, Chevron y ExxonMobil. También hablamos sobre la campaña que co creo con un grupo de ingenieras para unir a las mujeres en ingeniería en la Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers. las famosas SHPEtinas. Estamos en iTunes, SoundCloud y Spotify. Siguenos en Instagram por @ConexionesPodcast

Andres Vargas es ingeniero en Northrop Grumman. Tambien es socio fundador de G-Squared Professional Training and Coaching y cursa su MBA en el Florida Institute of Technology. Charlamos con Andres sobre Personal Branding, El rol de SHPE en su vida y tecnicas para hablar con reclutadores Grabamos este podcast mientras viajaba al Regional Leadership Development Conference en Daytona Beach, Florida donde lideramos un panel sobre Personal Branding para ingenieros. Es el primero (de muchos) invitados que entrevistaremos fuera de California. Siguenos en iTunes, Overcast o Soundcloud! @ConexionesCast en todas las redes sociales. Musica por Leo Aether Matt Abrahams: Compelling and confident communication SHPE (Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers)

Andres Vargas es ingeniero en Northrop Grumman. Tambien es socio fundador de G-Squared Professional Training and Coaching y cursa su MBA en el Florida Institute of Technology. Charlamos con Andres sobre Personal Branding, El rol de SHPE en su vida y tecnicas para hablar con reclutadores Grabamos este podcast mientras viajaba al Regional Leadership Development Conference en Daytona Beach, Florida donde lideramos un panel sobre Personal Branding para ingenieros. Es el primero (de muchos) invitados que entrevistaremos fuera de California. Siguenos en iTunes, Overcast o Soundcloud! @ConexionesCast en todas las redes sociales. Musica por Leo Aether Matt Abrahams: Compelling and confident communication SHPE (Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers)

Javier Cortavitarte es Ingeniero, Venezolano y amante de la tecnologia. Actualmente vive en Sunnyvale, California. En el famoso Valle del Silicio. En este primer episodio nos cuenta la historia de como consiguio su primer trabajo en Google. Su rol en el Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers  (SHPE)  y como es subir la escalera corporativa en este valle del silicio. Javier tiene extensa experiencia en el area de IT en empresas como ServiceNow, Axcient y Google. Su rol mas reciente ha sido en el startup Blazemeter (adquirido por CA Technologies) donde desempeña el rol de Principal Support Engineer para todos los clientes de Estados Unidos. Esperamos disfruten este primer episodio de Conexiones! Un espacio donde compartimos historias de Latin@s en STEM. Invitado: Javier Cortavitarte de Blazemeter (adq. por CA Technologies) Musica : "Cuando decimos Adios" de Leo Aether

The Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers is a student organization that seeks to empower, motivate, and inspire the hispanic student body of the Viterbi School of Engineering. They focus their events on community outreach, professional development, and academic excellence, and offer a tight-knit social community for their members.

On the surface, when one looks at the list of accomplishments, The CyberCode Twins are on a fast, high trajectory. TEDx talks. Awards from tech competitions and hacks such as the NASA International SpaceApp Challenge, AT&T Developer Summit, and recently a top-15 world finalist for IBM Global Mobile Innovator Tournament. When one looks deeper (and one must look deeper), it's obvious that 25-year-old twin sisters America and Penelope Lopez are doing more than just taking home well-deserved accolades. They are right in the middle of a movement to share their talent and wisdom — and to give greater access to the technology world, especially for Latina women. Their keynotes for Girls Who Code, Hispanic Heritage Foundation, and Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, in addition to the awards, are testament to never giving up. And even though their world is moving fast, they are grounded. Raised in East Los Angeles, the sisters are deeply proud of their heritage and celebrate where they come from — showing that great talent is truly everywhere, just waiting to be discovered. Along the way, America and Penelope have developed a strong community of support, from special ed teachers to an entire world of technologists ready, willing and able to help. Leaders in the truest sense of the word, there is no doubt that we’ll keep hearing about how The CyberCode Twins will continue to transform access and inspire positive momentum for as many people as possible around the world — but never far from East LA, where their hearts will always be.